We Have to Talk About Going Offline

In order to grow your online business, you have to spend more time offline.

Hear me out.

We think if we just scroll a bit more, Claude-prompt a bit better, or rack up more courses faster, a time will come where we'll break through the Mario Bros-brick wall and find a golden key of success.

But I'm here to tell you:

That's all a lie.

Building your business takes time.

Not "just work 12 hours a day" time. You're already doing that.

Like putting a vanilla bean in vodka and letting it sit in your pantry until it becomes vanilla extract time. The kind that needs to build and marinate.

Your message will get better and more refined over time. You'll get referrals from customers. After working with enough people, you'll probably have an idea for the one-million-dollar offer I teach you how to build in my book.​

If you keep at it, success is going to happen. It might look differently than what you think right now. That might be a good thing.

But one of the biggest reasons people fail somewhere between the beginning and their vanilla extract ripening is because they burn out.

🤳 Their fingers are stiff from all the doomscrolling.

👀 They've spent more time watching what so-and-so is doing in her program that they forgot to build their own.

Business success isn't on the other side of consuming someone else's content.

​
It's about going out and doing things interesting enough to actually make your own.

Do you have hobbies outside your business, Reader?

What's your screen time like?

What's your go-to expressive outlet when you need to let off some steam?

Not only will the answers to those questions dictate how centered and calm you will be as a business owner, but...

Your answers to those questions will make your business ultimately more successful, too.

My newsletter last week was about my frustrating tennis lesson, which I couldn't have written if I didn't play.

I write nearly every day to work out my worries, anxieties, and frustrations on the page so I don't take it out on my business.

My recent 8-week pottery class taught me more about dismantling my perfectionism than any IG carousel ever could.

I don't do these things for the content.

It's made me a calmer, more fun, and hopefully more interesting human... and it's just so happened to make me a better writer, creative, and entrepreneur, too.

I know you're busy, Reader. You don't have to sign up for big classes or take private lessons or really do anything fancy to get offline more.

We don't have to go live off-grid somewhere in Vermont. Although it would be fun, and we could grow all of our own vegetables.

We "have to" be online for our jobs. But are we offline for our lives?

Spending more time online -- beyond what you truly need to grow your business -- is not the answer to growing your business.

I think the answer is actually much simpler. Much quieter. And with zero blue light (no glasses needed!).

It might be the thing that's missing in your life if joy feels like a distant cousin floating out to sea.

By the way -- do you want a second newsletter from me each week (on Wednesdays)? If so, click here, and I'll add you to the list→​

If you want it ^, you'll hear more about reclaiming joy in our lives after a tough season, getting offline in an online world (even though we have online businesses), and the mindset it takes to become a founder (and the one it's going to require to shift into my next season!).

Sound like something you want to read? Click here→ and I'll send it to you on Wednesday.

You can always unsubscribe from it later (while still getting this email each Tuesday).

Talk soon!

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.​

🔗 Links You'll Love

📝 On my Substack, I wrote about how I'm re-wilding myself after feeling like my life burnt to the ground when I lost both parents back-to-back. Starting with: hobbies! READ IT HERE→​

🎙️ ON YOUR TERMS®️ Doing Less is The Strategy If you've ever caught yourself googling "best loose leaf tea" at 10 pm because you're determined to get the absolutely best option available -- this episode is for you. I've been on a journey to do less. Not so I can do more. This isn't a productivity hack. It's so that I can feel more present in my life, get in touch with what I actually want, and stop watching everyone else live their life more than I'm actually living my own. If this resonates, this episode is for you. 🎧 Listen here→ Why Doing Less is Actually The Strategy

If you have to, Unsubscribe here and break my heart. | Or you can just update my name and email preferences.

I love mail! Send it here: PO Box 1112, Setauket, NY 11733