I have worked with so many small business owners across the years and these are 4 lies they consistently tell themselves. Do any of these sound familiar to you?

It will be faster if I do it myself

Maybe, but this argument falls apart if you ever have to repeat the task.

This is a great example of short-term thinking (this is true for this unique circumstance at this unique moment in time) wrecking your chances for greater long-term success.

Documenting the process and delegating it to someone else will ABSOLUTELY take more time today, but this is an investment that will save you time over and over and over and over and over again.

Installing a garage door opener takes a lot longer than getting out of your car and opening the garage by hand, but it saves you tremendous time and energy every day after.

Busyness is a badge of honor

I work with so many people who, like me, have spent a long time believing that exerting a great deal of effort for long periods of time is a marker of how valuable your contributions are. 

Staying late and outpacing those around you aren’t bad things, they just aren’t the point. The point? To build a business that serves you. (Not the other way around)

Sometime that will require extra effort on your part…and sometimes it will require you to delegate, delegate, delegate so you can rest, dream big dreams, or just take your kids for an afternoon bike ride.

No one knows what I’m going through

While it is painfully clear to small business owners everywhere that their friends with “real jobs” don’t really understand what it’s like to run your own business, you are absolutely not alone.

Session after session with client after client has revealed that while the names and places change, the obstacles and opportunities small business owners face are incredibly similar.

Your non-owner friends may not get you, but other small business owners will. Go find them. 

(If you’re having a hard time tracking them down, I bet I’ll understand where you’re coming from and you know where to find me…)

I can’t do this

Actually, you probably can, just not today. 

The shift from “I can’t do this,” to “I can’t do this YET,” is an absolute game changer. Instead of making a definitive declaration about the totality of your abilities, you shift to making a short-term assessment about what you are capable of in this moment. 

With the addition of one simple three-letter word you acknowledge that you have the capacity to learn new things and to expand your abilities over time. 

Leaning into your potential and pursuing the great work in front of you is fraught with danger because you do not presently have all the skills and tools you will need to get from here to “done,” but that doesn’t mean you can’t acquire them along the way. 

You CAN do this, you just need to grow a little first.
If you are feeling overwhelmed as a small business owner, download my free Anti-Overwhelm Playbook today. It will help you find the clarity and direction you need to overcome overwhelm and cancel the chaos so you can build your business with complete clarity.