6 Foundations You Can’t Afford to Ignore if You Want to Go Next Level

Hey Friend!

Get ready! Our topic is the six foundations you can’t afford to ignore if you really want to go next level. I was struggling between calling these foundations or disciplines. There was one that made me choose the word foundations instead of disciplines.

We’re going to dig in; deal with some truth, and figure out what things we need to do in order to grow.

Let’s do the hard things now and go celebrate in a hot minute.

Testimonial

I’m Michele Riechman and I wanted to share my big win. My podcast, Healthy Beyond 40, hit 50k downloads in less than 6 months. That blows my mind and I couldn’t have done it without Stefanie’s courses. I took Clarify Your Calling and Podcast Pro University, did the work, got clear on my audience, and followed her SEO strategies That made my podcast grow. 

I started with a small audience and a Facebook group of 250. My group has grown over 600. My email list has grown and I’ve gotten clients. I’ve grown this group of people interested in what I have – teaching people to be healthy, ditch diets, and find sustainable weight loss. I have people coming to me who need me.  I’m grateful to have the opportunity to grow my business in a way that feels good without going to social media.

I share that testimony for a few reasons. First, to show you what’s possible; getting 50k downloads in six months after going through Clarify Your Calling and Podcast Pro University. She grew her Facebook group from 250 to 600 and grew her email list. All without using social media.

That is exactly why I am so passionate – you can create this in your own business! It’s a simple business model where your podcast fuels all the other facets and eventually is the driver of you getting leads, clients, and sales while feeling peaceful and present. The key is that it is sustainable. There’s no shelf life or algorithm to battle.

You show up, pour out, and teach strategically and my courses show you how. If you don’t give up, there is much fruit on the other side. It’s worked for me and thousands of other people.

6 Foundations You Can’t Afford to Ignore if You Want to Go Next Level

The six foundational pieces are non-negotiable. Non-negotiable means it’s something that must happen. 

When I say ‘next level,’ it means I’m not playing anymore. It’s a true, real business. This is a company and I am a CEO. I’ve got people who count on me and the products I sell. I am serious about going from small potatoes to the whole enchilada!

Next Level Foundation #1: Consistency

You don’t get to skip the hard work. Consistency is absolutely key.

This is one of the most important foundational pieces you must have if you want to go next level. None of my students who are 6 and 7-figure companies got there in their first year. Some didn’t get there in the first 2-3 years.  They had to be consistent in their businesses and many had been working their businesses before finding me. Once they found me, they were able to simplify things, but consistency was key.

Consistent in what? You need to be absolutely consistent in the thing you are using to grow your business. For us, it is podcasting. You must be absolutely consistent. If there was something you needed to skimp on one week, podcasting would not be the thing you would not pour into.

One episode per week. Without fail.

If you want to go on vacation, batch record. Do you want to take a 3-month Sabbath? Batch it out before you go on that break. 

Consistency is what’s going to grow your business.

You cannot go on a hiatus and disappear off the podcasting platform. That is not part of what it takes to be successful. You can batch and do the work ahead of time.

When my son went to the hospital for appendicitis, I got some of my girlfriends to record episodes for me. I’ve skipped one episode in 5.5 years. That’s it.

When life is “normal,” you are consistent.

Next Level Foundation #2: Confidence

If you want to go next level, you need to grow in confidence. People buy from those they believe in; they choose to follow leaders. 

If you’re struggling in this area of confidence, practice. Put yourself in difficult situations that stretch you. If you can do one thing each week that stretches you, it will absolutely amplify your confidence.

I used to be terrified of public speaking. When I got into my first entrepreneurial venture – network marketing – I had to share all the time. I got the free car so I had to share about the car. I would black out. My voice was shaky. My face got bright red and I peed a little bit. Way too much TMI…

Every time, I reverted to an 8-year-old kid, peeing their pants out of fear. It’s crazy! Now, I’ve been in front of a thousand people virtually. I’ve been in front of hundreds of people live on an actual stage. I speak for a living; doing this podcast every single week! I get paid to speak!

Your confidence comes from the pivotal moments of pushing through the pain, and then doing it again. Then doing it again. And again… 

This is NOT pretending to be something you’re not. If you’re going to sell something or convey a message, you need not just to be heard but felt.

