Building a Business You Can Actually Sustain

6 min read

Getting Started Series – Part 4 of 5

I’ve always tied part of my identity to how much effort I put in.

Hard work - emphasis on the hard - was something to be proud of. If I was busy, if I was achieving, if I was pushing through, then I was doing it right. That’s what I’d been conditioned to believe.

So when I started my business, I carried that with me. I thought success meant being able to keep going at full pace - long stretches, high output, short deadlines.

Get the most done in the least amount of time, tick the box and move on to the next.

The small steps didn’t count. The big ones were what I was chasing - but even when I reached them, I didn’t pause. I didn’t acknowledge them. Just done... next.

There was always something else to aim for.

Unsurprisingly, that led to boom-bust cycles of energy, of creativity, of capacity - because no one can maintain that kind of intensity forever.

I didn’t account for how I was feeling. I didn’t factor in hormones, or health, or life just... happening.

I started my business in a very regimented, left-brained, ‘masculine’ kind of way - very doing.

But what I’ve come to realise, again and again, is that building a sustainable business isn’t just about how much I can do.

It’s about how I’m being while I do it - without my nervous system and energy on board, none of it sticks.

What the Hustle Leaves Out

Time and time again, I see clients - coaches, creatives, peers - building their business on hard work alone. Even the ones who’ve made it into the social media “made it” crowd.

They’re still pushing, still hustling, still wearing exhaustion like it means they’re doing something right.

And I get it - because that’s what we’re led to believe success looks like. The hustle, the output, the constant doing. And maybe it does work - for a while.

Sustained action is important. I’m not saying it isn’t.

But the level of action that’s actually sustainable? That’s personal.

It depends on your capacity, your nervous system, your circumstances - and the practices you’ve got in place to support the whole of you.

Because you are your business - If you’ve got a problem, your business has a problem.

You can’t separate the two.

And yet so often, people try to build as if their energy, their wellbeing, and their body can be squeezed around the edges.

You shouldn't be an afterthought in your own business.

Your health, your capacity, your mental and emotional wellbeing - those aren’t add-ons or nice-to-haves. They’re woven into everything. They’re part of the foundation, not the reward for making it work.

Taking care of your energy and wellbeing isn’t something you save for after your business takes off.

It’s how you build something that keeps running without running you into the ground.

Your Body is Not Separate from Your Business

Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by some incredible coaches, healers, and creatives - intelligent, practical, deeply capable women.

They often know what to do…they even know what to do next. But for some reason, they just can’t seem to take the steps they know they need to take.

We tend to experience ourselves as our thoughts.

The “I” most of us refer to is usually just the running commentary in our heads. The internal monologue becomes our identity - and our business decisions get filtered through that lens.

But we are more than our thoughts.

There’s the subconscious - patterns, behaviours, memories that play out before we even realise it.

There’s the body - storing emotional memory, reacting before logic kicks in.

There’s the energy - often quiet, but powerful, influencing what we feel ready for (or afraid of).

More and more, science is catching up with ancient understanding.

For example, research has indicated that certain chakras align with major nerve centres in the body (source).

And although this connection of eastern philosophy and western culture may seem slow, I believe that for us in the west, the backing of science will help more people gain ‘access’ to these fundamental eastern principles that have been years ahead of western understanding.

Yet, this isn’t about becoming more spiritual or more strategic - it’s about understanding how all the parts of you work together (or don’t), and learning how to bring them into alignment.

Why It Feels So Hard to Move Forward

When our energy is off, when our nervous system is dysregulated, or when we’re carrying too much that doesn’t belong to us, everything starts to feel harder.

It’s not that you don’t know what to do, it’s that something in you doesn’t feel safe to do it.

So what we need is a way of working that brings all of you on board.

Not just the part that writes the plan.

Not just the part that thinks positive thoughts.

But the part that actually feels ready.

The part that’s tired of leaking energy through constant micro-resistance.

The part that wants to move - but keeps quietly bracing for impact.

The part of you that’s never been told: you don’t have to build it the hard way.

This kind of holistic, aligned approach is at the heart of how I work - because strategy won’t take you far if you can’t act on it.

Mindset won’t help if you’re still winging it without a clear direction.

And persistent inner patterns won’t shift if they’re stuck in your energy field, looping on repeat just beneath the surface.

Now, I’m not saying everything needs to be in perfect harmony before you can move. That’s not realistic - and it’s definitely not what I teach.

You can take action, you can make progress, you can see success.

But if you want to move with clarity, calm, and momentum that actually sticks? - Start by noticing what might be standing in the way of building a business that actually works for you.

A Small Way to Begin

If you’re looking for something practical - one thing to settle your energy and help your body find its centre - start here.

Get your feet on the earth. Grass, sand, water - anything that connects you to something steady. And if you can’t get outside, even an Epsom salt foot bath works.

Take three slow, intentional breaths, allow yourself to take the time.

Let the first one fill your chest.
The second, your belly.
The third, all the way down to your pelvis.

And if there’s a part of you that still wants to “do more,”

take one more breath and guide it all the way to the soles of your feet and connect with the energy below

Just be there for a moment.

Whether it’s 15 seconds or 15 minutes - whatever you can give is enough.

Want help shifting what’s weighing you down?

If you’re aware that this resonates with you, and you’d like to take a deeper look into clearing your energy and removing the resistance and weight you’re aware you’re carrying, then an Energy Clearing session may be for you.

It’s light-touch, nervous system-friendly support designed to help you come back to your own energy, your own direction, and your own rhythm - without pressure or pushing.

Find Out More >>