Issue #63: Every entrepreneur I know is tired.

There is a shift happening in this space and here's my theory on the cause.

Over the past few months, every time I hop on social media, refresh my podcast feed, or open up the YouTube app, I see another entrepreneur letting their audience know that they are scaling back their business because they are either burned out, extremely overwhelmed or have unintentionally built a business that they no longer love. I’ve seen so many entrepreneurs take an extended break, scale back to being part-time in favor of going back to a 9 to 5, or quit altogether.

Not only am I one of the people in that number but I’ve also had conversations with friends who are focusing on simplifying their businesses so that they can have more time for themselves and who are struggling to get going this year because of exhaustion.

Most recently, entrepreneur Vanessa Lau, shared a video on YouTube explaining why she shut down her 7-figure creator business. In the video, she states that the comparison trap, imposter syndrome, the pressure of people people-pleasing, and trying to find worthiness through constantly becoming bigger and better, led her to create a business that was no longer true to who she was. Which also resulted in her not taking care of herself physically and normalizing the anxiety that she was feeling. So she left.

I don’t believe the reason why so many of us are walking away from the businesses that we have built is a coincidence. So why is this mass exodus happening?

My theory is that everything that many of us have learned about entrepreneurship is taking a toll on our mental and physical health. And now we’re all at the point where we’re realizing the damage that has been done.

If you launched a business or even consumed any type of entrepreneurial content between the years of 2015 and 2020, then you have been subject to the toxic ways of building a business. For years we were told to be better, scale bigger, and tap into whatever income stream would make us the most money the fastest. We’ve been told that the only way to truly be successful is to grow our team, to hustle and focus on money by any means necessary, and to make 6-figures the goal. And if for any reason we decided to question those techniques, then we were told that we had a scarcity mindset.

We were made to believe that there was only one true way to have a successful online business and that it was worth neglecting the people we loved and our well-being to make it to the top. Eventually, everyone’s business began looking the same. We were all selling the same courses, we all had similar messaging, hell even our brand photography all looked similar. We became puppets to the “hustle culture” without even realizing it.

But now I believe that there is a shift happening. Because we’ve experienced so much exhaustion and in many cases unhappiness, we’re realizing that a lot of what we’ve been taught about how to build a successful business is not only outdated but it’s also bullshit. 🤷🏽‍♀️ And the entire coaching/course/creator industry needs an overhaul. Unfortunately, I believe that hitting rock bottom for many of us has been the wake-up call that we needed.

So how do we change this? This can be an entire article in itself but I believe that we have to begin focusing on what we DON’T want. When we get clear on what we don’t want to create and what we need to unlearn, we’re more likely to not bring those old habits into whatever we create next.

Then I believe it’s important to spend some uninfluenced time by yourself, thinking about what you do want. When I quit my coaching business back in 2022, I spent a ton of time journaling through my thoughts, going back through old journals and just asking myself what I would do if I could truly do anything. During this time I didn’t consume any content or look to anyone else’s business because I wanted to be sure that the decisions I made were based on my idea of happiness and success and not anyone else’s.

Lastly, I believe it’s important for us to keep sharing and being honest about what we’re experiencing and how we’re deciding to do business differently. I have had many conversations with people about the changes that need to be made but there are still thousands of people out there who are still falling for the toxic hustle culture advice. I believe the more we share our experience, the more we can help other entrepreneurs avoid making the same mistakes that we’ve made.

Ultimately, as I mentioned before, the entire coaching industry needs an overhaul. I want to see less focus on making 7 figures and more focus on teaching creators how to make enough. I want there to be less teaching on how to build a scalable business and more focus on building a sustainable business that brings you joy.

Conversations like these are a constant reminder of why I’m so serious about building Mind Body Brand and why spaces like the ROOTED community are so needed. If everyone is still teaching the same old hustle tactics, there needs to be a space for those who see it for the bullshit that it is. And it’s my goal to build a company that shows entrepreneurs that there is a different and more sustainable way of doing business.

I’d love to chat with you about this! What do you feel needs to change in this industry?

Cheers to a restful week!

– Alisha

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GOOD FINDS

🩸 A quick self-care guide for when it’s that time of the month. – The Everygirl

🥴 Is anxiety making it hard for you to do your job? Try these tips the next time you’re at work. - SELF

DON’T FORGET TO BREATHE