When you speak into that microphone, convey emotion. It’s your responsibility to transfer belief. When I talk about confidence, that is what I mean. And it is something that can be learned. It’s not something you have to be born with – some of you are and that’s an amazing gifting. 

Some of us – myself included – have to grow into our confidence. With practice, it can become a reality.

Next Level Foundation #3: Focus

This third piece you can’t ignore if you want to go next level is your focus. This one lights me up in two ways: fired up upset about and excited. When you can be intentional about your time, you get your life back. 

Focus is not something I am willing to wiggle on; period. There are no notifications going off on my phone. Ever. There is nothing pinging and dinging on my computer. Ever. I own my day and my time. I decide when I will email or text people. And I’m not sorry about it. Boundaries and intentionality will transform your life.

This includes focusing. Focus means knowing what you’re working on right now and letting everything else go away. Put your phone out of your reach. Set the time up to do the thing. Then do it.

Let me give you an example of where this is hard for me because I’m not perfect. I wake up an hour early to do my spiritual growth time with God. It takes everything inside of me not to check my phone to see my voxers or learn what the team needs. My curiosity and my brain are screaming for the dopamine hit Also, I’m a little ADD…  But I am serious about becoming an expert in this area so I’m working on it.

I intentionally get into that focus mindset. For work blocks, I’d prefer to knock off the easy stuff. That is not how I operate. Hardest thing first always.

Pep talk: Sit down, close all other tabs, and get to work. Coach yourself. Be serious about your focus or you’ll find yourself continuously behind, frustrated, distracted, and not moving forward.

If you want more:

• Episode 639: Feel Scatterbrained: 5 Tips to Improve Your Attention Span and Increase Focus
• Episode 587: Get in the Zone: 10 Hacks to Help You Focus Better

Next Level Foundation #4: Personal Growth

I thought I knew it all. I could figure it out myself and YouTube University was going to get me where I wanted to go. But I have been schooled by people much farther along than I am!

Newsflash! There’s always someone farther along than you! 

When I’m a $5 million dollar business, there will be someone further along than me. When, God-willing, I’m a $10 million dollar business, there will still be someone further along. That is amazing!

There’s always someone from whom you can learn. God created that on purpose so you can get out of your own way, be humble enough to learn, and be willing to receive and grow. 

For those who are avid learners, this doesn’t apply. But some of you experience analysis paralysis, take 500 courses, and don’t implement anything. Stop that. Don’t buy anything else until you apply what you’ve learned.

This doesn’t just have to be for your business. My husband and I invested in building a personal gym in our garage because we live in the mountains and there’s no easy way to get to a gym.

Now I have no excuses. I work out. Every. Single. Day.

What is your thing for personal growth? Just pick one thing in which you can go next level. Who is the person who can teach you?

Sometimes personal growth is the investment, mentor, course, or hard conversations. It’s doing hard things out of your comfort zone to get you to the next level.

This goes hand-in-hand with consistency. You don’t get to just learn. You have to learn and take action. Always. At all times. Do something with what you have learned. That’s non-negotiable. No one gets to go anywhere next level if you aren’t consistently taking action.

Next Level Foundation #5: Boundaries

Where I see struggles here are people-pleasers. Anyone raising their hand? Maybe you’re one of those extra selfless people – you can be that while also having boundaries. You need to focus on what God has called you to do. Are you serving, volunteering, and saying “yes” to everything?

What about selfish boundaries? Do you have boundaries on your phone or just scroll? How many tabs do you have open? How many hours do you research before actually recording the episode? 

Boundary work is infinite. There is healthy and unhealthy boundary work. Just doing an inventory of your life for three days will be the most eye-opening, soul-awakening practice you can do for yourself. Every ten minutes, write down what you’re doing. 

After you do your 3-day inventory, look at what you’re doing with your time. Highlight the crap you should not have been doing or where there should have been a boundary.

I tell my friends and team when I’m working with the black hole emoji to let them know I’m unavailable. My team lets me know what their work blocks and boundaries are.

We have to be serious about our boundaries. I even have them around my work. When my kids get home from school and my husband is home for the evening, unless there’s a deadline or live launch, my laptop is closed. If I had to do something, they would understand, but 90% of the time, it’s a solid boundary. I don’t work on the weekends unless it’s something I want to do creatively. 

