10 Ideas to Make Work More Fun (and profitable)
Episode Summary:
Today is going to be a very fun episode! I brainstormed for you 10 ideas to make work more fun because I’ve found that a lot of people in the online space have been asking, “How do I make money without any work?” Or, “How do I make work feel like less work?” I think that this is the wrong question even though I get the concept because a lot of times you're working in a 9-5 career, you're feeling exhausted, you're feeling burnt out, you're feeling ready for a season of rest, and I'm all for seasons of growth and rest. However, I really feel like in life our week has to feel meaningful and we need to have intentional goals. It doesn't mean we have to hustle. It doesn't mean we need to work 24/7. So it isn’t how do I work less, it is how do I have clear boundaries so I'm only working 20 hours a week? Then, how do I make the 20 hours I am working more fun? So let’s talk about it on today’s episode of The Heart Centered Entrepreneur!
Topics Discussed:
What Anna believes is one of the best parts of owning your own business that most people don’t take advantage of
The number one thing Anan does to make her business more fun
Short term ways to make your business more enjoyable right now (and loving at least 90% of your business)
Training yourself to do one hard thing at a time and knowing what to prioritize to make more money faster
The importance of knowing what your version of success is to make scaling and delegation easier
Focusing on growing rather than sustaining for more happiness in business
Outsourcing and being on top of your Google Calendar so you can have more focused work time and be more present outside of work
Dropping your ego and other vanity things to figure out what’s actually going to make you money and releasing everything else
Why we need to make our business and our life more fun and how Anna has done this
Episode Resources:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google | Stitcher
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Anna Rapp: (00:01)
Today is going to be a very fun episode. I'm excited about it. , I brainstormed for you 10 ideas to make work more fun because I really found that, I was hearing in the online space people asking the wrong question. People were asking the question, how do I make money without any work? Or how do I make work feel like less work? And I get the concept right, because a lot of times you're working in a nine to five, you're feeling exhausting, you're feel feeling burnt out, you're feeling ready for a season of rest. And I'm all for seasons of growth and rest. In fact, in business, I really teach my clients to grow and then stabilize, right? We wanna get more clients, but then we wanna make sure those clients are served well by things like solid systems and team and policies and boundaries.
Anna Rapp: (00:52)
So I'm all for like growth and rest, growth and stabilizing. However, I really feel like in life we, we need to work, we need to have meaning, we need to have goals. It doesn't mean we have to hustle. It doesn't mean we need to work 24 7. You know, I'm a big fan of like having a small business and a big life, right? But I think when we, we have the wrong goal of like, how do I make work less worky? We, it's just not the goal. The goal is how do I have clear boundaries so I'm only working like 20 hours a week or whatever it is for you. And then how do I make the 20 hours I am working more fun? Because think about it, whether you have a day job or a business, you spend your day working, right? And that is why I just had this thought the other day when one of my friends was venting about a coworker.
Anna Rapp: (01:46)
I was like, oh my gosh. Like I don't have any coworkers. I hate, I don't have any clients. I hate, like everyone in my life is high vibe. And when I worked in corporate, there were a certain amount of people who really were not my favorite. But you really can't do anything about it. 'cause you don't get to choose your coworkers, right? You don't get to choose your clients. And so that is one of the biggest blessings I think a business. And really one of the things I think people don't take the most advantage of, which is remembering long term, if a client is a pain in the booty, like release them kindly, right? You get to curate that, right? If you're feeling lonely in business, you get to do coffee dates, meet new people and make meet new biz besties, right? You get to hire a coach who feels like a partner in crime, right? You get to hire a VA who feels like you're right hand woman that like, you know, my OBM asked me the other day, like, Anna, how else can I support you? When I started crying , because it's like, wow. Like she's there to make my life easier, right? And I think it's just this reminder that like, we get to curate our world and we forget that, right? Um, so back to the point of the episode, which is how
Anna Rapp: (02:58)
To make work more fun. I think we actually can make work more fun and in so doing, making a big part of your life more fun. Okay, so let's get to the ideas. Um, and I wanna hear your feedback. Like if I missed one, tell me in the Instagram dms, like, what, what are you doing to make your work and life and business more fun? This is gonna be a mix of theoretical and some really practical stuff. So I think you're gonna like it. I really think that you will. Um, okay, number one, I kind of alluded to this, but the number one thing I do to make my business fun is have good people around me. Because for me, I'm an extrovert. I'm an ENFP Enneagram, seven people are a big thing to me. Like I love to connect with people. Obviously my clients are a big part of that, right?
