Dawn McGruer

• Led over 30,000 clients to make more than £45 million in business growth over 20 years.
• Started first business at 21, achieving mortgage-free status by 33.
• Empowering entrepreneurs to scale businesses to consistent cash months with less marketing effort.

The Business Growth Coach™ | Business Strategist & Marketing Mentor

Forbes Coaches Council

As a member of the Council, Dawn has access to a variety of exclusive opportunities designed to help her reach peak professional influence. She will connect and collaborate with other respected leaders in a private forum. Dawn will also have the opportunity to share her expert insights in original articles and contribute to published Expert Panels alongside other experts on Forbes.com.

Forbes Coach, Contributor and Official Member of Forbes Coaches Council

Business Consort Digital & Social Media Academy

My aim is to develop digital skills and bridge the digital skills gap and maximise my clients digital marketing profits to scale and grow their businesses. 

As a Chartered Institute of Marketing Accredited Trainer & Keynote Speaker I share my experience and knowledge of the ever-evolving world of Dynamic Digital Marketing (the name of my latest book published by Wiley). 

As a digital practitioner I work with my clients through our digital agency to help their brand and businesses shine online - Revolutionising online presence, leads,sales and revenue.

Digital Marketing Speaker, CIM Trainer, CEO of Business Consort - Digital & Social Media Academy

Property Consort

Director & Property Investor

Aurora Marketing

A marketing consultancy and social networking company. 
	 
•	Acted as virtual business partner and provided marketing support for SMEs and elite corporate businesses;
•	Collaborated with business owners to develop and implement strategic marketing plans to facilitate growth and increase brand awareness;
•	Conducted market research and developed and implemented effective tailor-made marketing strategies to achieve objectives;
•	Cultivated sustainable client relationships through executing successful marketing plans and achieving desired results;
•	Developed a social networking site, online forum and business directory to promote a range of companies.

Director / Marketing Consultant

JLG Industries

I was responsible for the complete set up of the UK division offices including installing office furniture, equipment, telephones and IT infrastructure, implementing office processes, creating promotional merchandise and recruiting staff. I devised marketing strategies for clients to improve their business and increase sales enabling them to purchase equipment from JLG and attended exhibitions to generate leads and promote the business.

Marketing

Dean Smith Volvo

The Business Growth Coach® | Forbes Mentor & Neuroscience-Based Scaling Strategist | Speaker | Wiley Author Dynamic Digital Marketing | Dawn of a New Era Podcast | 30K+ Clients & £45m Generated | Scale to £100k+ Months

Dawn McGruer – The Business Growth Coach® | Forbes Mentor | Think, Feel & Scale like the top 1%

I empower ambitious female founders to scale to £100K months and beyond through the UK’s #1 Millionaire Mindset & Scaling Mentorship™ — a high-level 1:1 Business Growth Experience designed to unlock success, financial freedom, and lasting fulfilment.

With over 20 years of experience, I’ve coached more than 30,000 entrepreneurs, helping them generate over £45 million in additional revenue using neuroscience-backed strategy, scalable systems, and deep mindset transformation through my signature DREAMLIFE® Methodology.

DREAMLIFE® blends neurocoaching, neuroscience, and business strategy to break through success barriers and align mindset, model, and marketing — delivering rapid, sustainable, and exponential growth.

Client Results Averages:

⚜️ Tripled income in 90 days
⚜️ Doubled revenue in 60 days
⚜️20% sales increase in just 30 days
⚜️£100K+ months achieved in under 7 months

I’m also the founder of Business Consort – Digital & Social Media Academy, a 100% online, CIM-accredited study centre that has trained and certified over 30,000 students worldwide. We offer the CIM Diploma in Professional Marketing and Specialist Awards in AI, Social Media, Content Strategy, SEO, and eCommerce. With a 99% pass rate and 83% of students achieving a pay rise, promotion, or new role on graduation at Westminster, our impact is real and measurable.

Beyond the academy, I’m a bestselling author (Dynamic Digital Marketing – Wiley), keynote speaker, and host of the globally ranked podcast Dawn of a New Era®, which explores health, wealth, and happiness for entrepreneurs. With over 25,000 downloads per episode, it sits in the top 3% of podcasts worldwide.

