5 Success Hacks From My Most PROFITABLE Year

Hey sis!

Today we are doing a little year-end reflection. 5 Success Hacks Await!

I’m walking you through 5 things that have DIRECTLY attributed to my most successful year yet (IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE!)

If you’ve been wanting to pop through that glass ceiling and go next level. Up-level your profit, or scale back how hard you’re working while still continuing to grow — this one is for you.

Actually – this one is for ALL OF YOU.

Cheers to this being your best year yet. Your most present year. The year you say NO to things that don’t serve you, and YES to what God is asking of you.

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:

(00:00):

Hey sister friends! Today, we are talking about the five things that are going to massively set you up for success in 2021. Now, some of these things you may already be really gangster at, and some of them may not be the best or happening at all in her business.

(00:18):

So I just wanted to go through five really simple strategic things that I use/do inside of my business that have helped me create honestly, the most productive, successful, and profitable business year of my life. And I want you to be able to have that same success.

(00:47):

Now, before we dig into today’s epsiode I want to let you know girl that there’s a couple more weeks to get locked in at 2020 coaching prices. They are going up the 1st of January. So if it’s been on your heart on your mind, on your soul to find some clarity, to figure out what the heck you want to be doing in 2021, what the business is that you can create out of your calling, I would love to meet with you for a clarity call.

(01:56):

These are one hour power packed. You can listen to so many of them right here on the show to see if it might be for you, but hurry, because again, if you want to grab it at current pricing, that is going away. Also those of you that have done a call like that, and you know that you want to work with me privately in 2021, you can grab a coaching package, those range from four months, all the way up to 12 month packages.

(02:22):

And you can also get those at current pricing if you act fast. So three, two, one go! Email us support@stefaniegass.com and Nina can get you pricing info and we’ll get you on the books. All right. So let’s talk about what, why we need certain things and structures inside of our business in order to create more success.

(02:47):

And I think it’s because when we have a new business or a business that we’re trying to scale and grow, we often look for ways to just stay busy and busy-ness looks like fumbling around doing research on different programs, setting up awkward funnels or freebies that nobody actually wants.

(03:06):

It looks like creating to-do lists and then actually doing nothing. It looks like going all over the place, different content. Why isn’t this working? Why isn’t this working, creating graphics for Instagram that, you know, just doesn’t seem to work. And it’s because we’re just staying busy for the sake of staying busy, because we think that busy-ness equals success.

(03:27):

And that is not the case. I will tell you that the secret to success is massive productivity that is proactively intentional in solving other people’s problems. That’s what creates success in your business. All right. And then the final piece of that is staying proactive in who you are and who God called you to be, and you can’t get lost in the building of the business.

(03:56):

Because then what’s it all for if you’re a workaholic or ignoring your family or gaining weight or having anxiety attacks or dealing with mental health issues because you’re working all the time and you’re super, super stressed out or insert blank here.

(04:12):

So these are five things I came up with that really made this year different in 101 ways, these five things just coming back to these five simple, simple things. So the very first thing, number one, and this has been a tried and true answer for me for eight years. This is something I’ve been doing. I’ll keep doing. It’s super simple, but it’s something that easily gets put aside because it’s so simple and y’all are constantly looking to over-complicate solutions.

(04:42):

So I’m going to challenge you today to come back to simplicity with me and implement the stuff that actually works. Number one is planning. It’s having a paper planner and using a time blocking system. Why is that so critically important because if you are not managing your day, your day is managing you. Okay. And I am a huge fan of Horacio products.

(05:07):

I have switched to their planners and Bible studies and all of their stuff. And if you guys want to get the same exact planner that I use, go to Bitly/Stef10Horacio and then use the code S T E F 10 at checkout. And you can save 10 bucks. You need to have a planner, not just because it looks pretty, but because you actually use it every day.

(05:42):

I’m staring at mine right now, friends, every single day. I know exactly what’s happening from morning until evening. I’ve got my top three to do list items every single day. I’ve got my time scheduled events from the month in there. I’ve got personal stuff and business stuff happening. Okay?

(06:00):

Like it’s all in there at a glance. Why am I using this instead of Google calendar or something like that? Because I have to stay proactive, not reactive. This is not a novel idea. There are so many people that teach this. And I’m super grateful to those that went before me who were able to teach me the importance of planning and time blocking.

(06:26):

So if you have not yet begun this practice sister friends, you’ve got to do it right now. And there is no better time than January, right? Then the first of the year to get really organized about what you’re actually doing with your time and in your day.

(06:44):

All right. Number two. The second thing that I’ve done that has really, really transformed the success of my business this year is really hardcore boundaries. I dabbled with boundaries. I dabbled in the past eight and a half years as a full-time entrepreneur, but nothing like what I did this year in 2020, I mean, apps are gone from Friday through Monday, Friday through Sunday night.

