Choosing enough amidst the hustle

Finding enough in business + 5 favourites

On April 15th, I’m increasing my prices for my deep dive package (from €800 for 4 calls to €1050) for all new clients. If you’ve been thinking of working together 1:1, now might be a good time before the price goes up—I have 2 spaces for new clients starting in early to mid-April.

On the back of my recent launch, I’ve been thinking about enough and what enough is in business.

Do we ever reach enough and how do we define enough in an online business world that emphasizes ‘more’? In the post I write about knowing what is enough for us and rooting into that.

Deciding on enough

Practically speaking, it’s probably not that hard to determine what enough is in your business. At least not when it comes to the number of clients, customers, sales, money. If we know what we need to earn in our business, we can calculate what that means in terms of sales, money, clients, customers.

The challenge of enough is largely an emotional challenge.

Our thoughts about enough are influenced by what we read, see and hear around us. Our feelings about enough don’t exist in a vacuum which makes it hard to root into our own definition of enough.

You might be very clear on the money that you want to earn in your business, but worry that the goal you have isn’t ambitious enough, or big enough, compared to other people’s goals. We might think that if we don’t have a financial goal with many zeros, our business isn’t real.

Whether our business is ‘real’ enough, big enough, successful enough or not is something that often pops up in my conversations with clients.

I recognise it from my own experience as well, especially in the first years of my business. When I started, I spent one day a week on my business and, as things tend to be in the early stages, business was slow. I organised some local workshops, attracted the occasional client. But often it felt like I was playing at business rather than actually running a business.

A shift for me came when my business stopped feeling like something that only existed in my head. The moment when my business started really having a life in the real world. Talking to other people about my business, seeking mentoring support and building my own small community of business buddies made my business feel more real. And when my business started to make the kind of money I wanted it to make, the whispers of whether my business was real enough quieted down.

Whether or not our business feels enough is closely tied in with our worth, too.

Are we even spending enough time on our business for it to be a business, not a hobby? Are we enough of a business owner? Are we making enough money to be a business owner, are we attracting enough clients and customers?

Enough is arbitrary

Enough isn’t just primarily emotional, it is also arbitrary. What is enough to me—for instance financially—might not be enough to you. And what is enough for me might be more than enough for you.

Because enough is arbitrary, it—whatever it is—will never be enough.

I find that this is the case especially when it comes to money. I have clear annual income goals for my business, but can sometimes find it hard to trust those goals. I’ll worry that I should want more, that having more than enough will give me more security and safety.

By now, I know that when it comes to money there is no amount that will completely quiet those worries. I’ve come a long way with these stories over the past year, but I still get moments where I worry that after today I won’t make a single penny in my business for the rest of the year. That even though lovely new clients are signing up and I launched the group programme, all income will now dry up.

I know this isn’t true. I know that this is scarcity speaking: my own hungry ghost or hungry little caterpillar.

I am increasingly able to trust in my business.

And I’ve found that the trick is to check back in with ourselves, root deeply into our vision for our business and trust that this is enough.

Check back in with yourself, root deep into your vision for your business and trust that this is enough.

Choosing enough amidst the hustle

I’ve build my business on explicitly resisting a lot of conventional business talk. The hustle-talk, the six-figure-talk, the 100K-launch-talk.

I have deliberately chosen slow and gentle (and profitable) as values and guiding words in my business.

I feel really good about my business right now.

It’s doing well, more than well, by any standard that I’ve set for myself. I’m constantly amazed at and pleased with the lovely people I attract through this newsletter, through 1:1 mentoring and now in Marketing without social media.

As I was getting ready to wrap up the launch of Marketing without social media,

Kelsey Abbott

sent me a lovely note:

This note warmed my heart for many reasons, especially she said that what I wrote strengthened her own desires for her business.

I love how my sharing about my business helps other small business owners, freelancers and creatives—that is why I do what I do.

Sharing about my business feels incredibly empowering. I feel like I’m solidifying the path that I’ve chosen of wanting to run my business differently.

And at the same time, it can feel vulnerable and visible too.

I’m not immune to the whispers in my mind that suggest that whatever I’m doing is not enough. That I’m not attracting enough people, that not enough people have signed up for my group programme, that there should always be more.

What helps me is to find balance and seek inspiration.

I don’t believe in sharing and being vulnerable simply for the sake of it. We never have to share anything that we don’t feel comfortable with. It might feel a little scary for me to share details about my financial goals, for instance, but mostly it feels good to me when I do it.

If it wouldn’t feel good more than it feels scary, I wouldn’t do it.

The more I speak to other small business owners and read about and listen to their experiences, the more I realise that these feelings are normal. I’m hearing again and again that we all have slower seasons. And I’m hearing that we all worry whether our businesses are enough. We’re not alone in this.

Take a moment to think or journal about these questions:

1. When do you struggle with thoughts and feelings about enough? In which situations or in which parts of your business?

2. What are these stories about enough telling you? Which stories are underneath them?

3. How would it feel to try to trust that whatever vision you have for your business is enough?

I’d love to hear your reflections on enough and how this feeling shows up in your business. Leave a comment to join the conversation.

If you’re new to Substack: you can comment by clicking the button—you’ll be prompted to set up an account which requires very little personal info and takes only one minute of your time.

reading | I enjoyed a lot of

Alice Vincent

‘s this past month: I reread and loved Why Women Grow all over again (think: feminism meets gardening), loved this post on Savour about working motherhood and dipped into the new podcast Alice creates with

Charlotte Runcie

, In Haste.

a book | I read an early copy of Claire Messud’s This Strange Eventful History and can wholeheartedly recommend it: family history at its finest and excellent storytelling (affiliate link).

more beautiful words | beautiful words by

Melissa Harrison

that capture one of the reasons why I love paying attention to the natural world: “Believing we’re in control of everything is tiring, and a lot of responsibility. Understanding that we’re not the main character – that some things in the world have nothing to do with us – may be frustrating in the moment, even challenging to some, but settles a larger anxiety humming in the background. It does us good to be put in our place.”

celebrating | tea and cake for a launch that went well + a stack to books to treat myself.

finding joy | my lovely friend Katharina runs the Heiter Society, a creative, kind and supportive society, all about adding more “heiterkeit” (joy) to our lives. I love the mix of creativity, well-being and business support in the society. As a Heiter Society affiliate I get to offer you special goodies if you sign up: the Heiter Welcome pack filled with a digital copy of Heiter issue 1, a guide to daily joy and two recorded mini-sessions on meditation and journalling. Mention the code ‘Astrid’ + make sure to add the Heiter Welcome pack to your purchase. Find out more about the society and sign-up before the prices go up in mid-March. ✨

What’s on your lists of favourites this month? What did you read, see, hear, drink, eat, observe that made your day?

• My simple and intentional launch plan

• How new clients find me

• Mini-mastermind: answering your questions on blogs, newsletter topics, green marketing and finding readers

I’ll be back in paid subscribers’ inboxes later this week with a post wrapping up my 2023 goals, including how much I made last year. We’ll also have a January discussion thread, which will be an ‘ask me anything’ this month.

Have a beautiful, clear and nourishing rest of your month,

Until next time x

If reading this newsletter makes you feel inspired, empowered and seen as you do business away from the norm, I’d be so grateful if you would support the work I do by becoming a paid subscriber. Upgrade your subscription to become part of our slow and gentle community and get even more support, bonuses and strategies.