Karen Kissane (00:00)

16 lessons I'd tell my past self.

Imagine you could sit down with your younger self right at the moment that you were starting your business journey and share everything you've learned.

But the truth is hindsight is a wonderful thing. I'm going to take you on a journey.

16 things I would do differently if I was starting again.

Complexity often feels like progress, don't you think?

I don't buy into that. Simplifying your operations and leveraging your resources,

honestly think are the biggest game changers for anyone in their business.

It's so, powerful.

just get obsessed with leverage much, much earlier.

I was on a Thailand beach for my son's 10th birthday, And I was busy on that beach answering client calls, posting in my Facebook group. And I had a really hard word with myself in that moment.

And from then on, everything changed.

This is Karen Kissane Today, I want to talk about the business lessons I've learned. And if I was starting up all over again, what I would do differently. 16 lessons I'd tell my past self.

you ever wondered what you would do differently if you were starting again,

In this episode, I'm diving into the lessons that I would share with my past self, insights on simplicity, leverage, intuition, and building a business that scales without stress. Look, whether you're just starting out, whether you are looking to refine your path, whether you want to scale from where you are to multi six figures, seven figures, or beyond that, these 16 insights,

will help you to build a smarter, simpler, more sustainable

Imagine you could sit down with your younger self right at the moment that you were starting in your business journey and share everything you've learned. What would you say? For me, it's a mix of hard-end lessons, lots of simplifying and some major belief shifts. If I could go back, I would tell myself to stop chasing complexity. I would trust my gut instinct more and I'd focus on leveraging what I already have.

I would become masterful at what's already working and build on that rather than constantly adding more things into the mix. But the truth is hindsight is a wonderful thing. And if I'd known all that now, my business wouldn't be where it is today. And these mistakes, these lessons, dead ends, U-turns have definitely shaped the business I run today. I'm going to take you on a journey.

16 things I would do differently if I was starting again. And I hope that these things that I'm gonna share with you will help you to carve out perhaps a slightly different

Number one, I would embrace simplicity and leverage way, way earlier. Complexity often feels like progress, don't you think? I'm doing all these things. My business is really growing, isn't it great? I feel great. It kind of feeds that need inside that we often have to feel like if we're achieving more,

We're doing a better job. If we're busy, we're achieving more. I don't buy into that. Maybe I did a while ago. Maybe I did a few years ago. I certainly did when I was starting my business. But I don't anymore. Simplifying your operations and leveraging your resources, whether it's tools, systems, your team, what you've already created, so many different points of leverage, like hundreds and hundreds of ways you could leverage, apply leverage in your business. This is a whole other episode.

This allows you to grow with unnecessary strain. You got to think what leverage is. I talk about leverage all the time. My clients play leverage bingo with me. How many times can Karen say the word leverage in this session she's running for us? Leverage is just achieving more with less. And if you think about it, isn't this so really smart? It's like, well, if I've already got things that will create a bigger, better, faster.

more profitable result. Doesn't it make sense to leverage those? Doesn't it make sense to use those? But instead what happens is that people jump around a lot. They create way too many new things. I'm all about leverage. If I was a stick of rock and you were to cut me down the middle, I would have the words leverage through and through. And honestly think that simplicity and leverage are the biggest game changers for anyone in their business.

Way to start is very simply, look at what you're doing. Really think about the 20 % of your efforts that produce 80 % of the results, Pareta's Law. We've all heard of this, but does anyone actually leverage it? Does anyone do anything with it? It's so, powerful. Leverage automations, templates, outsource early, all the things that you can do to free up your time.

So that for whatever it is that you're working on, you can get more out of it. You can get more profit, more impact, more scale, more time, more ease, more joy,

points of leverage. So the very first thing I would say is I just get obsessed with leverage much, much earlier. I don't really, I don't really fall into leverage until I got into that messy middle stage of my business, which you may have heard me talk about.

