Healthy Business Habits & Routines Build a Healthy Business
My business coach once told me something that stopped me in my tracks: “Your business is a habit.” At first, I didn’t get it. But then I realized she was right. Every little thing we do (or don’t do) in our business adds up to create our success or hold us back.
Last fall, I had a wake-up call. I was meeting with my marketing consultant when I noticed I kept giving the same answer to every marketing question: “I’ll just post more on Instagram.” But when I looked at my actual business numbers, Instagram wasn’t even my best marketing tool! This made me stop and think about all my other business habits.
Here’s the thing: we all have business habits.
Some help us grow, while others hold us back. The good news? Once you spot the habits that aren’t helping, you can change them.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- How to spot habits that are hurting your business (and find the ones that help)
- A simple 15-minute weekly routine that will keep your business on track
- Why rest needs to be part of your business plan (not just a wish list item)
- How to change your habits without feeling overwhelmed
Want to know if your habits are helping or hurting your business? Try this: For one week, write down how you spend your time each day. I put this off for years, but when I finally did it, wow! It showed me exactly where my time was going and what I needed to change.
The best part? You don’t have to change everything at once. Pick one habit to work on. Maybe it’s creating a weekly planning routine. Or setting specific times to check social media. Start small, and build from there.
Remember: a gentle business isn’t a lazy business.
It’s a business that works with you, not against you. It’s built on habits that help you serve your clients well while taking care of yourself too.
Ready to build better business habits?
Start with my Weekly Reset Routine Mini Workshop
It’s designed to help you create an intentional and and less stressed
weekly schedule in just 30 minutes or less.
Have you felt like your business
is off and not sure why?
Maybe you are not showing
up as YOU in your business.
Take the Business Personality Quiz & Find Out!
Let’s Connect:
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/martagoertzen
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/selahstudiosco
TRANSCRIPT:
[00:00:00] Let’s play a quick word association game. I’m going to say a few words, and I want you to consider your initial thought or associated action step with each of these: your accounting, profit and loss statement, marketing plan, launch plan, visibility plan, vacation plan.
[00:00:21] What plans, steps, or mindset attitudes come to mind when you hear words like these? Our businesses are built on habits, routines, mindsets, and default ways of thinking. So it’s important to ask: is your business being built on healthy versions of these? Last fall, I had a big wake-up call regarding my visibility plan and my default thinking that has changed the way I do things in my business.
[00:00:48] Hey there, I’m your host, Marta Goertzen, and welcome to Doing Business Gently. This is a podcast for women who are ready to think and do business from a place of purpose and intention. If this sounds like you, and you’ve wondered what it means to have a gentle and aligned business, you are in the right place.
[00:01:07] This is a safe place where we’re going to talk about life-business integration. We approach this idea by creating a life-first business—one that is aligned to fit you, your values, priorities, personality, and the current season of life you are in.
[00:01:22] We also talk about how to find business clarity so that you’re not constantly second-guessing every decision you make in your business, how your faith and business can work together, and how you can do this from a place and habit of rest.
[00:01:35] So join me today as we look at healthy habits and routines that build a gentle business.
[00:01:42] This episode is brought to you by the Weekly Reset Routine Mini Workshop. It is a mini workshop created for Christian women entrepreneurs who are ready to de-stress their weekly business schedule in 30 minutes or less. In this workshop, you will learn:
- How a simple weekly routine can help keep you on track
- How to make intentional and purposeful decisions
- How to plan for and not forget important life and business matters
- Quick ways to slow down, take a deep breath, and prepare your heart and mind for the week ahead
[00:02:23] This mini workshop includes a video and workbook walkthrough that guides you through each step of the routine, along with tools and suggestions on how to tailor and customize it for you and your business. Start your new healthy habit and routine for your gentle business with a weekly business reset routine.
[00:02:39] You can learn more at https://SelahStudios.co/weeklyreset.
[00:02:46] I have a business coach who says “your business is a habit.”
[00:02:51] The first time I heard her say that years ago, it really gave me pause for thought. I realized that how I spend my day and how I plan my business (or sometimes don’t plan my business) either held me back or helped me move forward.
[00:03:08] This is something we can’t ignore, but often we get so stuck in default ways of thinking—entrenched ways of thinking—that until we take the time to examine it and become aware of it, we don’t even realize we’re doing it.
[00:03:24] Our business is built on our habits, on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly schedule:
- How you decide to market your business
- How and when you market your business
- When you review your business and its performance
- How you plan your business
- How you plan your workday, week, month, and year
[00:03:43] When you look at your habits and routines, are they healthy? Habits and routines also include default ways of thinking or habitual thinking patterns—mindsets that can build us up or hold us back. These are patterns of doing business that we don’t even think about anymore; those entrenched habits that we just do without consideration.
