4 Jail-Breaking Secrets to Build a Freedom Business in 2023

*I originally wrote this as a Love Letter to my mailing list. Subscribed readers get my best stuff. Get my emails here.

I used to be a wine person.

I loved winding down after a workday with a glass of red wine (I prefer Port), 2 cubes of ice (I like my wine cold), and a Spotify Jazz playlist in the background.

But after having my baby girl, I don’t love that anymore.

Drinking wine isn’t ideal for breastfeeding. (Unless you want to make the baby sleep real quick - a trick I learned from Working Mom on Netflix but haven’t tried yet.)

But more importantly (and sadly), my physiology changed so drastically after pregnancy and birth that wine makes me extremely… gassy.

(this might have been me after a gulp of wine.)

So I stopped drinking wine. And my bowels are still thanking me.

Lesson of the story: Something that served you in the past may not serve you now.

Expanded lesson: Something that did not serve you in the past will not magically start serving you if you keep at it. (Like what a sex coach would say: if it’s not working, don’t do it harder.)

This brings me to the topic of annual business planning.

Here are the 4 things I’ve stopped doing when planning for my business around this time of the year.

They’re stuff that either served me but no longer work or didn’t serve me, so I decided to toss them - even if the “experts” say they’re “musts.”

1.

I’ve stopped setting revenue goals (OMG!)

I made this rule for myself: if a goal doesn’t motivate me, I don’t set it. Or a set a new one.

I feel toward revenue goals the same way I feel towards a bag of frozen fish. It doesn’t motivate me one single bit. This isn’t because I have some broken limiting beliefs or “money wounds.”

It’s just because I’m not wired to feel excited about money for the sake of money. Not that there’s anything wrong with it.

What motivates me is impact. So I set goals on the number of lives I want to impact with my offers. From that, I get a forecast of revenue. (Which makes my CFO happy.)

2.

I’ve stopped making a detailed plan.

I used to spend hours making color-coded Google Spreadsheets thinking that if I made a perfect plan, I’d have perfect execution.

Wrong. I’d get so overwhelmed and bogged down by the minute details of the plan itself that I froze.

Overplanning = creative suicide.

Now, for a multi-six-figure business, my “year plan” is literally drawn on a piece of A5 paper.

Business moves fast. The game plan will change after Jan. Why waste time obsessing over it now?

Most of the time, overplanning happens due to insecurity. We’re afraid we’ll screw up, so we try to plan our way around failure.

Want to know the real secret?

Trust that you have what it takes to respond to whatever comes your way.

And keep strengthening your muscle to take aligned actions on a daily basis. (More on that in another article.)

For a business to be agile enough to respond to opportunities, more detailed planning is better done quarterly.

3.

I’ve stopped backing my life into my business.

I used to put only things I wanted to do in my business in the business plan.

Which made sense. It was a business plan, after all!

Until I realized doing that would mean my life getting only whatever crumbs of time and energy I had left.

So this year, I flipped things around.

I asked myself first what I wanted in my life: a solo retreat every quarter, a couple of trips every six months, one big family adventure, and an end-of-year team retreat for everyone in my company.

I map them in the calendar before I put any business project.

I back my business into my dream life.

And that’s how you build a freedom business that changes life. (The first life has to be yours.)

4.

I’ve stopped planning to do anything I think I “should.”

It’s easy for me to have a crush on business coaches and experts. (I’m not ashamed. After all, I’m one of them.)

But the problem was that I’d sheepishly follow whatever they said was the “best strategy” to grow my business.

Learning is important. Trying out new things is important. But it’s equally important to consult your inner wisdom and follow the spark.

This year - okay, at least quarter 1 because I’m only planning per quarter, remember? - I’m ditching launch strategies that experts have sworn by 10 times over, including offering free masterclasses.

(I’m doing *something else* instead. If you stick around on the mailing list, you’ll hear about it soon. Guarantee: It’s gonna be uber fun, especially for me.)

I’m not saying free masterclasses, workshops, or webinars won’t work for you. If that sparks joy for you, go. for. it.

I’m saying YOU are the creator of your business - so act like that.

Follow your inner wisdom. Relentlessly.

Follow joy. Unapologetically.

That, too, is how you create a freedom business.

2023 is here, and singing.

May you set yourself free this year.

Milena

P.S.: kicking off your new year with new fulfillment

Want the freedom to quit your 9-to-5, have more time for loved ones (including yourself), work wherever you want, and get paid to change peoples’ lives?

I’ve created this FREE beautiful workbook called “The 7-Part Enrollment Session Success Blueprint” so that you can create meaningful conversations with your potential clients and get them to say a solid YES in the end.

Click the image below to download the workbook now!

I help YOU get paid to change the world.

Hey, fellow purpose-driven human!

I’m Milena. When I was 24, I said no to corporate job offers to “do my own thing.”

9 years, some major fumbles, 3 TEDx Talks, 1 published book, 50,000 followers, and hundreds of clients (from 15+ countries) later…

I make a multi-six-figure living as a coach while spending most of my time walking barefoot in my apartment. #introvertgoal

I know you want to make a difference.

I’m here to help you turn that calling into a financially sustainable coaching business — while staying away from the hustle, and skipping the pitfalls that trip up most new coaches.

Quit your 9-to-5. Move to a paradise island. Slow yoga every morning. Work from sunlit cafes. Make time for loved ones (including yourself). Grow your influence. Wake up excited about your day. And serve only the clients who light you up…

All of that (and more!) is possible, once you have the right support.

Let me help you shine.

that’s not enough, tell me more!