BMP206 Holly Worton ~ Why You’ve Got to Be 100% Committed to Your Business Success

by | Jul 3, 2017 | Business, Podcast Episode

Today’s Guest

I’m back again, with another solo episode! This week I’m doing something I’ve never done before on the show: I’m taking you along with me on my long distance walk. I’ve walked the Wey-South Path twice this year: once in February and then again in May, and this week’s episode takes place on Day 2 of my May walk. You’ll get to experience a portion of the walk along with me, including all the sights and sounds and glorious birdsong.

Listen to this episode

  

What You’ll Learn

  • Why you’ve got to be fully committed to your business
  • How business is like long distance walking
  • Things for you to reflect on to make sure you’re really in it for the long game

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Transcript

The transcript for this episode can also be downloaded here (no opt-in required). 

Holly:   Hello, this is Holly Worton and this is a complete experiment! So, I am out walking the Wey South Path, and it is a glorious Saturday morning, the sky is full of fluffy clouds, and lots of blue in between the clouds, there is sun, which is so welcome after yesterday the first day on the trail and it was raining all day long. I put my waterproofs on at the beginning of the day and didn’t take them off until I got into my B&B, at about, just after 5pm, so it was a full day of rain. Today is day 2, out of 3, I am walking down the trail, I have got the river Arun to my right, and I have got the old Wey and Arun Canal to my left. I am just about to go over a stile now…

                        So, the point of this podcast, is to try something new, this was actually Elsie Escobar’s idea, I had a session with her to talk about my podcast, and how to really grow it, and make it better for you guys who listen in every week. And so she had this idea of taking you on a walk with me. So now that I have gone over the stile, I have still got the river to my right and the canal to my left. It is a narrow slightly muddy trail, grass on both sides; cow parsley is blooming, white flowers everywhere. There are tree branches covering the trail, I have got trees to my left. So, I am essentially walking along what was the old tow path of the canal; so, if you are not familiar with the old British canal system, which was…a lot of it was closed in the mid-1800s, they were used for transport throughout the country, and goods and people were carried on boats down the canal. And this was before motor roads or engines of that type, so the boats were towed by horses and the horses would walk along the tow path, and that’s where I am walking now. I hope you can hear the birds because the birds are singing, it is so glorious, ah the weather is just perfect.

So, tying this into the main topic of the podcast, with is of course, business mindset…I often think a lot about how long-distance walking correlates to business, and this might sound like a stretch to you, but it is totally not, and I think about this a lot because I do a lot of walking. I love doing long distance walking, or multiple day trails…a little bit of mud here now. I love walking because it gets me out in nature, it gets me out in green, beautiful landscapes; places like this where I can feel like I am in the middle of nowhere. I mean I am so close to the small town where I stayed last night, it wasn’t even a town, it was a village, but it feels like there is nothing around me, I have got the river to my right and the canal to my left, I am walking on this muddy path full of plants, it’s just glorious.

And so, walking provides a very needed retreat, to rest and relax and recharge, can you hear that duck he just flew off to the left? Or she, it was a she… It is such an important part of my life, because downtime is an important part of every business, self-care is an important part of every business. Every time I go on one of these walks I come back with new ideas for my business. [I just got stung by nettles on my left hand, that didn’t feel so good.] Oh, dragonflies or damselflies! They are a bright metallic blue, the wings are all iridescent, one of them just landed on a tree. So, anyway, it is very, very important for rest and recharging and recovering and just giving me he space to rest my brain so that I can fall back in love with my business; not that I have fallen out of love with it, but to take it to a new level, to really…and I know that sounds such cheesy, business catchwords [going over a stile again] but it really does give me a renewed love for my business, every time I do it.

So, let’s go back to walking as a metaphor for business, [almost slipped there] walking is like business, if you have never walked a long-distance trail, this trail isn’t very long, it is only just 36 miles, and I split it into 3 days so it is easy. You could do it in one day if you were crazy…but that wouldn’t be fun, that would just be a challenge. So, let’s take this walk, it is the Wey South Path, somewhere between 35 and 36 miles and, split it into three days, stay at B&Bs every night, go back home on the third day. And you have got a set amount of miles that you have got to walk each day, because you have to reach your destination every night, you have got to reach your bed and breakfast, or inn, wherever it is that you are staying. And, you have got to get there, because like I said you are out in the middle of nowhere.

Right now, the river has kind of snaked off to the right, it is no longer along the side of the trail, the canal is still to the left…I have reached an old lock, and a little bridge made out of red brick that’s covered with ivy, I am sure you can hear the water falling into the lock, it is an old lock and a bit broken, the lock doors are gone; but I am in the middle of nowhere, I can see a house off in the distance, that’s it. I have got to get where I am leaving the trail to get to my B&B tonight. It is like a goal in your business, except the difference between a business goal and walking this trail is that I absolutely have to achieve my goal, I can’t just stop, or give up, because I won’t be able to get home, because there are no roads where I am…I have got to get to my goal of reaching my spot today on the trail where I can take a taxi to my B&B or walk to my B&B like I did last night. So, that’s the thing about business goals, it depends on how you view them, sometimes people set goals and their goals are kind of like: ‘ah this would be kind of nice to achieve’ and then they may or may not achieve their goals. And then other people set goals and it is non-negotiable, it is like that long-distance trail: you will achieve your goals because you don’t give yourself any other option.

