Box52 Coaching & Consulting Services - Blog #clarityBox52 Coaching & Consulting Services - Blog #clarityhttps://www.box52coaching.com/blogs/tag/clarityThu, 07 May 2026 20:17:03 -0700http://zoho.com/sites/<![CDATA[5 Ways to Stay Authentic as a Solopreneur]]>https://www.box52coaching.com/blogs/post/5-Ways-to-Stay-Authentic-as-a-SolopreneurSolopreneurs know the value of authenticity and honesty in doing business, and here are five tips from real people who started or kept their business going in the tumultuous environment of 2020.]]>

Solopreneurs: Honesty, Authenticity and Courage

    

    If 2020’smayhem and maladies taught solopreneurs anything, it was the value of authenticity and honesty. The virtue of courage, where the value of honesty resides, was tested repeatedly. For business owners trying to survive in the a face of a grossly mismanaged pandemic and ongoing racial injustice, there was no hiding from the long list of questions, such as 

      • What are my core values and how do they show in my business?
      • Will I need to pivot my services and products? 
      • What do my customers need right now to feel cared about and important? 
      • Do I have the physical and mental energy to do what is needed? 
      • Where can I find reliable guidance and support?
      • What do I need to stop doing right now to stay in business? 
      • Who can I trust? 


And, yet, single-owner LLCs and sole proprietors continued to create experiences that felt right and familiar for customers. They provided moments of normalcy in a tumultuous year. Sometimes it came in the form of artisanal bread produced at the ultra-local level and delivered to your doorstep. Or meditation and movement offered by yoga instructors teaching outdoors or via video to keep their communities connected. Maybe it was personalized fitness and conditioning brought by a masked instructor, helping to reduce anxiety and keeping people fit. Lessons of all types were offered from in-person studios, living rooms and virtual settings—even drumming instruction for children! 


Fellow independent, one-person business owners shared their challenges and coping methods with Box52 Coaching. Here are some key take-aways.


Keep Your Vision Front and Center

It is not enough to write a vision statement for a business plan. Believing and sharing that vision of how the world will be better because of your product or service is equally, if not more important. Post it in a prominent place where you work, live, and look (like on your phone!). Refer to your vision often and use it as a touchstone when making difficult decisions. 


Find Financial Fortitude

Being your own boss means doing a deep dive on your values around money. Consider questions like the following:

        • How comfortable are you without a predictable paycheck? 
        • What does financial security mean to you? 
        • How will you stop undervaluing your service or product and begin to charge what it is worth? 


This is NOT an area to avoid or put off. Questions about what you are or aren’t willing to do for a profit are better answered before you are in a financial bind. It takes serious resolve to endure the ups and downs of generating revenue each month. Establishing a separate bank account for your business will prevent many headaches in the future. Find more important tips here to reduce money management worries. 


Put Your Biz First with Boundaries and Drop the Guilt

It is HARD to let go of the feeling that you must work ALL THE TIME when it is you and only you taking care of your business. Build in regular reminders that you are your best self when you are comfortable and relaxed running your business. This means taking breaks and keeping your life multi-dimensional. Create a routine to shape your work day. This strategy is especially critical if you operate out of your living space. Scheduling work hours helps to eliminate the feeling that you should be doing something else, like caring for your home and any other beings who live there. It also helps those around you to know when they can gain your full attention, rather than becoming another interruption. Tackle guilt head on. It wastes your precious energy.


Take Care of Your Body/Mind

As a certified health and wellness coach, I can’t emphasize self-care enough. Rest (sleep and other forms) allows vital physical processes to occur in your body. Dr. Matt Walker, a sleep guru with degrees in neuroscience and neurophysiology, shares why soundly snoozing is important. He offers six tips for getting more and better sleep.


Eating a balanced, nutritious diet provides a quality source of energy to stay focused and to meet your business demands. Keep fruits, veggies, and nuts handy to snack on. Drink water. You can add edible essential oils or slices of fruit to make water taste better without extra sugar or sugar alternatives. 

Whether you call it exercise or not, find ways to include more movement in your day. Dance, walk, run, bike, swim, snowshoe, chair yoga, kickbox, spin, or roll. Whatever your body is capable of doing, do it. Just be sure to get it into your daily routine. Your brain will thank you, along with the rest of your body. Need more proof? Check out this article about all the benefits.