Anna Rapp: (03:46)
I think I told you guys my, one of my best friends joked that like, I do my coaching three days a week and then about three weeks out of the month, so I have one week a month that is not a lot of coaching, right? It's on like behind the scenes stuff or like, you know, I'm traveling to Ireland in a week and a half. So I put that on my non coaching week, but on my non coaching week, I was talking to my best friend on the phone and she was like, I was giving her some advice and she was like, is it feeling good to give advice? I was like, yeah, it is. 'cause I miss I miss helping people, you know, like I enjoy people and if you are a coach, you potentially may enjoy, even if you're like an introvert extrovert or an extroverted introvert, right?
Anna Rapp: (04:23)
Like likely. I mean, here's the thing. Like we're, we weren't meant to be alone. We're meant to be in community. And I think when we start our businesses, we don't have that built in network as much as you do during a day job. So you really have to be intentional about asking yourself, who are the humans I'm surrounding myself with and do I like them, right? The three women on my team right now are just amazing humans and are are friends to me, right? We're not like best friends 'cause obviously we don't live in the same city and stuff, but if they did live here, I would a hundred percent have them and their kids over for a play date, right? I would a hundred percent do a coffee date with them. Like they're just good humans that I honestly admire and look up to.
Anna Rapp: (05:02)
And I what an honor that we get to pick the women that work with us. What an honor that, like my, I love my clients. Like, I love, love too. It doesn't mean that like every session is fun. Sometimes we're doing hard work, sometimes I'm challenging them, right? But at the end of the day, they're good humans. They're quality people. Same thing with my coach, with my therapist, with the people that support me. I was telling my friend the other day, like my therapist, I love her so much, I don't even see her every week, but when I sit in her office, it's like ocean themed and I could just like sit there in her presence for an hour and it feels so good and safe . And I think we forget that, like, not to say that like people have to be perfect because they don't, right?
Anna Rapp: (05:42)
But it's just this reminder that for me, a way that I make my working hours fun is being with good people, interacting good to good people when I do collaborations, having it be with good people. Number two and number three are related, so let's put them together. Number two is short-term, ways to make the hard stuff easier and more fun. Um, and then the third one is long-term, ways to make your business and life more fun with scaling and delegating, et cetera, by figuring out your version of success. That was a long one. . Okay, so number two, short term ways to make the hard stuff easier, right? Um, because I shared this stor this on Instagram the other day, but I really feel like you should enjoy your business. Like 80 to 90% of the time, if you're in like a rapid growth season is probably gonna be more like 80%.
Anna Rapp: (06:34)
Here's why. Because I find that at any given time, 10% of your business, you're not gonna like, right? Like maybe for you it's like bookkeeping right now if you can't afford to outsource it yet or like whatever, maybe it's like getting visible and creating Instagram reels. Like you don't really like it, but it's what you do to reach new people. Like it's okay that there's like 10% that you don't like. Ideally it's not the 10% that's the bulk of your business. Like if you're a coach that sh you should enjoy coaching. If you're a designer, you should enjoy that, right? But there's always gonna be a little part, just like I think about my day job, like when I, you know, had all different day jobs, I probably enjoyed my job like anywhere from like 40 to like 75% of the time, that's good for a day job, right?
Anna Rapp: (07:16)
At the end of the day, we're doing it to like work and provide for our families, right? Um, so I think if you can get it to 80 to 90% that is good. Like that is amazing. And um, so for me, at any given time, 10% of my business or whatever, you know, I just, it's just stuff I don't like. Whatever the other 10%. If you're in a rapid season of growth, there's probably things that aren't necessarily things you don't like. They're just new and uncomfortable. Okay? So, and this is related to a different con point. Um, so maybe I'll bump that one up, which is like doing one hard thing at a time. . But really I feel like I really encourage my clients, what is the fish you need to fry in your business that's going to help you grow quantum leap faster, sign more money, make more clients, right?
Anna Rapp: (08:02)
Usually for my clients it's either focusing on visibility and growing their audience or it's selling and converting their current audience, or it is increasing their capacity by working on team and boundaries. Or at the start, it's really figuring out your message and niche. You cannot do multiple things well at once. That's the truth of it. And so let me go to this one. Doing one hard thing at a time is the way to make your business fun because then you actually make progress. When you're trying to do five hard things, new things at a time, you're just gonna make a lot slower progress. It's gonna be way less rewarding and or you may not make any progress at all and you might burn out, right? And so just doing one hard thing at a time helps you be more productive, but then it also makes everything else po light and positive and easy, right? Okay. So back to ways to make short term, make the hard stuff easier is.
