Today, Holly Worton and I talk how to have good boundaries for your business. This is such an important topic, and yet I don’t see people talking about it often enough. This is kind of an extended episode, much longer than our usual 30 minutes. We decided that we had a lot to say, and there’s a lot that needs to be considered when it comes to boundaries.
Our last co-hosted episode was on resilience, and this one really complements that one: when your boundaries are clear and strong, then it makes it so much easier to be resilient in business.
Boundaries are not something that came easily to me at first – like many women I’m a conditioned eager to please, over giver so saying ‘no’ or holding firm on things like contracts and agreements felt very unfamiliar and uncomfortable to me. I’m still a work in progress but I’m getting better. It’s something I realised I need to continuously be working on because as my business becomes busier, the energy and time I have become more precious commodities. If I let client sessions run over, do extra sessions, say yes to too many ‘can I just pick your brain?’ conversations, or take on other people’s trauma, anxiety or ‘stuff’, I burn out pretty quickly.
So while I’m a work in progress, I think boundaries are a feminist issue that needs talking about way more – both in and outside of our businesses. Having and sticking to good boundaries for your business rubs right up against our feminine conditioning. We’re conditioned to be compliant and say ‘yes’ (or at least not say no and complain about it. We’re conditioned to not make a fuss and to put the needs of others first. And that needs to change because we can’t be great role models, own successful businesses and be fully functioning, happy and whole humans without prioritising our own needs. It’s not selfish – but it sure feels that way (and the only greater insult to throw at a woman than ‘selfish’ is ‘fat’ – so this is core stuff right here).
Looking after others can feel great. One of the greatest pleasures in life is caring for other humans – it’s why many of us go into this work of coaching and healing. But for many many MANY of us (myself included), the balance has been on putting the needs of others ABOVE our own. And that’s messed up and is keeping us exhausted and unhappy.
So having and sticking to good boundaries for your business is simply about redressing that balance: It’s about putting your own needs on a more even footing. It’s about protecting your energy and precious life force. It’s about preventing burn out and allowing you to protect your core business asset – you.
What You’ll Learn
- What are boundaries, and why do we need them?
- The role courage plays when it comes to setting and upholding boundaries
- What types of boundaries you need in terms of managing time and energy
- How to set boundaries to balance work time and personal time
- How to set boundaries for cancellations, refunds, late arrivals, and no shows
- How to get clear on what you will and won’t do in your business
- How to get clear on who you’ll work with and who you won’t
- How to get clear on what you’re willing to debate and what you won’t
- How to set boundaries around pricing (including pay what you want pricing)
- What to give for free and what to charge for
- How to deal with boundary pushers (you know what we mean!)
- The mindset stuff that gets in the way of setting and upholding clear boundaries