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Welcome to Make More Money Without Selling Your Soul. The podcast for bold entrepreneurs ready to simplify scale and reclaim their time. I’m Polly Lavarello, Evergreen scaling strategist and cushy business pioneer. Join me and my occasional guests as we explore the themes of wealth, selling and well-being, because building a business that works for you changes everything. Let’s dive in.

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Hello and welcome to Make More Money Without Selling Your Soul. Today, I’m in your ears talking about the overwhelm that we can feel in January, and what we can practically do about it to ensure that we are not so overwhelmed we just go back into hibernation and hide away till March and April, because that would be a big shame. January is a great opportunity to make a lot of money and at the same time, like I’m so it’s Monday for me as I record this. This comes out on a Friday, but I’m recording it on Monday, January the fifth, and I’m not gonna lie, I just felt so much resistance to getting started. And it’s funny, because I don’t know if you relate, but in December, I did a workshop, a workshop that helped people plan their best year in business. Yet it was beautiful. We reflected on what worked, what didn’t work, what we need to be doing more of

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we reflected on, you know, what’s the best way for them to kind of create more lead gen, you know, get more leads into their business, make more sales, consistent cash flow, what that looks like in terms of their offer suite, all of the things, you know, and obviously, how to maintain healthy hours, healthy client boundaries, and really great client results. Like, it was really wonderful. And the reason why that kind of work feels so great is because when we’re in that space, we’re playing in the space of possibility. It’s the same space we play in when we invest in working with a mentor. It’s the same space we play in when we invest in a small program, or course, any of those things we’re always playing in a space of possibility as to how things get to look even bigger, brighter and better, and that is such a delicious space to play in. However, there comes a point, whether it’s kind of, you know, sitting down at your desk beginning of January, or whether it’s the first time you show up to a call with this new coach or mentor, or the first time you open up their portal of resources, where suddenly we are met with the earth shattering realization that now we just got to go do the thing,

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and January, it can be overwhelming, because we’re looking at the expanse of a whole year ahead of us. We’re thinking about really big projects we’d probably like to get off the ground. And you know, maybe right now, you have a relatively open social calendar, because it was rammed in December, and a lot of people are saving and recovering from December and January, so it’s very easy for our brains to become incredibly consumed by work, and quite often think, well, I’ve got all this space and time. Let’s just ram it all in there and and there’s the guilt of taking time off in December, so let’s make it really full. And that is also why for a lot of us, even at this stage where you’re listening to this, the first Friday into January, some people are still spiraling around overwhelm. Perhaps you’ve reached the end of this week, and you’re recognizing that you haven’t achieved anywhere near as much as you’ve been hoping to already. Congratulations, by the way, if that is not the case, but for a lot of us, overwhelm can become so all consuming, it can turn into a bit of a shame spiral. And I want you to know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. It’s cold. The days are still short. My kids just got back to school, so there’s been all of that back to school shenanigans going on, you know, in terms of mental space, like mom that trips coming up. Do we have everything we need and all that stuff going on?

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I know I’m certainly, I don’t know about you, but I’m spending more time indoors. And I’d probably like, you know, ideally, I should probably be getting out to the sunshine more. That’s when there is sunshine. Very fortunate that today or Monday, the one thing that’s working in our favor is that it is sunny and it snowed in Brighton. So that’s very fortunate. But if you’re remotely connected to your body, your nervous system, your hormones, or just reality, you may be feeling the very.

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Natural urge to hibernate. Like, for me, I have such a sensitive nervous system. I have, like, various chronic health issues following on from long covid And my goodness, like, my histamine reaction to Christmas was insane, like my whole face puffed up to the size of like, I don’t even know what it was, horrendous. So I definitely feel like my body is still readjusting, following on from all the indulgences of Christmas. So like there’s a lot, both mentally, physically and practically, that we are dealing with in the very first week of January. So you know, this isn’t about overwhelm. It’s not about forcing your body into a gear that it isn’t in. I want to share with you three simple, fun reframes, and at the end, I’m going to share something with you that I’ve created for those of you who want a calmer, clearer way to grow your business this year without working more hours or doing anything stupidly complicated. But before we get to that, let’s get into the three things I’m doing, like, you know, you know, I’m not a wellness guru or a life coach or any of these things, but as a CEO of a multi six figure business, which is very, very lean on team, which I do choose, but times like now, would I love a whole lot of people to pick stuff up for me?