Anna Rapp: (00:00)
So when you're doing one hard thing at a time, you're more productive at it, right? You're enjoying the rest of your life. But also back to the point of going to the short term ways to make the hard stuff easier is you don't have a lot of your day where you're doing the hard stuff. So you have a little more stamina, right? So for the things that I just have to get done, I love to again include people so that I'm not alone in it, right? Maybe I'll like Vox my friends and like vent about something or I'll ask my coach for help making a decision on something, right? This is one of the things I talk to my clients about too. If there's something in your business you're stuck on, even if quote it feels easy, don't feel guilty bringing that to your coach.
Anna Rapp: (00:44)
I love when my clients bring me that because usually it's not the actual action, there's a fear around it, right? Or it's feeling overwhelming. And so permission to unpack it because you're a smart woman and there's probably a really legit reason you're avoiding something. And so giving yourself some credit and doing some unpacking, doing some mindset work around it, right? You might be like, oh, it's just an Instagram reel. Or is it the fact that you're terrified of putting yourself out there, people disagreeing with you and really confirming the fact that you felt all along that you have that you don't know what you're talking about, right? You see what's complex. Um, and then other small things that I do to make this, the short term ways to make the hard stuff easier is rewards and checklists. I'm a big fan of writing down like five boxes on a sticky note and checking them off like I've had to follow up with five potential clients.
Anna Rapp: (01:33)
I'll just put five little boxes and then I'll check one off as I go just on my little tab of paper, right? Um, I'm also a huge fan of timers, like just most things that my clients are avoiding. I'm like, set a 10 minute timer and start and then when you do it, I'll give you some little emojis and slack , right? Like I think sometimes when something feels overwhelming or big, we make it, we make it more complex or feel like we have to take it all in one big chunk where the truth is it's okay to make it simpler. It's okay to make it easier. What's the first step on the way to that? Can you just spend 10 minutes on it? Okay. Long term though, long term, making your work more fun and profitable, et cetera, it's really figuring out what your version of success is, how you wanna spend your hours and making sure you're delegating, curating your business to cater that to that, right?
Anna Rapp: (02:23)
So often I work with clients and they forget that they're creating their own job, right? And so for me it's a reminder that I get to decide what I fill my time with, right? Um, I love to coach and so a lot of my time is spent on either one-on-one coaching calls, group coaching calls between session, typing my client's notes and supporting them, right? And the other part of that is marketing and other things, right? But that I enjoy. Are you doing the marketing things you enjoy? Do you like to do audio? Do you like to do video, right? Like really figuring out what's your version of success when you're fully booked, what do you want your days to look like and are you moving towards that and delegating the rest to a team member? Okay, next is focusing on growing versus sustaining. And the reason I wanted to talk about this is a lot of my potential clients and or clients that I see being really miserable in their business, I find that it's because they're avoiding the hard thing, right?
Anna Rapp: (03:29)
They're avoiding being messy and just trying it, right? I have definitely had seasons where I've tried to like perfect something or feel like I have to figure everything out before I start or feel like I have to make the perfect decision so that I don't waste time or make it perfect so that people don't judge me, right? But I really feel like that's exhausting. We think that brave being brave in our business is exhausting. I actually think of avoiding the brave work and hiding is more mentally exhausting than actually putting yourself out there and failing and succeeding and like being like I find that those clients are actually less exhausted and more happy than the ones that are living in fear, right? And this is not a a judgment. This is just maybe letting you know. I think a lot of people are like nervous to sign more clients nervous to grow their business because of the fear.
Anna Rapp: (04:19)
It's gonna be overwhelm more overwhelming. But I actually feel like growth at the end of the day is less overwhelming, um, than being in that survival mode. I think about it like this too. In my business as an entrepreneur, I mostly try to do things that are gonna create and make money. I only wanna spend like 20% of my energy on cutting back on conserving on organizing. Yes, it is important, right? But mostly we wanna create new, right? We don't wanna get obsessed with looking in backwards with over organizing, right? Like yes, recording, yes, using the data, right? But really making sure that you're moving forward and being brave and creating. That's what's going to actually be more fun and more easy. Even though sometimes we see it as more scary. I already talked about doing one thing at a time. Next one, to make work more fun and not just more fun but more calm is making sure you have uninterrupted work time.