So, what is it like for you when you set goals in your business? Do you set the: ‘oh that would be nice’ or do you actually make it happen and treat it as a non-negotiable? I do both. Sometimes I set goals and think: ‘oh that would be nice’ and I don’t really do that much and then sometimes, the times that I make it happen, are the times that I am really, really, jazzed about the goal and I achieve it and it is easy because I am really excited about it. [I don’t know if you can hear I am slushing through mud now]

So, another important way that walking a long-distance trail is like running a business is you have to take it step-by-step, here yesterday the portion of trail that I walked was 12.5 miles, plus the mile walk from my home to the rail station in the morning; plus a mile walk when I got lost trying to find the trail head; plus a mile of actually getting to the tail head; plus a mile at the end of the day when I had to get to my B&B from the trail. [It is kind of hard to walk and talk and not trip and fall, so I just slid a little bit back there.] So, yesterday was 12.5 miles, plus and extra 4 miles, and I did it step-by-step. And it is the same in your business. So, it can be easy to get ideas for these big projects, set yourself goals, and then get overwhelmed. Did I get overwhelmed, yesterday when I started out in Amberley and ended up in Wisborough Green? No, because I just walked it step-by-step and that’s how you run your business. You break the big projects down into little actions, and you do them. Did I get disappointed…yes well, I guess I was disappointed when it was raining all day yesterday, but did I stop,did I quit? No, I kept going. That wasn’t what I wanted ideally, it would have been nice to have sun yesterday, it would be nice if business were easy, but sometimes challenges come up and you have got to learn how to be flexible and roll with those challenges, because they are unexpected.

Now this is England, walking even thought it is May, which is late springtime, you never know when it is going to rain. Let’s be honest, that’s what business can be like too, you can prepare for the best plan, you can try and take into account stuff that might come up, but let’s be honest, stuff changes. You don’t know what’s going to happen, you might hit roadblocks that you couldn’t have imagined and you have got to just go with it. When I talk about walking the trail step-by-step, running your business step-by-step, it is also important to be in it for the long game, you have got to commit to it. It is not easy, and I know that because this isn’t my first business…if you have heard me talk before you know that I have been in business since 1999, my first business ran for 10½ years, it was not easy, it was really, really, hard, but I stuck it out and amazing things happened. It was a really, really successful business, and the same with this business, it has changed so many times over the last few years when I first started out, in January 2011. it has had so many different incarnations, because as I grow and as I evolve, my business evolves with me and it becomes more and more me, as I get to know myself more and more. And so, when you start a business you have got to be committed to the long-game. If you really want to do this, if you really want to make your business a reality, you have got to commit to it. If that means working a full-time job on the side of your business, a part-time job on the side of your business, whatever it is, do what you need to do to allow yourself to commit, long-term to your business.

I see so many people quit their job right away, they don’t have enough money saved up to support themselves, they don’t realise how long it takes sometimes to make a business successful, and then they feel like they failed, because it is not working, it hasn’t replaced their job income, so they give up. You have got to be committed to the long-game. In the same way when you are walking a long-distance trail, you have got to be committed to reaching the end of the trail, or at the very least wherever it is that you are staying that night. However, like in the case of this trail, if I had of given up last night when I got to my B&B, I don’t know how I would have gotten home, there is no train station there…would I have taken a bus, a taxi? I don’t know. So, giving up isn’t easy, you commit to the long game, it is incredibly satisfying; and I felt that every time that I walk a long-distance trail, and I feel that with my business every day. Yeah, there are some downers but it is just so, it is so satisfying, to help the people that I help and develop the things that I develop and communicate and exchange and play with all of my business friends.

So, in the same way that you are doing your business step-by-step, you are committed to the long game, you also have to walk those steps at your own pace, and this is really, really, important; because if you are not walking at your own pace, you know what happens…you get really tired, you burnout. I am sure you have heard of burnout before. So, you have got to figure out what your own pace is and walk that and if you find yourself going too fast, slow down, give yourself permission to slow down. Give yourself permission to walk at your own pace, give yourself permission to run your business at your own pace (I am just going to go through a gate here) and this is a really important one because [I am just going to go over a bridge now – an old bridge that was restored some years ago and cross over the canal]. The reason that it is important to go at your own pace is because that’s the only way you are going to make it happen. If you try to go overboard with business and just drive yourself into burnout, it is not going to serve anyone, you are not going to be able sustain your business longterm, you are not going to be able to go anywhere, you are just going to burnout. And, this is also important because it is so easy to compare ourselves to other people: ‘so-and-so did it in six months; so-and-so did it in a year’. And you hear people say: ‘it takes three years’ in order to create a successful, sustainable business. You know what? It is different for everyone. Everyone has different circumstances and everyone has different abilities, different skills, different ways of making things happen. So, you can’t compare yourself to others, and this is really, really important.