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Yes, I would. But no, we have. We have a lean team. I don’t even know why I say we, because it’s me, the CEO, my assistant, Kim, my podcast producers, who their why and how you’re listening to this podcast right now, and my social media manager, the lovely Bella, and my mentor, that’s it. That’s us. So it’s very, very lean. And while there are things happening behind the scenes for me, like my social media is churning out, which is great, and Kim, bless her, is getting everything sorted for the mastermind day that’s happening on Friday. So there’s lots happening without me right now, but there’s still that sense that we often have when we first sit at the desk of like, oh goodness, where do I even get started? I’ve got client messages I need to respond to. I’ve got a bit of software that’s decided it doesn’t like me anymore. In fact, I hope you’re hearing this podcast. On Friday, I started my day to see that my podcast had been suspended. So there’s all sorts going on, usual stress. So here are the three little reframes that I had to remind myself of this morning. And the first one was, you’re your own boss. I was about to swear then, but let’s not start January like that. You’re your own boss, so act like it. So one of the strangest things I see with self employed people is this, they leave corporate they leave rigid structures, they leave someone else’s calendar, living in quarters, which means very little to them, and then they recreate the same pressure, but with less support. There’s no department to outsource all your crap to you got to do it yourself. So why are you trying to do the work of five different departments on one day?

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Let me remind you of something really important. There is no quarterly board meeting you have to walk into right now. There is no boss demanding a Q1 roadmap by Friday. You’re your own boss, which means you get to decide when your fresh start is, not January the first, not the first Monday back, not when Instagram says you should be back on it. You get to choose it could be March the first, April the first, your birthday, your business anniversary, a new moon, a full moon, a super moon, or, honestly, a random Tuesday that just feels right. It could be, you know, one of my favorite places for reflection and planning is on a plane. There’s something about being in the air, and I don’t know, I don’t honestly know that. I’m sure there’s some science behind it, but there’s something about being in a plane where just so much clarity drops in for me, and I find myself pulling out a journal, and that’s that’s where a lot of the magic happens for me.

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Because here’s the honest bit, the reason why January can feel uncomfortable is because the new beginning energy is sexy, okay? And seeing others, other people, talking about it makes us want it, because we know new beginning. Energy gives you momentum. It gives us drive, helps us reconnect with our business in a fresh way. So when we see other people riding that wave, it’s natural to think, I want a piece of that. But you don’t just need January to access it. You can choose to work half days this week. You could work half a week the whole of January. You could ease yourself in gently, and this is important. You can design a business that actually supports you doing that without your income taking a hit. But we’ll come back to that later. For now, I just want you to take a breath and remind yourself that you’re your own boss. If you want some of that fresh start energy that you see populating your social feed right now, you get to dig into that whenever you desire, rebel, do your own thing. You know if, if, by the way, of course, if you’re listening to this going, I love this Neo’s energy, and it’s really helping me.