Anna Rapp: (05:19)
For me, this means from my kids, this means from my phone, right? I did a lot of multitasking when my babies were bitty and I think some of that is unavoidable. But when I started getting eight hours of babysitting a week, it changed the game. It changed the game not just for my money, but how I felt. I was calmer when I was working and then when I wasn't working I was calmer too, right? Because I got more done. So I really think having that uninterrupted undistracted work time from your kids, from your phone, from your, from your worries. Like I wonder if you saw your work time as a meditation, a time where you could like, and I've lately been trying to see everything as meditation. I'm not the best meditator to be honest. , I'm probably not the one to be giving meditating advice.
Anna Rapp: (06:05)
But like for me, like when I open the door and I go into a yoga class, I try to like think all of my concerns or my worries being left behind for one hour and I just get to enjoy it. I think about that same way when I'm on a coaching call with a client, I just get to be present with them and bask in that delicious present moment. And really, I'm someone that isn't very good always at being in the present. I'm a lot like I'm a visionary. I also reflect and I kind of feel like a historian. I like to think on the past. And so it really is a discipline to be present. But I think if you can think about it like, Ooh, I get to record this podcast and all I get to do is like think about this podcast and I can release everything else from my mind.
Anna Rapp: (06:43)
Like it gets to be kind of fun and delicious, right? I encourage my mastermind clients like what can you do to just show up for this call for an hour and be in CEO mode and dream and vision and think big? And that's where our best creativity comes. Because in the present our mind relaxes, right? It relaxes. We get outta survival mode and we're there in the present moment and we're lost and we're captivated and our brain is, is relaxed and thriving. And when we're in the day-to-day, it can be hard to do that. I will give an honorable mention, this isn't one of the 10, but to being organized with your Google calendar calendar and your task management system, for me that's what allows me to have uni uninterrupted work time and also to be present in the moment because I'm not continually thinking, what if I miss something?
Anna Rapp: (07:30)
Because I know everything that I need to remember is on my Google calendar so I can be here present because everything for my motherhood and my life and my bus, right? Like it's all there. So I just need to know I'm here from two o'clock to three o'clock and then at three o'clock I can look and see what's next. I also sit down at the start of my day when I do my daily check-in. You guys know I'm a big fan of that and I write down like what my schedule is to kind of like rehearse in my mind of what's going on that day, but I don't have to think about the future. Same thing with my task management system, right? I have for my business and my life, for example, I have a task that goes out on Tuesdays that's like, Anna take out the trash.
Anna Rapp: (08:09)
Some people might think that that's wild for me. I am so relaxed because I'm like I don't have to remember. I just have to go and it'll be on my list and then it's kind of fun. I get to check it off, right? I also think you start giving yourself credit for all that you're doing and then you stop over committing yourself 'cause you're like, I got my plate playful. Not only do I, you know, in my busy my business, but I gotta take out the trash, right? I'm being silly, but you know what I mean. Um, and then it just again really relaxes you knowing I'm like, Ooh, I gotta follow up with that one person. Oh, I gotta pray for that person when their surgery is, oh, I gotta send that gift. I have all my birthdays. My friends think I'm so amazing 'cause I always remember birthdays.
Anna Rapp: (08:45)
It is not my memory. In fact, I'm actually pretty bad at remembering names. You might be surprised to hear this, but I have all my clients write down their their significant others' names, names and stuff. And I put all my birthdays including my moms in my task management because I could not tell you right now a lot of the birthdays of the people I love the most. I don't know why. I don't know if there's a malfunction in my brain. I used to make myself wrong for this and feel guilty about this. But instead I just started putting birthdays in my task management system because it's okay if we don't remember everything, right? It's really interesting. But I really feel like after my divorce and after I did a lot of healing work, I actually feel like some of my memory got worse. I feel like I remember like client information, like their stories and their context.
Anna Rapp: (09:31)
Like I have some clients that I've had for like seven years. I remember everything about their history and they're in it with them, right? And that's the nice thing about having a small client load too. But I feel like some little tiny details like birthdays names, like I just do not remember. Um, but I have it all in my calendar so who cares right? At my task management when it comes to like paying taxes when it comes to like, you know, creating reels when it comes to like all that type of stuff. And you don't wanna put so much stuff that you ignore your to-do list, right? But it really for me is the way that I can relax. 'cause I can just look and see like what do I gotta get done today, right? Oh, I gotta record this podcast episode. Oh, I gotta turn off that thing, right?