The story of when I was on a Thailand beach for my son's 10th birthday, were on James Bond Island celebrating his 10th birthday. And I was busy on that beach answering client calls, posting on my, in my Facebook group. And I had a really hard word with myself in that moment. And from then on, everything changed. That was the moment that I discovered leverage and simplicity, or certainly the weeks and months after that. And I wish that had happened earlier.

because I really got myself into hustle mode up until that point. Number two, avoid building a monster business. It kind of feeds into the first thing. It's easy to let your business evolve into something really overwhelming, a monster. It could be a good monster. I mean, it can be a monster that you enjoy, but a monster's a monster at the end of the day. And this happens when you say yes, too many things, too many yeses, not enough nos.

I came across really early on in the start of my business journey, which was, what's the difference between a business operator, a business owner and an entrepreneur? A business operator works on a to-do list, like takes things off a to-do list. It's very operational in the business. Tick, tick, yep, I've got to do that. I've got to do that. Basically is pushing buttons in the business. A business owner starts to build assets.

and resources that steps them out of the business. So the business isn't solely dependent on them. What I mean by that is creating assets, programs, things that you can sell and monetize that isn't just you trading your time for money as often coaches, consultants do, but an entrepreneur on the other hand, well,

Entrepreneurs don't create to-do lists, they create to stop lists. And that's what I find really interesting. And that's what we need to be able to do more quickly in businesses, identify the opportunities that are a yes and identify the opportunities or the things that have come our way are a no. If you say yes too often, you lose your boundaries. You might expand too quickly.

You got to recognize the warning signs as well. Things like burnout, being really efficient, being overwhelmed, massive, massive lack of joy. Recalibrate towards ease by scaling back what's essential, scaling back to what's essential and make sure it's really aligned with where you're going. A while ago, I didn't really get the word alignment. mean, it's a given, right?

I'm enjoying my business, my business is great, my business is growing, I'm making money. That's just alignment, right? But it's not until you feel misaligned that you realize how important alignment is. You got to make sure that the business is aligned with what you actually want to be doing. It's aligned with your values as well. A beautiful business doesn't feel like a burden. If your business feels like a burden, it's not beautiful and something needs to change. So don't build a monster business. That's number two. Number three.

Value transition periods. Gosh, business runs in seasons. You can't be foot to the floor all the time. It's unsustainable. You can't be in a growth year all the time. That's unsustainable. You've got to let go of stuff and you've got to sit back and know that actually I'm in build mode or actually I'm in growth mode. Transitions can feel really, really uncomfortable, but they're critical for growth. And so instead of resisting them and, and

That's what we wanna do, right? We wanna resist them, because they're not comfortable. But instead of resisting them, learn to embrace the discomfort as a real sign of evolution. Like reframe it in your mind. What could it lead to? What could it be good for? What could it mean instead? I think it's really valuable to be able to do this. So whether this is a shift in your business model or your own perceived identity in your business, this is big as well.

because with each new level requires not just a new business model or an upgrade in how you're running, building your strategy, but it requires an upgrade and new identity for you as well. So these periods are definitely opportunities to shed what no longer serves you and like leaning into these transitions.

creates a better platform for growth, I believe. I can look back on my business and really identify a number of transitional periods that have not felt very pleasant at all at the time, but have been necessary for growth. And maybe at the time I haven't even realized that that's what's happening. I've been like kicking and punching.

Why is this not working? Why is this so hard? my God, I hate my business. I'm going to burn it to the ground. And then it's like, that's why this is happening. Thank you, universe. So value those transition periods and actually something as well.

is have a long-term view of business, not just a short-term. It's a marathon, not a sprint. That's a saying that almost all of us know, okay? But it's true. I think that the real scale, the real sophistication in business comes from building a long-term business with a long-term view rather than just a quick and dirty, I'm in the trenches. That's crash and burn in my mind. Number four, recognize the importance of strategy shifts.

Again, what's the strategy that you need to shift to take you from where you are now to where you're going? Because what got you here will not get you there. So the systems that worked for me when I was first starting out, like, my God, I outgrew them. They are not fit for purpose now. The things that I was doing then, I am not doing now. And if I tried to do the things now that I'm doing, that was back then, then that wouldn't have worked either.

So the stages of business where you've got to identify what you need in that moment. And that goes with hiring people in your team as well. The VA's that I worked with in the early stages were not the ones that I'm working with now who have a higher level of understanding of what I want to achieve. So one of the biggest realizations to me was that actually you can outgrow team members and

If I'm growing fast, doesn't mean that people in my team are at the same speed as me. People do not evolve at the same rate and it's totally okay to realize that and to accept.