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Provide a strong wave of like, optimism and excitement as we go into, you know, as we ride these short few dark months before we come into spring. Then you do you boo like, I’m not here to tell anyone how to do things, but if you are feeling the urge to hibernate, I just want to reassure you you are not behind. You’re just seasonal. There is a difference with that. Okay, the other thing I wanted to share, like the other thing that I did the moment I started feeling overwhelmed and again, this isn’t just a New Year’s thing. I do this all the time, because when I get excited, when I have big plans, what does my neuro, spicy brain love to do? It has them like circling like little galaxies in my brain, and I will literally throughout my day. It’s like I’m a little spaceship Voyager, and I’m bashing into each of them going, Oh God, that one’s not been done yet. Oh, that one needs this. That one needs that. And it feels so overwhelming and and it’s really hard, because, you know, when we’re intelligent, when we love business, when we know what we’re doing, of course, of course, we can always see more opportunities than we actually have the capacity for more stages. Would we like to be standing on more books? We’d like to be writing more conversations. We’d like to be having more big podcasts we’d like to be guesting on? You know that they’re all of those things out there, right? And ultimately, you know, if you had 10 times the hours you would, you know, you would have the opportunity to be doing even more of these things, right? Like, I’m not going to do the whole like, Oh, you do less. Like, no, if we could, like, use some crazy science, to 10 times our bodies, we’d get 10 times the outcome, right? But that’s not real life.

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That’s not real life. So instead, it pays to be smart, because while yes, you could be multiple bodied and do even more actually, do you even need it? Is that the thing that genuinely makes you happy? So I guess there’s a couple of things here. I’ve actually written notes around the first thing I wanted to say, but as I say this out loud, I’m like, before we even look at writing down everything in our head, which is what I was about to say. And I will get into the minutia of that in a moment, but I want to say before I get to that, like, take a moment as well to remind yourself of what makes you happy, okay? And I say that because I have seen a few people making big, bold declarations recently talking about their desire to be like, I don’t know, serve 1000 clients, make a million pounds, all of that kind of stuff. And sometimes it does incite a reaction to me where I’m like, Oh, am I thinking too small? Because in my mind, quite frankly, I’m kind of aiming more to, like, the 600,000 year seven, 750 like, I don’t know, a million. Just felt, I don’t know. Like, for me, like gradual growth in the multi six figures is where it’s been at for me for the last few years, and where I like to keep it, because I have a very balanced business and life. And there’s so many things I value outside of my business, like joy or joy within business. But, you know, being able to make all my children’s, you know, school events, which, yeah, they’re getting a bit older now, so maybe that’ll be less relevant soon. But you know, there’s a lot of those things that are really, really important to me. And so when I look at what happiness is for me, I’m like, how many clients is that? How much money is that? What way do I like to work with my clients? Do I prefer one to one? Do I really excel when I’m supporting people within a group format, when it comes to launching where am I in my like zone of genius? Where do I really shine and where? Where do I just hate it and therefore, like, never seem to get the outcome I desire. Like, you know, really taking a moment, because I know people last year who said to me, Polly, I didn’t touch a workshop or any webinar last year. I just focused on being on stages. I just focused on really carving out my niche as a thought leader, and they loved it, and all power to them, because that’s what they wanted. That’s what they went after, and that’s what they achieved for themselves. I really like keeping my work very much in the online sphere, as well as having in person meetups like I really learned that’s what I enjoy. In fact, my business model is a very much direct reflection of the things I really enjoy, and I don’t really do much outside of that. And so it is really figuring out for you where your joy is, because one of the things that will immediately whittle down your to do list is abandoning any galaxy right now that is taking up space in your head. Please go with me on this analogy that you know you just don’t need to be visiting right now. Maybe you don’t need to visit at all. Maybe you need to be watering the grass where it’s already growing, rather than looking at the grass over the fence. You know, like there is ambition, there is desire, there is growth, there is discomfort, and you are.

