Finding Joy in the Process: Running Your Business in a Way That Feels Good
When you run a business, it's easy to become fixated on where you're heading. More clients, more income, the next milestone. And while goals have their place, there's a quiet truth that often gets overlooked: there never really is an end point in business.
Yes, we reach milestones and celebrate them. But there's always more to do, another goal to work towards. And if all our attention lives in that future outcome, we can forget to actually enjoy the process of running our business — the setting things up, the figuring things out, the day-to-day of it all.
We Can't Always Influence the Outcome
Here's something that can feel uncomfortable at first, but is ultimately quite freeing: we can't fully control our outcomes.
We can't make someone sign up with us. We can't guarantee a certain income. There are simply too many outside factors — and even a little bit of luck — involved. What we can influence is the day-to-day: our actions, how we share, what we create, how we show up.
When we're only focused on the outcome — the number we want to earn, the number of clients we want — we live in a constant future focus. And it becomes really frustrating when those things don't happen on schedule.
But our daily actions are what make our business. Not some future outcome. It's what we do day to day. And when those daily actions are aligned with our vision and our values — when we're finding joy in what we deliver — running a business already feels more like our version of success, even before we've "arrived" anywhere.
The Problem With Borrowed Strategies
So often, we implement strategies and offers because we've been told they'll get us where we want to be. We end up blindly following the blueprint — creating the content, the marketing, the offer we were told to create — without actually enjoying any of it.
And then we stick with it, because it's what everyone else seems to be doing, and it seems to work for them. So surely we just need to work harder, push more, suck it up.
But it shows when we do things in a way that doesn't feel like us. You've probably seen it — reels that look staged and uncomfortable, content that feels forced. There's a real difference between "I enjoy this and I want to get better at it" and "I'm doing this because I was told I need to."
There's nothing wrong with trying things out. But if you notice a certain way of sharing isn't right for you, you're allowed to find a different way. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean you have to do it as well.
Finding Your Own Way of Sharing
Content creation is a big one here. For many people it feels tedious, never-ending, a bit heavy — that dreaded thing we all have to do. But it often feels that way because we're forcing ourselves into formats that don't fit.
Instead, ask: what would you enjoy creating? How do you love to share?
If you're not sure, try out a few different formats and notice what sparks joy. Maybe you don't like talking to a camera, but you enjoy doing voiceovers. Maybe you prefer writing blogs. Maybe podcast-style talking feels natural, or recording little snippets of your day for B-roll style reels.
Yes, there will be a learning curve. Your first carousels won't be super polished. Your first blog might be a bit messy. But if you enjoy creating it, you'll also enjoy getting better at it. Then you're optimising from a place of "this brings me joy and I want to do more of it" — not "I should be doing this."
And here's the lovely thing: when we share from a place of passion and excitement rather than obligation, people see that joy. They connect to it. It naturally attracts more people — and it makes it so much easier to stay consistent, because you actually want to do the work.
The Same Goes for Your Offers
If you don't enjoy working one-to-one, or running live courses, there's a different way to deliver your work. The online world will drive you crazy if you let it — one moment one-to-one is the answer, the next it "doesn't work anymore" and you need a live course, until live courses don't work either.
If we listen to all of that, we won't get anywhere.
Anything we offer takes time to build. So why not build something that actually feels fun, enjoyable, and aligned? Even within a format there are so many variations — how long your sessions are, how much support you offer around them, whether a course is live, pre-recorded, email-based, or somewhere in between.
A good clue: the things you want to learn more about are often the things you want to do more of. And what feels aligned will change over time, as you grow and move through different phases of life — that's okay too.
Making the Day-to-Day More Enjoyable
Finding joy in the process isn't just about what you do — it's also about how your days are structured.
If flexibility is important to you but you work endless hours with no room to move things around, of course it won't feel aligned. If you envisioned your self-employed life with walks and coffee dates but never make time for them, of course it won't feel joyful.
So look gently at your day-to-day: How many hours are you working, and in what chunks? Are you making space for things you enjoy throughout the day? What does your workspace look like — do you have a nice space to work in? Would you enjoy working from a coffee shop now and then, or outside, or on your sofa?
And yes — there will always be tasks that aren't fun. That's completely normal. Not everything in business is going to be loads of fun. But we don't have to accept that running a business is just boring. We can create an environment that makes even the less exciting tasks easier: twenty-minute sprints with breaks, a coffee alongside, some music playing. Little things that bring lightness back in.
Start Small
This isn't about massive changes overnight. It's about starting to be aware, and gradually making gentle shifts towards working in a way that feels more enjoyable — more easeful, calmer, more connected, whatever that means for you.
So here's a gentle question to sit with: what's one small thing you could implement or change to make the day-to-day of running your business a little more enjoyable?
Because the process is the business. And you're allowed to enjoy it.
I’d love to know — what insight are you taking from this?
What’s coming up for you as you reflect?
What is your biggest takeaway?
Gentle support, if you’d like it:
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