One thing I'm really good at now is relying on my intuition and self-belief. I'm a scientist. I love data. I love metrics. I love numbers. I love systems. I have a tech platform called ExpertSpace. I love all of this stuff, but it's not the same as trusting yourself and going with your gut instinct when that's the right decision-making system to use.

Data and logic of course are important, but intuition is a really powerful tool for long-term success and for self-leadership. You've got to trust your gut. Sometimes the right decision to make is the one that feels right. It's got to feel aligned. It's got to feel right. There's not to be confused with feeling uncomfortable because you're in growth mode. Growth is okay. This isn't about feeling comfortable all the time, but it's about trusting your gut. So if you can cultivate this,

the self belief mechanism within you that enables you to confidently make strategic decisions based on how you feel, not just based on how you think. So moving from your head into your body, much more in things like meditation and yoga and grounding can really help to build up this. This will help you to step into your next level of leadership.

Number six, step away for perspective. The growth doesn't happen when you're in the thick of things. I just have to use my retreats as an example of this. One of the things I realized with running my retreats is when you pack too much in, people feel overwhelmed and they don't get as much out of it because it's quite stifling. But actually from the retreat owner's point of view, it's very easy to fall into the trap of thinking you've got to jam pack as much as you can and stuff in people with bread rolls.

That's the worst thing you can do in a retreat. And it's the worst thing you can do in many aspects of your business. On my retreat there, I've lost count of the number of times I have seen the best growth happen in the spaces in between, often in the jacuzzi with a glass of wine in hand. This is where those conversations, those ideas, those insights come to the surface. And I do this a lot. I step away for perspective. I have my best ideas when I'm not at my desk.

Most people do. Taking intentional breaks helps you to see the bigger picture and tap into your creativity. And much of what we do as entrepreneurs and experts is about being creative and innovative. And you've got to be creative and innovative if you want to come up with these ideas, which frankly, no one else is having that are going to put you at the forefront of your client's vision so that they can say to you,

Hey Karen, you're on my vision board. I can't wait to work with you. Isn't that incredible? So step away for full perspective. Number seven, optimize energy. And my goodness, biohack your is probably the biggest game changer that I've discovered in my business over the last few years. For the very simple reason, your energy is your greatest asset. No energy, virtually no business. No joy, that's for sure. Lower profits, energy impacts everything.

Someone once said to me, really good friend of mine said to me, a couple of years ago now, Karen, energy is your strategy. And it hit me like a ton of breaks, like a bulldozer with the blue. was like, my God, you are right. It is. Energy is my strategy. So many people say to me when I ask them, and I have asked these questions a number of times, what is it that makes you want to work with me rather than a different business coach? And almost everyone says you're energy, Karen.

I should listen to that. We got to take notice of this kind of stuff that people are telling us. And so then I realized, well, if energy is one of my best strategies, if energy is my currency, how do I protect that? How do I grow it? How do I look after it? And biohack your helps me enormously with this. really great nutrition, hydration, sleep optimization. I mean, they go without saying, but things to maximize focus and stamina,

cold water therapy, meditation, nootropics. There are so, many ways that I cultivate and boost my energy daily so that I bring my very best edge to my business. Energy fuels ability to think, lead, execute at a higher level. I already mentioned nootropics. These are great.

I'm not here to say that you should take them, but I am here to say that these are one of the things that's really helped me. And like this is just for a cognitive edge These can really improve your decision-making. It can give you the edge. can give you clarity of thought. It can help with your energy.

There's a combination of so many biohack your tools that are firmly in my business biohack your toolkit. And look, if you're part of my biohack your business mastermind, you're going to know already about all of these things. And by the way, if you're not in the mastermind and you would like to be in the mastermind, drop me a note after or click on the link to join the wait list.

Let's talk next about prioritizing recovery as a growth strategy. This is number nine.