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Opportunities and all these sexy things, right? But there’s also an element of there’s only one of you. There’s only one of you, and we can be very distracted by other people’s desires and make them our own without recognizing if they really hold true to where we desire to go, if they’re really a match for the season of life that we’re in right now, like I am turning 40 in March, would you believe it? And my children are nine and 11, like they’re still just about at that age. You know, I read my son’s stories at bedtime. We play board games after school together. You know, he’s still very young and very Yeah, easy to influence. And my daughter is 11 and navigating secondary school, and says a lot of conversations with me about how that’s all going for her, and so I kind of feel very needed right now. And I’m sure any of you with older children listening right now, I’ll be like, well, enjoy it, because it doesn’t last much longer, and I’m very confident that as the children approach their teen years, I will feel less and less needed, and they will want less and less to do with me, and perhaps my business goals in those years will look very different, because I will feel more capacity to be stood on stages and doing things that take me further away from home. But right now, my business model is a perfect match for the life that I like to live. So firstly, just take a moment to check in with yourself on that. Just check that your goals are your own and not because you saw someone else doing it and thought you should do it too. Because, believe me, that is the fast track to resenting whoever it was that inspired you in the first place, resenting yourself and perhaps even resenting your business, all of which are not positive, right? None of, none of those things are helpful. So do take a moment to really think about what you want your business to look like. Because, believe me, when you are sure of what you want your business to look like, and you build it the way you want it to, your motivation will already be like 1,000% stronger because you are really excited about what it is, where you’re going you’re not there’s not some lingering doubt at the back of your head as to do I even really want this? Okay,

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okay. So the other thing I just wanted to say was, once you’ve done that, just take a moment to write it down. The tasks, the ideas, the shoulds, the half formed plans, the guilt based goals, no organizing, no judging, just empty the mental junk drawer. Okay, and now this is important bit I want you to look at the list again and think what is actually essential right now, not what feels loud, not what feels overdue, not what could you do if you pushed yourself, but what brings cash flow into the business this month, what supports the clients you already adore, and what means trust continuity and care for those in your world? Okay, that’s it.

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Okay. Just because your time off does not mean you need to do two or three times as much in week one. Okay. In fact, it’s a beautiful moment to be diagnostic. It’s going to show you what truly moves the needle, what is optional and what can wait and big projects like new websites, new big sales pages, full rebrands, unless something is actively broken, just put it on the back burner for now. January is an amazing month to make a delicious amount of sales that will set you up in a really good way for the rest of the year. So don’t distract yourself with those things, which you could be doing in quieter periods if needed, right? Okay, so January does not need to be a sprint, and honestly, the people I see winning aren’t running harder, they’re just making the better decisions. And finally, this is a short one, because it’s easy. January does not need to be a punishment month. Now you might be thinking, I don’t see January as a punishment month, but all the lights have been taken down. All the delicious food that previously filled the tables is no longer there. Suddenly, it’s being replaced by talks of running and eating well, and dieting and, you know, suddenly we just have riddled kind of abstemious, tiny little candles in the window rather than big displays. And suddenly all those social invitations you had have gone out the window. You know, we’re losing the socializing, we’re losing the nice for new food. We’re losing the connection, we’re losing the laughter, we’re losing all the happy films that we watch that you know, all the kind of nostalgia, all the family stuff. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I know Christmas isn’t the most positive experience for a lot of people, but I’m a big fan, if you can tell. And so for me, there is 100% a come down on the other side of December. But guys, if you live in the UK, we’ve got traitors.

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And I kind of I joke, but I joke not because ultimately, you know, my invitation to you is to find, where can you create joy in January, where can you put some social dates in the diary? You know, maybe.