 

And I am back! So, I have just had to take a quick break to check my map, because the trail was not very well marked, and then I picked up recording again, but because I had to take off my backpack to check my map, when I put it back on the microphone was a bit off…and it made a really, really annoying noise, and it was so bad for the last third of the podcast that I couldn’t release that part to you. So, I decided to go back out into nature and do it a second time; so I did it a second time, and the second time was also horrible [laughing]! So, I am here for a third time attempting to finish this episode. So, I decided to go back out in nature, I know there is a lot of wind today, but I am in a very protected place sitting with my back up against a tree, I have got a Holly tree to my left, and I am just surrounded by beautiful nature and I am sitting on a bed of fallen leaves, and I have got my back against this tree that’s all covered with moss. So, I felt like it was the best place to kind of continue.

So, taking up the thread of the podcast…so, I know you always hear people saying: ‘don’t compare yourself to others, the comparison game is not going to serve you’ and that’s so true. It is only going to hurt you, it is only going to hinder you. So, stop feeling sorry for yourself because you are not doing your business as fast as other people, because you don’t know their circumstances, you don’t know what skills they have that you might not have. You don’t know what help they had, you don’t know what connections they had, you don’t know the details of how they made their business happen. You may think you know how they made it happen, but you might just know the shiny bits that people choose to share as their story, and as we all know, people don’t usually share the full story. I don’t even share the full story, because some of it is not relevant, some of it probably is, but maybe I am just not aware of what I could be sharing that could be of interest and of use to other people. So, it is not an intentional withholding, it is sometimes I am not sure which bits to share, and which bits not to share, and I think that goes for a lot of people. So, getting back to the comparison game, it is always good to have the reminder to not do it. So, just give yourself a break, give yourself some compassion, and give yourself permission to do your business your way, step-by-step at your own pace and committing to the long goal, the long game.

So, I hope I have given you some things to think about today, and I really hope you enjoyed me taking you on, not one, but two, walks with me.

So, a quick reminder: why are you in this game? It is not easy. So, if you are going to do something that is a challenge, know why you are doing it, and walk the walk, step-by-step, at your own pace, being in it committed for the long game and that’s about all I have to say on the topic. So,I know that all the things I have said today you have probably heard of before, and you have probably read before, and you have probably heard me talking about before. But I think it all bears repeating and I think we all need a reminder of these things, because I think it gets really easy to slip back into the icky stuff sometimes. You know, I get upset with myself somethings for not going fast enough, even though I know that I wouldn’t have gotten to the point that I am today, without working at a slower pace. If I had been rushing along and hustling, I wouldn’t be where I am today and I am very, very, happy with where I am today, because I wouldn’t have had the time and space, if I were hustling all the time to step into all these new incarnations of my business. So, when I give this advice, it is important for me to say, that I am obviously not perfect at this. I fall into these traps, I still do. But that’s why we need this reminder to step out of the comparison game trap, to step out of feeling like we need to be moving faster, to hustle, to rush, rush, rush, and again, that may work for some people but it doesn’t work for everyone and if you are listening to me and you are listening to this episode and you have stuck with me this far I am going to guess that you are not the kind of person who is into the hustle, hustle, rush, rush, rush thing.

So, that leads me to another thing about walking the trail, it is very, very, solitary and for me the more time and more space I have on my own, alone, the better it is for my business. So, make sure you get enough alone time and space for yourself: mediate, free your mind, and do whatever it is that you need to do. And just give yourself the time and the place, and the space, this helps for me with seeing the bigger vision of my business and my life, it helps me to not get hung up on all the details, or my to-do list; because I think it is so easy for us to put our heads down and use work on the list, and work on ticking things off the list, but sometimes that means we end up doing the work that we don’t really need to be doing, because we are not looking at the bigger picture of our vision, and of our lives, and the lifestyle that we want, and how that all fits together.

So that’s it for now! I hope you have enjoyed accompanying me on this outdoors podcast episode. Thank you so much for listening and I know I always say that, but I am really, really grateful that you tune in every week, and it really means a lot to me.

So, if you ever have any feedback on the show just send it to: [email protected], I would love to hear from you. I would love to have any ideas for topics that you want me to talk about, stuff that you want me to dig deeper into, just get in touch, I would love to hear from you. And as always, I also love for you to take the conversation over to Facebook, come join me in my Facebook group, so if you just go to: hollyworton.com/group that will redirect you to my Facebook Group and just add yourself and I will add you…every day I check in and see who has requested to join, and I approve them.

So, I would love to see you in the Facebook Group, I would love to connect with you there, and I would love to continue the conversation about these episodes there. So, that’s all for now, thank you again for joining me and remember that you can always find the show notes on my website, so if you go to: hollyworton.com/206 you can find the show notes on this episode. Thank you.

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