For me, recovery isn't resting. I mean, it can be resting, but it's about resetting. So mindfulness, meditation, reviewing your strategy, resetting where you're going and what you're doing, looking at the path ahead, looking at the path behind you, looking at it through an objective, creative decision-making lens, being at the helm of your business. Look, we've to be able to do these things. We've got to reset and we've got to...

It's almost like those cars where you pull forwards to move back. This is what this is for me and my business. And this is one of the things that I kind of wished I'd got into doing earlier. A well-rested entrepreneur, resetted, if that is a word, entrepreneur is more effective one. And it allows you to build longer, sustainable success.

Let's also talk about the decisions we make as entrepreneurs and the position where we're making those decisions from.

It's very easy to bring a very personal side of you into your business. And I think that's important. People buy into the person, the human behind the business, really important. That's why, you you'll see that people like Richard Branson have more followers on their personal pages than on their business pages.

So that is a given. know that that's important, but sometimes what can happen is we can allow our own sense of self, our own ego, and our own personal needs to dictate the decision-making in our business. And when I started making decisions in my business through the lens of the business, i.e. what the business really needs rather than what I need personally, that was much more strategic. I was making much higher.

quality decisions that were taking the business in the right direction and were not influencing things about the business that didn't need to be influenced. The best decisions are those that are made with the business in mind. And so you've got to ask what the business needs, not just what feels good in the moment. It's not about what you need. It's what your business needs. You're the CEO of your business. This might mean.

that this might mean making some hard calls, making some tough decisions, doing things you don't want to do. It might mean letting go of some things. It might mean changing direction. Many, many ways. I there's many things that this can feed into, but you've got to build a business that is strategic at the end of the day. And it's even about letting go of some stuff that is working to make way for something that's much better. As someone once said to me,

Karen, what do you need to let go of that's good to make way for what's great? I will never forget those words. They are so powerful because often we think that we just got to let go of the stuff that's not working. Yes. But also letting stuff of, letting go of some of the things that are working is game-changing. It's very, very empowering to be able to do that. And it doesn't feel comfortable sometimes, but it's maybe the right decision for the business in that moment.

Number 12, responsibility, redefining responsibility. Responsibility is a big thing for me. I like to think that I accept a lot of responsibility for the role that I play, the things that I do in my business. Responsibility is key here. And as a business owner, you're responsible for so many things. Tools, guidance, support.

for your clients, for your own results and shifting the perspective to, yeah, I'm responsible for this and I'm gonna assume responsibility is a mature way to grow your business. I think we've got to think about what your job is. What is your role in your business? It's to create the conditions for success, but ultimately, you've got to be responsible for what you do, but you've got to let your clients be responsible for what they do as well.

I used to feel so responsible for my clients. I used to be the person pulling them off the struggle bus. Hey, it's okay, I'll come and save you, I'll fix this. I used to be like, the fixer, that doesn't help your clients. They don't need fixing, well, they didn't need you to fix them, they need to fix themselves. And so when I switched up what I was responsible for and what they were responsible for, then that...

That was much better for me and it was much better for them. I'm not responsible for my client's success. They're responsible for their own success. I am responsible for giving the tools, the strategy, the support, all of the things to help them to achieve their results, but they've got to meet me in the middle. And the moment I realized that, the moment I stopped over-giving, you've got to allow your clients to step up and take responsibility. You've got to manage the expectations right upfront as well.

Clients ultimately must take responsibility for their own transformation.

You don't need to see the whole staircase to take the first step. Let's roll our sleeves up and have some fun and try things. How do you know it's gonna work? Unless you try it, you don't. Don't wait for the clarity and the answers. You gotta go out and find the clarity. The clarity comes from rolling your sleeves up, getting stuck in and doing the damn thing. So let's be experimental.

I think there's more scope to be experimental in the earlier stages of business because that's when you're building up the whole spectrum of what works, what you want your business to look like, the business model, the systems you have in place, what you're doing and all your offers and your processes and your strategies behind that. You don't know what's going to work and you've got to find out. I don't know what's going to work for you and I've got to help you to find out. That's how I work with my clients. It's like, right.

Let's figure out the combination of buttons to press to get the results that you want. Because everyone's business is different. So being experimental is so much fun and letting go of the need and the desire to feel like we've got to have it all mapped out upfront is huge. Test simple systems, test pathways, have fun, check it out, do the things, see what works and then...