Anna Rapp: (10:10)
Oh, I can't get this done today. I am gonna bump it to tomorrow, but then when I sit down tomorrow, it's gonna be on that. If you are still storing everything in your mind, this is why you feel overwhelmed. If you have not found a project management system you like play around with someone and figure it out like it's your full-time job because that is so important that you're feeling relaxed like that. I mean that tip alone, I can't believe that didn't even make the top 10. What was I thinking? Have a good calendar management system and have a good um, task management system. I use Basecamp, but I literally just use the basic, I don't use it fancy, I just have the task with the due date. You just need anything with tasks and due dates, it can be Asana, right? Okay, next is, ooh, I like this one.
Anna Rapp: (10:56)
I like this one. Every task you do in your business should be making you money, but then do it as if it weren't making you money. This is such a secret sauce and I've literally never talked about this before. I mean maybe to some of my paying clients, but never on the podcast. And that is when you are looking at what you're doing in your business, is all of it making you money? Are you being really ruthless or are you doing some things because you think you should or for vanity metrics, right? Like I just did a reel about this recently. I feel like I actually probably, I mean I make multi six figures, but the, the amount of happiness I have in my life, the amount of free time, the amount of support I have, um, the amount of money that I save and dump into my retirement and do things like buying international vacations and saving $200,000 for a house.
Anna Rapp: (11:48)
Like it's wild. And a big part of that is because I really don't, I really drop my ego and I really drop a lot of vanity things, right? I really ask myself like, what's actually gonna make me money when it comes to spending time in my business? And if it's not like release it. Like I think about when I released my first courses, I didn't have a fancy course platform, right? I sent my course students emails and I showed up really well and I, you know, served them in an excellent way. But I didn't care about the vanity metrics. It was like a year into my business till I like really invested in my branding, right? Stop worrying about how you look and start worrying about making money, right? And serving your clients well, of course. But I just think so much is done in vanity.
Anna Rapp: (12:32)
Instead of asking yourself like again, what's my version of success? What matters to me? How can I double down on that? How can I make sure that everything I'm doing in my business, it's a business, it's safe for me to be filled with heart and service, but also be here to make money, right? And looking that over after you do that and you're sure that everything in your business is making you money or giving you deep fulfillment, right? There's a couple things I do in my business. Maybe they don't make me a ton of money, but I really like it, right? And then once you do that, do everything as if the money weren't attached to those tasks, right? So once I get clear on I gotta do x, y, Z to make this launch successful, I gotta send these emails, I gotta do these personal follow-ups, I gotta do this sales call, right?
Anna Rapp: (13:19)
I gotta, you know, do this webinar. Then I just kind of like put it into one big basket instead of getting too attached to any one task, right? This makes me happier because I'm like, oh, now it's just my job to do the webinar, right? Oh, now it's just my job to do these 20 client reach outs. Oh, now it's just my job to write these six sales emails. Otherwise I think we really get this pressure to overanalyze every task. And for me, I also really tell myself like, okay, now I get to do these 20 reach outs and yes, my goal is to invite people into my paid program, but you know what the truth is, not all 20 are gonna join my paid program. Maybe like seven of them are. So for like the other 13, I hope they have a good day because I don't know about you, but like the online, like we are research shows us that we are the loneliest in society that we've ever been.
Anna Rapp: (14:09)
And I'm a cheery person. And so if I'm gonna reach out to 20 women, I might as well make their day better. Because as women, life isn't always easy, right? And so again, this is a moneymaking task, but I'm really not thinking about the money as I'm doing it. I'm thinking about how can I put good into the world? How can I love these women? How can I encourage them and make their day better even if I never hear from them again? Like that gives me peace knowing before God that I'm spreading love and positivity and goodness, right? Okay. Next is, you might have to listen to this episode twice. I am . I know I'm laying a lot on you, but like really these are deal, you know, deal breakers, deal makers. Okay? Next is working ahead and creating margin. Nothing says no fun in your business, like being in survival mode and running by the seat of your pants.