(07:11):

No work after six, putting my phone away from me at the table. It’s not even near my hand. Waking up at six to spend time with God, to do my Bible study every day, loves. I’m talking, just getting disciplined. What is a boundary? It’s a discipline and you got to have it. You are the only person that can make or break your transformation this year. What needs to change?

(07:42):

Do you need to lose weight? Do you need to get right with God? Do you need to work on your marriage? Do you need to grow the business? Do you need to actually grab some clients this year? Do you need to get in in better relationship with cleaning your house. What that word is? Do you need to like, actually keep up with your laundry? Like what needs to happen in your life?

(08:09):

Set the boundary. And then don’t just talk about it, be about it. Okay. Like we can talk about stuff all day, every day, but until we actually do it and make the choice to make the change, nothing is going to happen. And that all comes back to then putting it in the planner, which was number one and then time blocking it out.

(08:34):

Here’s the great news. No matter what, the thing is, the discipline and the boundary that you need to set once you’ve done it for 21 to 30 days, it’s like clockwork. It’s easy peasy, lemon, squeezy. It’s like, you don’t even think about it. And so you just got to get through that first month of that new boundary. And before you know, it it’ll be just part of who you are. That’s awesome news.

(08:57):

Number three. The third thing that I really, really did in a big way this year was outsourcing / delegation. And I know that this looks different for everybody depending on where you are financially, but there are so many opportunities for you to get some help, whether it be a family member just having that conversation with the spouse, even the kids you know, something that was frustrating for me was making dinner and then cleaning up dinner.

(09:23):

So now I’m having my kiddos. They have to put their stuff away. They’re helping with the dishwasher, putting things up. And just that little thing was just such a difference maker for me. And also it’s important to teach our kids from a young age, those disciplines, right? That we have as adults. So outsourcing and help, whether it be in your home or your business. You know, this year I went from one person helping me shout out to Nina, to three people who are now working on my team, which is amazing.

(09:54):

Shout out to Ronica and Angel and also Ali, who does my graphics, you guys are amazing. And so having a business that grows and scales, the beauty of that is you’ll have that profitability to begin investing back in the business by getting help, to free up your time and space so that you have more energy to do the stuff you actually want to do. So that’s the third thing I’ve done that really has impacted my success.

(10:24):

The fourth one is automation. And this one is again, looking at how do we batch content so that we are not reactive. It all comes back to this. We have got to stay proactive, proactive in your business, proactive in your time, proactive in the vision, by getting other people, to help you with the small stuff proactive in your day to day, time management in the minutes of your day, the minutes are important. We cannot waste time.

(10:55):

So with automation something that you can take from that as automation or batching or content creation or repurposing, I went from creating content for all the platforms in 2019 to, in 2020, creating one thing, which is the podcast and then repurposing it and the description of it everywhere. If you follow me on Instagram and you read a caption, it’s probably the same caption I shared on Facebook and that’s probably the same caption that I put in the podcast description, which is probably the same email that you got. But guess what?

(11:30):

You probably didn’t even notice because you’re not watching my stuff everywhere. You’re checking it out in one place, just like every other person in my community. So one massive thing that I changed was I stopped being everywhere in a diverse way. And I started being in one place intentionally, and then sharing that one thing everywhere, massive time saver, massive like stress reliever, just to go.

(11:59):

I only am responsible for two pieces of content every single week, my podcast and the little description that I do on Monday and my podcast and the little description that I do on Thursday. And then it goes everywhere. And then the beauty of that is now someone else does it for me, going back to number three, which is outsourcing, which gives me the boundaries to do other intentional things that I can plan in to my planner.

(12:26):

Like it all links up together. And it’s just really deciding that your time is extraordinarily valuable and that you are not willing to waste it. You are not willing to do things in your business that don’t light you up and you are willing to invest to get the help that you need to get to that place and trusting that it’s all gonna work out. That it’s all gonna come full circle for you.

(12:54):

All right. The final one, number four is I stayed extremely proactive. AKA, I didn’t, I didn’t get comfortable. I stayed a visionary in the growth of where I want to go. And this is a tough one. Once you start to have success, it feels really comfortable. And you’re like, Ooh, I could just hang out here for a hot minute. Like I could hang out at this, you know, 50 K or 100 K or 500 K or whatever that number is magic numbers for you, or like I made it!

(13:27):

But here’s the thing I believe that we all have callings that continue to grow and evolve. And as we grow and evolve, our callings heightened and more is expected of us. And so I couldn’t stay small and small is relative based on where we all are. You know, I’ve definitely been in positions where there’s no cashflow at all.