Double down and dial in what is working and that's when you scale it.

Let's talk about quick wins versus long-term strategy.

I think it's too much emphasis in the online space of helping people to build a crash and burn business. Hey, can I work with me? going to help you make 10K or 30K or 50K in the next two days. And I do this, do this, do this. Okay, right. I've done it. I've created the result. What next?

okay. We don't know what's next because actually all we've done is just create a cash injection into the business, which of course is a good thing. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. We need money in the business to then reinvest to put into other things. But anyone can make 10,000 pounds once. What I'm interested in is helping you to make 10,000 pounds this month and next month and 20 the month after and 30 the month after and 50 the month after. This is what, this is what

excites me in business is the long-term, okay, I can see where this is going. I've got the strategy and the infrastructure behind what I'm telling you now so that you can go away and not just have a 10K month this month, but you can build on this and build a big, predictable, safe, secure business.

So it is the small actionable steps, the micrometer and millimeter shifts that will do that for you. We want the short term wins, yes, but with the longer term strategy. And a lot of this has to do with optimization. How do we optimize? Okay, you've done this once. How should we optimize it and turn it into something that will work time and time again?

Trusting the timing of growth. This is number

chasing linear growth, then just work on a strategy, okay? And you'll be able to build on your strategy. Most of you can. If you want exponential growth, that's when you've got to bring other paradigms into this. So when you tap into your energy, when you tap into how you think and feel, how you operate,

all of your systems, the strategy, all the things that feed into a thriving and profitable business, all the things that I talk about and are doing inside the Biohack your business mastermind, that's when you get exponential growth. So linear growth is a straight line. Exponential growth is something that just blows up. Sometimes we hear this talk talked in the context of paradigm shifts. I don't really know what a paradigm shift is.

But all I know is that it's possible to take giant steps forward in your business by harnessing and leveraging more than just

Sometimes growth feels slow and sometimes growth feels fast and that's okay. You're not going to be going at the same pace or speed all of the time. So if you focus on consistent aligned action, consistent action that is shifting

the needle, moving the needle forward in many, many places in your business, then things are heading in the right direction and the patience, the perseverance leads to the success you

Don't just throw in the towel and go, damn it, it's not working. I've got to do something else. That's the worst thing. Give it long enough. Make sure that it's going to work. Don't give up. Don't quit on what you're doing because you are impatient. And number 16, deep work. Deep work for me is the thing that I do in the mornings for a couple of hours that gets way more work done than I used to do in entire days or even weeks.

There's a few things I do with regards to deep work. I listen to binaural beats to eliminate distractions and to carve out more focus. This is about deep work being your secret weapon. It's 100 % my secret weapon in my business.

It helps me to have uninterrupted time so that I can focus on those really high value tasks that require more of me, more creativity, more strategy, more problem solving. And I always do this in the morning. I'm much better with my deep work in the morning. It's always in the morning and it's as early as it can possibly be for me. And I can lose hours and hours and get so much done. And it's great because

Look, if I can do in three hours, what I used to do in seven hours, this is a bonus. This is great. And again, this is really a big part of understanding what we need to do within ourselves, the biohack your, the biohack your business to get the best out of yourself. What if you could just even apply this one thing and that could create so many shifts in your business in terms of your efficiency, your productivity, your energy, your focus, your motivation, your

wonders and it is my secret weapon and it 100 % could be yours too.

here we are at the end of my list of 16 things that I would tell myself, my younger self, I starting my business over again today. And I really hope that these lessons have resonated with you as much as they've really shaped how I run my business today. And I'm so curious, which ones, which ones really hit home for you? Which are the ones that you've gone, okay, this has gone in. Is there a lesson that you're ready to

implement right now that you've heard me mention. I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Connect with me, send me a message, come and connect with me on social media or share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it. And if you're ready to build a business that's simple, scalable and aligned with your vision, keep listening. I have so much more to share on this. And this is just the beginning. And if you want my help to implement any of these things so you can build a simple, leveraged business, that's more systemized.

that brings you more profits, more time and more impact. Drop me a note, I'd love to chat.