Lynette, I Do It Despite The Anxiety

I’m continuing my cross blog conversation with Lynette over on Tech Based Marketing.  (Did you read her reply to my first question?)

She asked me:

I’ve always admired how you can start something fast and just as decisively axe them when they don’t fit your goals anymore even if they have been profitable. You’re almost ruthless. What goes on in your head :-) How do you keep your emotions out of that process? What do you have to say to those of us who have trouble letting go?

This is a freaking great question to ask me!

My ability to ‘let go’ is well developed after the last six years of doing it on a regular basis.  Before that – it wasn’t at all easy for me to do.

There are all of these often spoken rules for life and business.  “Owning a home is the best choice.  Do what makes the most money.  Debt is the America way – just go with it.” (To name a few.)

Living by these rules made me unhappy – but I kept trying.

Somewhere around the year 2003 I decided to buck one of the rules and went on a mission to pay off my debt.  It took three years but I finally achieved zero ‘unsecured debt’. (I still had my mortgage.)  It felt sooo good.  Being debt free was a major accomplishment – and it opened up new possibilities.  If I could change my attitude and actions about debt, what else could I do?

I started to question whether owning my home was right for me.

Everyone I talked about it with counseled me the same way.  Keep the house.  It’s an investment.  It’s a nest egg.  It’s the right thing to do.  Yeah, yeah, yeah – but I HATED owning a house.

I hated the upkeep, I hated the responsibility, I hated THE house I was living in.  (I didn’t always feel that way – it was a perfectly nice house to live in for twelve years before that.)  I wanted to be free of it.  I wanted to call up a landlord and tell them about the broken garage door.

Have you seen this neat little poster that’s been flying around the net for awhile?

I wish I knew who to attribute it to originally, if anyone knows, please tell me so I can link it up appropriately.

I wasn’t happy.  Something had to change.  Nobody around me seemed to get it.

I decided to go with my gut and put the house up on the market.  It sold in a snap – and voila – I was free.

Oh, and around the same time I quit my day job and came home to do my online business full time.  So I was free indeed ;)

This great trio of decisions (getting debt free, selling the house & quitting the day job) seemed to crack me wide open.  I was in the ‘letting go’ mood.

I moved.  I brought almost none of the furniture from the old house with me – I wanted a fresh start.  Over the last five years I’ve moved nearly every year – being a renter is awesome like that.  Every time I move, I purge a bit more.

I would hold something in my hand and ask, ‘Does this mean something to me?’.  If the answer was yes, it got packed.  If the answer was ‘meh’, it went to Goodwill.

As of this writing, everything I own (if we don’t count my odd shaped desk) fits in a small Uhaul.  (I’m in training for at least part time RV living in the future.)

All of this letting go has translated into my online business too.

Some businesses I’ve owned or co-owned started to feel like my house did – great for someone but not right for me.  So I got out of those businesses.

I have held some projects in my hand and asked ‘Does this mean something to me?’ If the answer as yes, it stayed.  If it was ‘meh’ I let it go.

Lynette, you ask me how I keep my emotions about of it?  I don’t.  Some of the businesses I’ve left were partnerships with awesome people.  The stress created by my not liking what I was doing outweighed the pleasure of the partnership – so I had to let go.  (Sometimes with tears and tissues in hand.)

The title of your CBC post is ‘How do you axe a product without anxiety?’ LOL!  You don’t.  You do it DESPITE of the anxiety.

I had tons of anxiety over my rebrand this past summer.  I worried that my long time listeners and clients would hate the new brand or feel like I was abandoning them.  I have huge anxiety over selling off a big chunk of my business this winter – I’m giving up a ‘sure thing’ that has been a great source of residual income.  It’s impossible to do this without some stress.

What there is to balance it all out is experience and confidence. I have confidence in my new brand and I have the experience of smaller changes made in the past.  I know it’s all going to be great.

What advice do I have for those who struggle to let things go?

Know where you’re going, who you’re serving and what problems they have that you can solve.  Nothing helps you let go of what doesn’t belong like a strong focus!

My next question for you Lynette:

Part One: So many people rely on your for your tech expertise.  How are you going to balance helping others with growing your own business projects in the new year? 

Part two: What advice do you have for service providers who are getting burned out on trading their hours for dollars?

Can’t wait to hear your answers!