Get your business motivation back

Facing the Seven Year Itch + how I got my business motivation back

It hit me like a pungent waft of bourbon and coke. I had itchy feet.

For months I’d been feeling so lost in my business. Oh-so-befuddlingly-lost. It’s happened before, so I wasn’t in panic mode yet. But usually I can pinpoint the exact reason I’ve lost momentum, motivation or energy for all running my branding studio entails. And once I’ve done that, the fog clears and the pathway is illuminated once more. Peace is restored and my very patient husband can breathe a sigh of relief.

This time was different. It felt eerie, and disconcerting. And it went on for months.

Just between us, for the first time in 14 years, I tentatively dipped my toe into “job hunting” (I use quote marks here because really, who was I kidding?). Now obviously, there are always going to be external factors that influence our overall business experience, such as market changes, the doom-and-gloom economic climate, new competitors, technology yada-yada-yada, but even as I mentally checked off the usual suspects, the clarity I sought evaded me.

With some lengthy and time-consuming personal projects thrown into the life mix, I blamed my temporary business disillusionment on the fact that I wasn’t focusing enough on what needed to be done. I blamed myself for not trying hard enough. For not launching enough. For not doing enough. For not posting to my grid enough. 

But deep in my heart I knew that wasn’t it either.

Fast forward a few months, as I started to brainstorm my annual business birthday celebration special offers, I felt a stirring in my gut (and no, it wasn’t the leftovers I had for lunch). My heart palpitated. I was celebrating the seventh birthday of Hopscotch Branding Studio. Which meant… dun dun dun… I was facing the plight of The Seven Year Itch.

noun: seven-year itch
a supposed tendency to infidelity after seven years of marriage.
"we've been together eight years now, so we're over the seven-year itch"

And while I haven’t been fantasising about cheating on my business per se, I have certainly been feeling that change is most certainly on the horizon. One such change is the way I approach marketing not just for my branding strategy and design services, but also my programs and digital offerings. 

Now I know why I’ve been feeling so unsettled, I've gained clarity on how to move forward! If you're a member of my email family, you'll already have noticed those changes coming to life.

The first thing I did was quit social media

As you may know, my first move was to quit social media for 30 days and take a break from the Content Creation Train. My digital detox aligned perfectly with the culmination of the personal project I mentioned, which gave me the exact white space my body, soul and spirit needed to decompress and renew my motivation.

Because I LOVE my business. And if you’re anything like me, you do too. But I want to let you know that if you don’t love it 100% of the time, that’s ok. And if you’re feeling burnt out, confused about your pathway forward or simply a bit over it all, here’s a few tips that always help me get back on track.

• Hit pause

  Business is not a sprint race. It’s a marathon, and the only competitor is you. You’re not going to get any prizes for the speed in which you achieve ‘success’.

• Reconnect with your motivations

  The reason you started your business may not be in alignment with where you’re at now. A huge part of my re-alignment post-seven-year-itch was redefining my deep, personal motivations for the work that I do. Because I'm a different person than I was seven years ago. My circumstances have changed dramatically, and my dreams, hopes and desires have changed with them.

• Revisit your brand foundations

  Tweak your vision, mission and brand positioning to re-align your future trajectory.

• Map out your customer journey

  Consider where you may be focusing energy that isn’t fruitful. Maybe it used to be, but the marketing environment is constantly evolving. Be honest with yourself. Can you get help? Or is it time to say goodbye and move onto something new?

• Get real

  Are your goals in alignment with how you truly want to live your life and run your business? Over many years, I’ve learnt to let go of unrealistic goals in favour of enjoying the season I’m in (hello mum life). I'm not recommending giving up or taking the easy road. What I mean to say is, sometimes you have to stop holding onto things too tightly. Allow room for opportunities and goodness to flow your way. If you’re holding on too tight to how you think things should look, or how you think the income is going to come in, you might completely miss something even better, more fun and more aligned for you.

And lovely, if you’re feeling a bit flat, tired or uninspired about how your business lately, maybe it’s simply time for a break.

Please rest assured that we all go through the valleys and mountains of the business rollercoaster. And as my beautiful friend Maggie Dmochowski from Adelaide Bakes always reminds me, “businesses are not built in a vacuum.”

Life impacts business. Business impacts life. It's inevitable that you will face times of uncertainty, just as I have recently. I truly believe the key to coming out the other side of a business funk is to not let the circumstances or confusion define you, but rather stay curious as to what needs to happen to realign your trajectory towards a successful future.

Rach x

Introducing The Kindred Collective experience...

If you’re seeking to build a business that aligns with your values and integrates with your lifestyle, I want to let you know I’ve just opened the waitlist to my 6 month brand elevating mastermind experience: The Kindred Collective. This is an invitation-only program, so please add your name here and I’ll be in touch when I establish dates for the next cohort.