Anna Rapp: (14:57)
Okay? No shame if that's where you're at. There are seasons of life in business, but do not live there where you'll burn yourself out, right? If you've talked about this before, but if you've had a hard childhood where things were chaotic or a season where things were chaotic, it can be easy to normalize living, chaotic and living in survival instead of reminding yourself it's safe for me to thrive and to be relaxed and to work ahead and create margin and create an episode recently about creating financial margin, energy margin, time margin. Go listen to that one. But this is really about making sure that you are working ahead creating margin because it's just a lot more rea relaxing, right? Not just for you but for your team. Like let's not create emergencies because emergencies will pop up, but let's not plan for them, okay? Create that margin work ahead.
Anna Rapp: (15:50)
Next is creating comfort. Comfort. I told the story on a real recently, but I had several of my clients that were like complaining about some of the work that they were doing that like, you know, maybe, maybe they had 12 clients and one of the clients wasn't their favorite, right? Or another one has it done for you business. And there were just some tasks that in her business she just had to just kind of get it done, right? And I had them both calculate how much money they were making per hour as they were doing these tasks that they were complaining about. One was making $700 an hour and one was making $400 an hour. And after that they were like, oh, okay, actually I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm happy to like sit with this client who's not disrespectful but not my favorite and make $400 an hour.
Anna Rapp: (16:34)
Oh I'm happy to sit behind the tech of the software because I'm making $700 an hour to do it, right? And I really think it's just keeping this in context of like, this is a job and it's a good paying job, right? And again, if we were comparing like I think we get into trouble when we compare our business to not working at all. Instead of like as humans, we have to work, right? And like I said, excuse me, we want to work. 'cause ultimately doing aligned work in the world is fulfilling and gives us purpose and meaning to our life. Okay? I know this because I work with women who have multiple six figure businesses or million dollar businesses and have plenty of money, but they get to a point where they're like, oh, I, I still enjoy some level of work. I still wanna work 10 hours a week.
Anna Rapp: (17:22)
I still wanna give back. I still wanna show up, right? So really seeing that like when you're comparing having a business to not working at all, it doesn't look good. But when you're comparing having a business and making money to any other job you could have on the planet, you're doing good, right? I think about that when I compare, you know, my week to like if I wasn't working at all versus, I mean I'm a little different 'cause I actually really like working, but , um, versus comparing this to any other day job I could do, you know, every once in a while I'll have a moment where my business is hard and I'm like, should I get a day job? But literally that thought leaves my moment about 0.2 seconds in because literally I can't think of a single job that gives me as much money, as much satisfaction and as much time freedom as this one and the unlimited growth potential.
Anna Rapp: (18:09)
Like it just doesn't hold a candle, right? So I think it's just remembering like, yes, it's okay that it feels like work sometimes, but you're making good money. And if you're not making good money, either hanging in there until you do or restructuring things so that you are making more money faster, usually at the beginning it means adding a higher ticket offer in, okay, this is a part of it. This was like an A and b, but really making sure you're adding comfort to it, right? So if you're gonna be making a miserable 400 to $700 an hour, how can you make yourself more comfortable? Some of the things that I love to do is I love ordering sushi. If I'm in a bad mood, solves everything, okay? Tell, tell me in the dms on Instagram what you order from DoorDash to make your mood better.
Anna Rapp: (18:56)
I love lighting candles, even if I'm not in a bad mood. Again, it helps me be present and more efficient and enjoy my work. Enjoy, enjoy the coaching call, enjoy the whatever I'm doing. I have this little Amazon back massager that's like $30 that I love using. I also love drinking tea. Like, you know, when you're at work on your nine to five, like I would always like go to the break room and make some tea. Like make yourself some tea. Enjoy yourself. Okay, finally, oh, I saved the best one for last. I saved the best one for last. Make your life more fun, not just your business. More fun, okay? Especially as you're growing and scaling your business. If you have moments where you, your business is uncomfortable because you're growing or you're stretching or you're working on a new skill like selling or building your team, right?
Anna Rapp: (19:42)
Like I think we expect our business to always give us like satisfaction and fulfillment. But the truth is that it's a job and it's not always going to. It's great when it does, but that's a lot of expectation to put on your business. Not only is it gonna make you a ton of money, but it has to always make you happy. That's like saying that my kids have to always make me happy or my partner has to always make me happy. No, I need to bring energy into my partnership. I need to bring energy into my motherhood. I need to bring energy into my business, right? And the way we bring energy into our business is we have fun in our life, right? And you might be like, Anna, how do I have more fun in my life? You make that a goal. Like you put on your little goal sheet, have more fun, explore some hobbies, make new friends, and do the work it takes to have more fun in life.
