Being a business owner is exhausting. The demand for your time, focus, and energy is always there, pulling at you. And, as a coach or service provider, it may seem like your business calendar is consistently filled with launch dates.
Launches require a ton of work. From creating the offer, brainstorming your launch market activities, the launch itself, and then there’s facilitating your program. That’s months of long days and nights – hours of meetings and consultations. Forget it if you’re launching several times a year.
You know it’s a necessary evil if you want to grow your business, but it’s so taxing.
Just thinking about it is draining.
So, it’s easy to see why millions of coaches and entrepreneurs experience launch fatigue.
This is something that is so common but is rarely talked about. That is until today.
I’m sure when you decided to leave your 9-5 and start your coaching business, you probably never imagined the hard work and dedication needed to get your business off the ground and sustain it. No one ever defined what it meant to hustle hard for the life you envisioned as an entrepreneur. Now the glamour and luster are starting to fade.
So, what can you do to reignite the fire you once had when you started your business? How can you recover from launch fatigue? How can you prevent future bouts of burnout?
Before I address these questions, let’s discuss identifying the symptoms of burnout.
Identify Burnout
Like a physical ailment, before you reach a full-blown case of launch fatigue, some symptoms will appear. And, the first layer of defense to fight against it is to know what those symptoms are so that we can take the appropriate preventative measures and know when we are approaching our limits.
According to Hubspot, some burnout symptoms are:
- Sense of defeat
- Avoidance of work
- Detachment
- Loss of motivation
- Loss of satisfaction in work
- Feeling flat or numb
But there are other symptoms too. They are:
- Lack of focus
- Trouble concentrating
- Difficulty completing any required tasks
- Trouble sleeping
- Consistent negative outlook or feelings
Do any of these symptoms sound familiar? Does it seem as if I’ve stepped into your office and taken a sneak peek into your business life? If your answer is, “yes,” then let’s discuss how you can recover from launch fatigue and burnout.
How to Recover from Launch Fatigue
We’ve all heard that hindsight is 20/20. And, looking back on our entrepreneurial journey, we can all see where we’ve suffered from burnout. We can see how we’ve tried to bounce back from it. There were some healthy and unhealthy ways that we’ve tried to reignite our spark.
Here are 4 simple and realistic ways to recover from launch fatigue you can integrate into your schedule today.
Avoid saying “Yes”
This is a big one. It’s something that most of us have the hardest time doing. So naturally, as a coach, you want people to be happy, satisfied, and for them to get what they want. Even if it comes at a cost to you. However, establishing a boundary is essential for you in finding, renewing, or keeping your peace, happiness, and joy. Avoiding saying “yes” to demands of your time and energy is more than telling someone “no.” It means knowing your capacity limits and what you can fit on your plate.
Can you ever say “yes” to anything? Well, there’s nothing wrong with the word “yes.” It’s a fabulous word. You can say “yes” to more self-care, meditation, more sleep, alone time, or even adjustments to your next launch. However, saying “yes” to more work, more launches, wrong clients, or bonuses just to close that on-the-fence prospect is not what you need right now.
Don’t make more work for yourself when you’re running on empty. The extra demands are not good for you or your team. And guess what else is going to suffer? Your business.
Proper Planning
In my 15+ year career of working with coaches, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve worked on last-minute rushed launches. A stroke of genius would happen late at night, followed by a team meeting to rally the team and encourage them to pull off this launch of a completely new product in a month. That’s ludicrous!
I’m not saying that you can’t move on to a new idea, product, or service. But, you need to allow for proper planning for your offer design and launch. With proper planning, you can grant your team and yourself time to plan your launch appropriately and allow time for life to happen. That means giving you the time and space to launch at your own pace.
Good Healthcare Routine
There’s something that can be said about the triple team of diet, exercise, and sleep. How can you go wrong? If you eat better, your body is properly fueled. If you exercise, your mind and body are loose and ready for activity. If you get adequate sleep, your body is reset and ready for the next day. You don’t have to turn into a health nut, gym rat, or sleep for 12-15 hours daily. But proper care of your body will not only sustain you for business activities, it will also improve your life overall.
Prioritize, then Delegate
We all have our to-do lists. You know that ever-growing list of tasks to accomplish by the end of the day. Yep. We’re still buying into the idea that we must finish the 12 tasks by 5PM today. And, if we don’t, we’re complete failures, and we move them over to the next day. And, not our list for tomorrow has grown by 10.
Stop it. Re-evaluate your list. Choose 3 things to accomplish tomorrow. One that is crucial/critical. Another important one. And the last one can be another important task or a “this will make my day” task. For everything else, look at your team and see who you can delegate it to. Then, send the message, give the details or instructions, and let it go. It may seem that it’s easier said than done. But let me ask you. Why did you hire them if not to help you and to alleviate the stress and demand on you?
Ready to Recover from Launch Fatigue?
Now’s the time to replenish your giving well and recover from launch fatigue successfully. If you want to alleviate and prevent future burnout and get you back in the CEO seat refreshed and replenished, schedule a consultation with me to see how our funnels and systems can help.
Preventing a Relapse in Burnout
The longer you remain a coach, you will find something to be true. You will inevitably run into a huge wall of fatigue. However, there is something you can do to prevent full-blown burnout.
Create a sales funnel
You have a program that you want to sell like hotcakes. You want qualified leads lining up at your door begging to get into your program, right? And you want to create this buzz without having to interview every prospect.
A high ticket sales funnel eliminates the demand of you always showing up to sell your high ticket offer. If the funnel is crafted correctly, you can dictate when and how you show up to sell your program. In addition, you can create your funnel in a way that it will nurture your prospect straight to an order form and checkout. That’s right. You don’t have to jump on a call, look at an application, or respond to an email.
How is that for eliminating stress and frustration?
Integrate a Business Funnel
A business funnel is a collection of processes that moves your prospects and clients through your business and nurtures them into lifetime brand ambassadors. When you have processes, like onboarding, client management, and offer facilitation/delivery, in place, they automate aspects of your business, creating an environment your clients will love. Not only are they able to experience the transformation you promised, but they are also impressed by the 5-star culture you’ve created.
This funnel prompts your clients and prospects to go into their communities, ranting and raving about your business and their experience. This drives more traffic to your business and new prospects clamoring for your program. The beauty of a business funnel is that since these are processes, they can be automated or delegated – limiting the stress and demand on you.
While launch fatigue is common, it’s time that you take a step back and regroup. You can overcome burnout.