Stop putting off preventive and routine medical care. Find a new primary care physician and go for an appointment. Schedule with the dentist. See an eye doctor. The upfront time and effort it takes to do these tasks can be frustrating, but it is worth the investment. Being healthy is not a guarantee, and many individuals manage chronic illness while leading their business. Remember, taking care of yourself is a type of insurance for your business. Suze Orman, whose whole business is money, shares her personal denial and ultimate health consequence here.


Seek Out Support

Even though you made the leap to be on your own, you are not alone. Find other solopreneurs to brainstorm ideas. Connect with local business groups or like-minded social media groups. Sign up for an account with the Small Business Development Center in your region or state. Talk to family and friends about how they can support you in clear, concrete ways. It can help them to feel purposeful and can get you help when you need it. Stop believing that successful people do things all on their own. It’s a fallacy. And, as we learned at the beginning, being honest with yourself is crucial to making your business thrive.

Hiring a coach is an outstanding way to define your goals, address your fears, and gain clarity about areas that need attention. You get a confidential space to express yourself and support in setting up actions and accountability strategies to meet internal and external expectations for your business.


Thank you to the following solopreneur-led businesses for your contributions: Mindful Moving Kids, Iron Soul Training LLC, Cristina’s Bread House, Joe Ruzzi Drum Instruction, Full Circle Yoga KC

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]]>Thu, 04 Feb 2021 15:09:53 -0500<![CDATA[6 Tips to Wrap-up 2020 Better Than it Started]]>https://www.box52coaching.com/blogs/post/6-Tips-to-Wrap-up-2020-Better-Than-it-StartedUse September to refocus. Gain a sense of direction. Fill your plan with purpose. Build on that momentum, and let it carry you forward into 2021 with these easy-to-implement tips.]]>


Planning a journey

In a year when the bedrock of American living was jack-hammered to bits by the pandemic, politics off the rails, racial injustice and more natural disasters, creating a sense of normalcy seems, at best, daunting and often impossible. However, putting in time now to set a plan can provide a road map for ending this year (Woohoo!) in something other than a fiery dead end crash. And, maybe more importantly, it will position you to start 2021 off in a better place. 


Use September to refocus and gain a sense of direction. Build on that momentum, and let it carry you forward. 


First things first.


1. There is a Future!

The world is still turning; the sun sets and the moon rises each day.  Time may feel warped lately, but a future is out there for you. It is easy to get sucked into the mentality that the “world is ending” and “nothing really matters”. Those beliefs only perpetuate a bleak existence. Push on the accelerator and skip that exit on the highway!! It leads to the land of wasted days and swamp of self-doubt. Take back your sense of control and stay in the driver’s seat. Self-efficacy is key to actualizing the wishes and goals you want to achieve. 


2. Recognize What You Need

 Are you feeling fatigued? Stress consuming your energy? Mind racing but not getting things done? Feeling alone? Lacking alone time? Work bursting into every aspect of your life? No work at all? Breaking your needs down into physical,emotional, and mental categories allows you to find the right fix to get you back on the road. You don’t pour windshield wiper fluid into your empty gas tank to fuel up, so don’t do it to yourself! If you are tired and sleepy, find ways to get more and better rest. Acknowledge and share your feelings of anger, anxiety or fear. Capture and release your thoughts by journaling or other mindfulness practice.


3. Keep it Simple

Focus on getting the basics of your plan down on “paper”. Eliminate visual distractions around you so it is easier to be clear and concise as you define your goals, intentions or problems to solve. Use existing resources rather than trying to create everything yourself. For example, this is National Preparedness Month and you can use this guide to plan for emergencies and disasters. It is okay to follow a map that someone else made. Just remember that it is your journey! 


4. Identify Your Obstacles

Often we compare our starting point to other people’s finished product. It is fantastic to find inspiration in others for what you would like to accomplish. Just keep in mind that you are where you are. Don’t let your perception of someone else stop you from starting. Figure out what is getting in your way. Is it something internal or external to you? Knowing the difference allows you to create strategies and use tools that specifically address your unique challenges. Like any travel adventure, sometimes you see the road signs, sometimes you miss them and other times they aren’t there at all. Regardless, the response is up to the driver, and that is YOU!


5. Tap Your Strengths

Regardless of where Industry, Diligence and Perseverance falls on your VIA Survey of Character Strengths, draw on them to create and implement your plan. It does take hard work to achieve intentions and goals that really matter. Discomfort and uncertainty will be present. Be careful and persistent as you persevere to find ways under, over and through the obstacles in your way. Navigation tools make a trip infinitely easier, and matching strengths to circumstances allows for a more authentic journey. Grit will get you there, but not on its own.