(13:52):

And I’ve been in positions where there is a lot. And I’ve been in positions where I’m a solopreneur, doing everything, wearing all the hats. And I’ve been in the position now of actually having a team helping me. And I’m a big, much bigger vision of where I’m going in the next three to five years.

(14:08):

But one thing I never did was I never said I’m done. I stayed proactive and looking for opportunities. I asked over and over again for the collaboration, for the podcast interview, for the affiliate relationship, for the sponsorship, whatever it was for this speaking engagement.

(14:27):

I asked, I was proactive. I was pushing forward in my growth. And when you push forward in your growth, your profits follow, because the more you do to impact and solve people’s problems, the more revenue will come back because it truly is a full circle situation. When you figure out your thing and you have absolute clarity, and then you go forward with fearless audacity and trust in God to open the doors and pave the way and you show up and you show up and you show up and you serve and you solve.

(14:58):

And you give over and over again, without getting caught up in the how does this make me money lie. You end up making money and you probably end up making way more than you ever thought possible. So my five super strategy, super strategic ha just kidding, super simple things that you need to make sure that you are implementing and staying extraordinarily focused on in 2021 are the following.

(15:27):

Number one, get back to a simple paper planner. And time-blocking your month, your day, your week, and your to-do list. You should know what you are doing in all the categories of your life at all times. And you need to plug them in every single day, which brings me to number two, you have the boundaries and the discipline to make sure that you are completing all of them. You’re turning off social. You are detoxing, whatever the idols are that you have in your life, at least once a week, right?

(16:03):

You are doing your business time blocks, your family time blocks, your health time blocks, your spiritual time, your morning routines, you’re eating. Like you’ve got to have those disciplines in place, and I’m not a crazy disciplinary in, or like productivity coach. But I, in order to do the things that I do do, which is the clarity work and podcasting at the level that I podcast and still making dinner for my family literally every day, because I love it.

(16:30):

It’s one of my favorite things, I have to have discipline. And my boundaries as your business grows, if you don’t have boundaries, you’re going to drown. You’re going to drown. So you’ve got to begin implementing that ASAP girl. All right. Number three, begin outsourcing and asking for help. As soon as humanly possible. If soon as you have help in your home with your kiddos or with your business, with the inbox, with the podcasting editing or whatever your thing is that you’re like.

(16:59):

I just literally despise this one part of my business or the household stuff. What can you do? There is a solution for every problem, the most successful people on the planet. I don’t believe necessarily make the most money. I believe they’re the best and biggest problem solvers. Yeah. Can I get an amen? So it’s beginning to outsource, delegate and look for help in whatever way that you can find it.

(17:26):

Number four, automate, batch, do the things that will set you up for success. So you were constantly productive, proactive in all the things that you have to do, right? This means batching episodes ahead of time. This means planning what’s coming up next month before it’s next month so that you can plan into it and promote into it and stay on the top of your game.

(17:50):

And finally, the last one is to be extraordinarily proactive about growing forward, asking for what you want, showing up and pursuing the bigger vision. What is next? How do you impact more deeply? How do you show up? How do you stay a little bit scared in your business every day? If you’re just super comfortable, you are not doing enough. I believe that in order for us to really impact change and to be the kingdom changers that I know we’re called to be, it’s not going to be comfy.

(18:22):

It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to stretch us. And if we’re not in a constant state of stretching, there’s more, and I’m not talking about working 24, seven/7 or hustling harder. I’m talking about doing it in a way where you are actually working less yet, making a bigger and bigger impact, an impact that is God led, letting God size dreams pull you forward instead of your size dreams.

(18:47):

Because the way that God wants you to build is His way and it feels incredible and it feels peaceful and it feels somewhat balanced. It just feels so much bigger than you. It’s like this incredible pull of trust and just Holy spirit led intervention over your life, business, mindset, all the things. So if that, if there’s anything I can tell you it’s that these five things have transformed, not just the way I do business, but the way my business operates, the space in which I operate inside of my business, the help that I have.

(19:25):

And then finally, and what I know that so many of you are searching for is how profitable the business has become. I hope that these helped you sis, and let’s just quickly pray. And I’ll let you get back to your day so you can fill out your new planner. Okay, Lord God, I lift up all of the Lolas listening. I pray that you just help her to get focused and define the things that she needs to change and highlight the things that she needs to give away. Let go of and lay down.

(19:55):

I pray that she is able to have extreme decisiveness and the boundaries that she needs to set and the motivation and consistency to stick with them, to really create the long-term sustainable change that you have in store for her, so that she can grow and scale into the calling that she has to reach the most people and create the most impact. Thank you. We love you. We trust you in Jesus’ name. Amen. Love and light, Stef.