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You’re feeling a little burnt out after Christmas. Maybe it’s as simple as going for a sauna or a spa or a swim with a friend, or simply just going to a coffee shop, you know, and catching up with a pal on Friday, so you have something nice to look forward to at the end of the week. Maybe it’s taking time to watch things you enjoy. Maybe it’s time to be intentional about what you watch and enjoy, rather than watching some random reality series. My goodness, Am I guilty of those you know, choosing to watch a lovely film with your partner or friend? You know, maybe start a hobby or revive an old one, put rewards into your week. You know, even if you’re choosing to eat better, like I am at the moment, not because of the dieting industry or a desire to suddenly lose a lot of weight, but more as a way to save my poor brain, which has been frazzled by all the histamine that’s been clouding it the last two weeks. But even then, you know, my husband downstairs was now, we were looking at delicious Middle Eastern recipes that have lots of seeds and nuts and vegetables and finding ways to make eating healthy joyous. So, you know, whatever you’re doing, don’t, you know, don’t allow January to kind of fool you into feeling you need to be disciplined and working hard and being, you know, like we started this year with some of the most horrifying news internationally, which I won’t go into, but you know, like it’s, it’s a weird time to be alive friends. So, you know, creating a life where you surround yourself with joy, prioritize joy, prioritize what makes you happy, and build a business that feels great for you really makes all the difference. Like we are the lucky ones, we are the ones designing our own businesses. But I wanted to say, if you are the kind of person who says they don’t want to be busy but is already looking at a jam packed calendar, if you’re the person who says, I know I could do a group program, but I’m not quite ready yet, if you are kind of making excuses for the future that you desire or putting it off. Then I have a delicious invitation for you on Tuesday the 21st of January. I’m running a free, live workshop. You know what? I just want to double check that it’s a Tuesday, because God bless chat GPT, put my notes together, and sometimes it gets dates wrong. And yes, it has it’s a Wednesday the 21st what is it? I mean, honestly, chat. GBT can do so many things, but when it comes to dates or times, it can never get it right. But anyway, Wednesday, 21st I’m running a free, live workshop for well wellness practitioners, therapists, coaches and service based business owners. You know, who want a business that feels clear, calm and financially sustainable. This workshop for years, if you are stuck in hustle or overwhelm, where cash flow feels inconsistent or confusing, where you’re unsure on what to prioritize week to week, like, if you’re looking at the year ahead going, Oh, well, I’m not overwhelmed, because I don’t I’m just doing the same thing. I don’t even know what to change. Like, that’s equally not the best place to be in because, you know, we want to be steering the ship in a good direction, and nothing is going to change unless something changes. So yes, I’m saying you don’t need to overhaul everything overnight. But equally, let’s be intentional, folks. So you know, if you’ve tried to box yourself into strategies that haven’t suited you in the past as well, this is going to be such a delicious Alexa in comparison. So inside this workshop, we’ll design a business model that shows you exactly what brings the clients in. It’s going to clarify what brings the money in, supports exceptional client experiences, allows your revenue to grow without working more hours, and does all of this without sacrificing your well being. No Hype, no do more, no complicated funnels that you’ll never implement, just a strategy that fits you. And I wanted to say before I wrap this episode up, like just before Christmas, I received the most delightful Christmas card from my client, Tanya, which within the Christmas card and the lovely bauble she sent me, but within the Christmas card, she shared that she couldn’t have believed a year ago that she would be running a group program and that it had changed her life. And I feel like there was some Oh yes, this was a bit that really got me. The phrase you used was, it’s got me thinking so much bigger now. It’s got me thinking so much bigger now. And I just read this card, and I just wished anyone sat on the fence could see this, because it is true that she genuinely was uncertain as to whether now is the right time, and she couldn’t have believed it a year ago, and yet. Now, the other thing she shared in the card was it’s the most favorite part of her business, like she really, really enjoys running it, so it’s been successful. It’s got clients in. She’s in really enjoying running it, and it’s.

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Something she didn’t believe was possible a year ago. So your situation can change. If you are feeling overwhelmed, if the year ahead feels big and wobbly, if you do feel tired from overwhelm and indecision, or all the different things you could be doing, or all the strategies you’ve tried that have felt too heavy for you to carry, then my invitation to you is to join my workshop slash training on Wednesday the 21st of January. It’s at 1pm GMT, or, I think, 8am EST. So you’re very welcome, whether you’re across the pond or in the UK or in Europe, whatever. It’s International, it’s on Zoom. I really, really really welcome you to come. There is absolutely there will be an invitation at the end, but zero pressure to buy. And what I can promise you is, whether or not you choose to come and work with me after this training, that you will still leave with a million times more clarity than you have right now, and a very clear roadmap as to what you need to be focusing on in 2026 to have all the success, all the cash flow, all the joy, all the clients, and really live that life that you deserve. All right, that’s it from me. Hope to see you at the workshop. If not, I will be in your ears next week with another episode where I’ll be talking about the importance of positioning in 2026.