6. Get Help

When traveling, and in life, stop and ask for directions and “local” tips. No one gets anywhere alone. No one. Plus, the journey is so much better when you connect with others.  Asking for help is a strength. Recognizing what is and isn’t available in your current environment is essential to moving beyond your perceived existence. Expand your network. Seek out friends, mentors, coaches and other professionals who will provide the expertise you need to fill in the details on your plan. Allow yourself to be vulnerable.


Parting Postcard

  • Think in a courageous way. 

  • Nourish your feeling of confidence. 

  • Make action your top priority.

  • Start now.


@box52coaching


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]]>Mon, 14 Sep 2020 16:38:54 -0500<![CDATA[Chaos. Clarity. Action.]]>https://www.box52coaching.com/blogs/post/chaos.-clarity.-action.Getting clarity about what is needed, loved and useful to us can be a challenging process. Bringing the decisiveness of a seven-year-old to it can help. Find ways to reduce your sense of overwhelm and chaos.]]>

Week 3: Decide and Be Done.

“The Pirate”, who is rarely agreeable to any initial request, willingly threw away their toddler tub toys this week. They are going to be seven very soon, and these toys were clearly perceived as “babyish”.  Many mothers might experience a sense of sadness; the loss of a period of time that will be missed. Not me. In fact, I am sometimes shocked that I love parenting considering how little interest I had in babies. What did stand out to me was the ease with which “The Pirate” let go of the plastic turtles and toy fishing net. With a simple question, “Which of these toys do you want to keep?”, a clear, concise “None.” came back. “Okay, go put them in the garbage can.” And that is what happened. No discussion, no arguing, persuading or cajoling. It was just done and over in less than a minute. 


That sense of clarity and decisiveness is often missing from our adult world. We hem and haw, imagine all the what-ifs and just-in-case scenarios that cause us to hang on way too long. Maybe we are clinging to objects, people, jobs and roles that fit our life at one stage, and we fail to admit we have outgrown or matured beyond them. It’s hard to let it go - (sorry if the soundtrack just started playing in your head!) Maybe we are afraid of what is coming next. Maybe we don’t believe there is anything better than what was in the past. Maybe we lie to ourselves and still believe those things are fulfilling us. Our lives are happening now, and finding ways to quell the overwhelm, decision-fatigue and chaos around us is key to reducing the distractions that keep us from being present.


My view is that “organized” is often in the eye of the beholder. Regardless of how it looks, a system and structure are critical, so that we use less energy finding what we need or making a choice. Knowing what you have, and the ability to access it quickly reduces the amount of time used to locate and use said object. This prevents the inevitable racing heart, frazzled mind and tense muscles when we can’t find what we need. Cortisol levels increase and cause our bodies to go into an agitated state. This is great if you need to run away from a predator, but not so great when you are just trying to find your cell phone or keys for the fourth time today. Giving every possession a “home”, lets us make fewer decisions about where to put it, how and when to use it, and determining if we need to repair or replace it. Simplification of the mundane allows us to create space to tackle the meaningful choices in our lives.


In the weeks leading up to the decision to leave my Senior VP role, I started clearing my office of clutter. There were papers, files, binders and lots of odds and ends that I had accumulated over the years. Through this process, I was trying to create a sense of visual order that allowed me to see the best next steps. It was hard to throw out over a decade of work (I kept the most recent years), but the reality was none of it mattered in that moment. It did give me the opportunity to remember people and experiences that came and went over the years. It all made me who I am now, and gave me the strength to recognize I wanted to be more than who I was then. It took awhile longer to really choose a new path, and write my resignation notice, but sorting through all the “stuff” was as figurative as it was literal. 


A year later, I am doing a similar process in my house - going room by room, closet by closet and shelf by shelf to find and keep those possessions that bring us comfort, serve a clear purpose and add joy to our home. It is a process that will take much longer than the 31 days this month holds. We will continue to implement the exercise of keeping only what we need, use and love. There is a lot of competing research about happiness, joy and contentment, as it relates to a person’s organized environment. There is more to be done in this area, with broader groups of humans, however, knowing what you like, dislike and love is a critical skill to hone. Eliminating the excess, pointless and extraneous that distracts you from living a life defined by-you for-you is essential. Just get clear about who you are and what you need. If “The Pirate” can do it, we all can too.

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