This is something I’ve grown into based on where we are as a company. There were years when I was a solopreneur and I worked my butt off. You can still have boundaries even if you’re in that hard, building season.

Stretch-Time

Those of you who are serious and taking me seriously will actually do this inventory. Those of you who are just here to hang out and listen, may not do this work, which is 100% up to you. 

How you apply the hours of free coaching I give you on the podcast is 1 million percent up to you. I’m highlighting it to challenge you a little. When was the last time you listened to one of my free episodes and you actually did the work? If you implemented what you hear on these free episodes, you’d already be going next level without ever investing with me. But when you do invest, you’ll be ahead of the game!

I’m stretching you, and if that’s triggering you a little, well, good. Let’s do the work. Are you here to do the work or are you here to play?

Boundaries involve communication, intentionality, and getting rid of anything that’s not actively serving the call over your life. What are the callings over your life in this season? That’s what you pour into and build boundaries to protect.  The enemy uses distraction, distortion, and interruption to get you off-task and off your path. Do not allow it!  You’re unavailable for that! 

Get serious about the life you live. Get serious about the time you have. Be serious about strategically saying “no.”  And even more strategic about when to say “yes.”

Next Level Foundation #6: Rest

This is the outlier to consistency, taking action, focus, personal growth, and boundaries. Well, boundaries do have a little to do with rest… 

Rest is critical. As we are consistently showing up and taking action; we’re learning to be confident, and we’re growing, focusing, and building boundaries, we can get a little obsessive around performance, our work, and becoming an incredible CEO, or leader. We can become obsessive about how we parent, if we’re connecting enough with our spouse, maybe you’re looking for a spouse. Maybe you’re obsessive about serving in ministry.

We have to be careful that even the great things in our lives don’t become idols. Rest is so important because it helps us to recalibrate with God.

There are different levels of rest. There’s Sabbath rest where you take one day a week and you are fully unavailable for work. Maybe you need two hours away from your family because that’s what you’re being called to shepherd right now. What is that break for you? You must have a mental break.

This is not to avoid your work or to hide because it’s hard. This is a break from the good work you’ve done all week. You work diligently and then you break. Just as God did in Genesis. God rested because He wanted to revel in what He had created. Be the same. We’re made in God’s image; let us take those breaks.

Plan them into your time.

Mini-Breaks as a Form of Rest

We also need mini daily breaks as well. This is really for those working 30+ hours in whatever you do, even if you have a career while you’re building a side hustle. This includes stay-at-home and homeschool Mamas. We have to take mental rest breaks.

We think if we continue to power through and keep digging, we will get more done, but that’s actually not true scientifically. Science shows that when you take small mental breaks, you are able to focus better, have better memory retention, and a higher caliber and quality of your work. 

What I do, when I have a really solid day, is every two hours I go outside and take a walk. I’ll check on the rooster and hen. Sometimes I’ll sit on the swing for just five minutes. Maybe I’ll grab a quick workout. But I try to get some sunshine and fresh air. 

Take a lunch break. I used to work through lunch thinking I had to get everything done before my boys got home from school. I found I enjoy a 20-minute complete mind veg. Here’s when I Voxer my friends or watch a YouTube video. I’ll make lunch and eat it on the patio. 

I understand that I have the luxury of working from home. If you don’t, how can you break away? Can you go to a different room, drive to a park, pray, or journal? There are lots of different ways. 

Take a few 5-minute breaks during the day and a 15-20 minute lunch. Get that revitalization you need.

What’s Your Next Step to Go Next Level?

There you have it: the six foundations you can’t afford to ignore if you want to go next level.

These are the next-level things that have helped me get where I am and are super important for you.

Write them all down:

1. Consistency
2. Confidence
3. Focus
4. Personal Growth
5. Boundaries
6. Rest

Circle the one you want to work on this week. You can add another one next week. This is not all-or-none, and it does not happen right away. It happens over years of becoming who you are called to be as a leader in whatever area of your life you are being called to lead. 

Plug these into your planner and begin to work on them diligently week after week. 

How can you focus on this one thing this week? Then do the work.

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

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