The Instagram Wake-Up Call
[00:04:28] Last fall, I was working with a marketing consultant to take my business in new directions regarding marketing and reaching new audiences. I had a shock moment when I realized my default answer to her question about my visibility plan was always, “I’ll just post more on Instagram.”
[00:05:03] After about the third time I said that, I had to pause and ask myself: Why is that my visibility plan? Why is my first answer always to post more on Instagram? Through our discussion, we realized that much of the training I’ve received encourages using free social media platforms. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, it becomes problematic when it’s my default answer to everything marketing-related.
[00:05:52] When I examined my numbers from quarterly and yearly business reviews, Instagram wasn’t actually my top performer in generating leads and building community. Even though my default thinking was to post more on Instagram, the data showed this wasn’t the best use of my time.
Examining Social Media Habits
[00:06:12] This realization triggered another line of thinking about my relationship with social media, both personally and professionally. I questioned whether I was spending too much time on it, including sending too many memes and reels to my sister and friends.
[00:06:34] I ultimately decided to remove the apps from my phone, only adding them when I need to post something that must be done from mobile. I either delete them immediately afterward or by the end of the week, ensuring they’re off my phone over weekends.
[00:07:02] These habitual changes in how I interact with and use social media have made a significant difference in my mental health and business focus. It’s opened up new ways of thinking about marketing and visibility.
Tracking Your Time
[00:07:45] One simple tool that can reveal a lot is documenting how you spend your day for at least a week. I resisted doing this for a long time, but when I finally did it a couple of years ago, it was eye-opening. It showed me both unhealthy patterns and surprisingly good routines I had developed.
[00:08:13] This awareness helped me understand whether I was using my time wisely and stewarding it effectively. Were my habits helping me serve my clients and grow my business simply and sustainably? Were these habits allowing me to do business gently?
Healthy Business Habits to Consider
[00:09:31] Here are some essential healthy habits and routines to consider:
1. **Weekly Business Reset Routine**
[00:09:39] When I created this process for myself a few years ago, I needed something that would allow me to:
- Review the week behind me
- Assess pending items
- Take time for prayer and gratitude about my business
- Plan for the coming week
- Transfer necessary tasks to the new week
[00:10:37] This simple 15-20 minute weekly process makes a dramatic difference in feeling prepared and less stressed about the week ahead.
2. **Regular Business Reviews**
[00:10:59] Implement monthly or at least quarterly business reviews to examine:
- Goals
- Statistics
- Data
- Finances
[00:11:18] This data helps you identify trends, successes, and areas needing change, allowing for more intentional and purposeful decisions.
3. **Seasonal Reflections**
[00:12:11] While monthly or quarterly reviews focus on hard numbers, seasonal or yearly reflections examine your business from physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual perspectives. These reflections help ensure your business aligns with your overall well-
4. **Intentional Rest**
[00:13:22] Learning to rest should be built into your schedule—not as a wish or want, but as an essential task in your business plan.
[00:14:15] If you want a gentle and aligned business, healthy habits and routines can help you get there. These tools provide information, resources, and trends to help you grow sustainably and do business gently.
[00:14:32] I’d love to hear from you about the habits and routines you find helpful in your business. You can find me on Instagram—the link to my profile is in the show notes below.
[00:14:47] Remember, if you examine your schedule and don’t like what you see, don’t be discouraged. This awareness is a tool for positive change. Start with changing just one thing next week. When you’ve mastered that, add another layer.
[00:15:45] Thanks for joining me today. In the next episode, we’ll examine what a gentle business is not. We’ve been focusing on how to build a gentle business, but there are some myths we need to address.
[00:16:01] Did you learn something in today’s episode? Did anything grab your attention? If so, could I ask a quick favor? Please take about 30 seconds to leave a rating and review for this podcast. While this is a common request in podcasts, it truly is a simple and easy way to support this show and help get these episodes in front of other women who are ready to learn how to do business differently and gently.
Marta Goertzen is a Gentle Business Coach and founder of Selah Studios, host of the Doing Business Gently podcast. She helps Christian women entrepreneurs over 50 rediscover who they’ve become, realign their business to match, and fall in love with their work again, gently, at their pace, without starting over. As an avid photographer and lover of the outdoors, she daily explores the trails and beaches of the South Central Oregon Coast with her dog Mochi in tow. Take the free Business Alignment Audit as your gentle first step, a way to pause, get honest, and see clearly where you and your business are right now: https://SelahStudios.co/alignmentaudit