Anna Rapp: (20:35)
Initially anything new is not gonna be more fun and it's gonna be work. Trying out yoga studios is gonna take time. Trying out some therapists is gonna take time, right? But I'm just saying it's worth it because when you're enjoying your life and whatever that means for you, for me it's meant, you know, releasing some of the people in my life that you know, were not kind to me, someone's not being kind to you. It's okay to graciously release them from your life. Did you need that permission? Maybe you did. Maybe you listened to this podcast episode just for that. I love you. Um, some of the other things I did was just start dabbling a little bit in some hobbies. My first hobby was fitness, right? And honestly that was more for my mental health than for my body really getting a break, really having somewhere I could bring my kids and get a little break.
Anna Rapp: (21:24)
But of course it eventually also turned into something that was really rewarding for my body and moving my heart, moving my legs be getting into my body, which led me really to dance. Learning to dance salsa and bachata has been a big blessing for allowing me to have fun. Like I went dancing last night and I show woke up for work this morning and I had some harder client calls because some of my clients are honestly dealing with some really hard things. Just brave women dealing with some hard things. But I was able to really come in with some optimistic energy because I had a really great night last night, right? Doesn't mean your life has to be perfect, but it's like what energy are you bringing into your business? That's almost your job, right? It's almost like you bring in the positive energy to your business and out pops money.
Anna Rapp: (22:11)
I don't know, what do you think about this? I'm just playing with this idea or model, but I really feel like you're bringing that in and in exchange you're getting money. And again, your work can satisfy you two. But we shouldn't always expect our business to be this like all encompassing, all providing thing for us. Okay, I hope this was useful for you. I would love to hear from you. One thing, if you're like me, you're an overachiever, you'll wanna do 17, but just try one thing to make your business and your work more fun this week. Tell me what it is. You can always pick a different one next week, but just pick one thing. And I think it's gonna make a big difference, not just in the amount of enjoyment you have, but in the amount of money you make. Because when you're having fun, again, your brain is outta that fight or flight mode.
Anna Rapp: (22:54)
It's in creative thinking mode, it's in the future, it's visioning what's possible, right? It's braver. We're will more willing to fail and make mistakes. Like that's where we wanna be. We wanna have fun because that's where innovation happens. That's where you know, problems are solved. And where money is made fun is where the money is made. Money loves fun, right? So instead of figuring out how to make our businesses more work, let's figure out how to make them more fun. Deal, deal. I love you girly so much. If this resonates with you, and if you are a coach or consultant of any niche, whether it's health coaching or finance coaching or fertility coaching or relationship coaching or travel coaching, or you're thinking about doing some sort of consulting, I would love to invite you to my free webinar. 20 minutes long. It's pretty, it's pretty good. Um,
Anna Rapp: (23:44)
It'll teach you how to sign your next five, one-on-one clients with one simple strategy, one simple strategy. And you know me if you're like, Ugh, I do wanna sign five clients, but I also don't 'cause I'm already overwhelmed. I teach you how to market in a way that's not overwhelming in a way that you don't have to be on social media 24 7. And then also my program on the inside also teaches you once you have those clients, how to serve them in a way with lots of templates and policies. That's not overwhelming. So again, so you enjoy your work, right? So I wanna help you get filled with work and help you market, but I also wanna help you enjoy your work because again, that helps you get more work too. It's like that chicken and the egg. Okay? Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of your day.
Anna Rapp: (24:25)
And as always, I know you could spend your time a thousand places online, but the fact that you spend it here in the heart-centered entrepreneur community is something I do not take for granted. I'm so grateful for you and know that it is my honor and mission to just serve you as well as I can. So if there's anything I can do better or different, know that my door is open to you. And I would love always to hear like if you have podcast episode ideas, if you have needs, I'm just an open book and I just wanna create what is most valuable for you. So hang in my dms and let me know.
PS: In the midst of this challenging time I’ve been asking myself what I can do to help? One of the #1 ways I support my clients is by helping them simplify their business so that they can increase the flow of money without creating extra work. In this season simplified visibility and sales is needed more than ever.
So if you’re craving personal support as you reposition your free and paid work, I’d love to help you simplify your sales process so that you can produce income in your business even during a challenging time. If you want support you can check out my services and book a free discovery call here, or you can send me a DM on Instagram.