I also lead:

⚜️Success From Your Soul Mastermind™ – the UK’s #1 Business Growth Mastermind
⚜️Strategise & Energise™ Luxury Business Retreats for aligned strategy and expansion

I became mortgage-free by 33 and now dedicate my life to helping women build businesses that create not just wealth, but freedom, fulfilment, and meaning.

What Sets Me Apart:

⚜️Top 1% Coach globally with a 100% client success rate and unrivalled ROI
⚜️Neuroscience-led growth, strategy, and mindset expertise
⚜️Recognised leader – LinkedIn Top Voice, Forbes Coaches Council Member, Fellow of CIM & RSA
⚜️Founder of Business Consort with 30K+ global alumni
⚜️Top 3% Podcast Host and Bestselling Author

Ready to think like a millionaire, scale like a CEO, and expand like an icon? 
Book a call: https://calendly.com/dawnmcgruer/discovery-call

Skills and experience are everything.
But not in the way you’ve been told.

It’s not just what you know:

It’s how you use it.
It’s not the number of years, it’s the depth of lessons learned.

I built my first agency at 21, became mortgage-free by 33, and scaled 4 businesses to multi-6 and 7 figures.

But none of that came from playing by the rules.

It came from failing fast, learning faster, and staying in the game when others quit.

You don’t need more hustle.
You need strategy rooted in wisdom.
You need mindset work that matches your ambition.

You need to apply your experience with intention not overwhelm.

Because when skill meets belief, that’s when scaling gets simple.

✨ It’s not about doing more it’s about doing what actually works.


♻️ Follow me Dawn McGruer to learn more about how to think feel and scale like the 1%

Learn more about my story and grab a free copy of my 7 Step Blueprint To Think Like A Millionaire, Scale Like A CEO, & Expand Like An Icon https://lnkd.in/ekftmC35

The meeting that taught me everything about leadership

Years ago, I was in a boardroom full of people whose titles weighed more than their voices.

The agenda was stacked, the tone was sharp, and everyone seemed intent on proving they belonged there.

Halfway through, the CEO excused himself.
We all assumed it was for a quick call or an urgent matter.

Five minutes later, he returned holding two mugs of tea.

One for the intern who’d been quietly taking notes in the corner.
One for the receptionist who had just dropped off fresh stationery.

He didn’t make a big deal of it.
He didn’t turn it into a “lesson moment.”
He just noticed they hadn’t had a break and decided to do something about it.

That small act changed the room.

The tension eased.
People spoke more openly.
And, for the first time that day, it felt like we were all on the same team.

Here’s what stuck with me:
Power doesn’t have to be loud.
Authority doesn’t have to be cold.
And being “important” doesn’t mean being unreachable.

In fact, the leaders who leave the deepest mark aren’t the ones who constantly remind you of their position.
They’re the ones who make you feel seen without needing the credit.

Titles fade. Offices change.
But people will always remember how you made them feel in your presence.

And no matter how far you rise…
Kindness is never beneath you.

PS:
♻ Share this with someone quietly gripping their own growth.
➕ Follow Dawn McGruer for grounded, body-led ways to scale with ease and inner power.

Not every battle is visible.

I learned this years ago, sitting across from a colleague in a meeting.

He was quieter than usual, distracted, almost disconnected.

Part of me started to make assumptions maybe he didn’t care, maybe he wasn’t prepared, maybe he just wasn’t committed.

Later that day, I found out his father was in the hospital.
Suddenly, everything made sense.

That’s the thing about life →
People carry stories you’ll never hear.

They wake up with burdens you’ll never see.
And they walk into the same rooms you do, wearing a mask that hides more than it reveals.

We live in a world that moves fast.

Fast judgments.
Fast conclusions.
Fast labels.

It’s easier to categorise someone than to slow down and wonder what’s really going on.
But every time we rush to judge, we risk missing the truth entirely.

I’ve been guilty of this more than once.
Seeing a short reply and assuming disinterest.

Hearing a delay and assuming incompetence.
Watching someone pull away and assuming they don’t care.

But here’s the reality →

They might be grieving.
They might be exhausted.
They might be holding the pieces of something that shattered in silence.

And no matter how well we think we read people, we can never see the full picture without compassion as our lens.

Now, I try to pause.

To ask before assuming.
To listen before labelling.

It’s not about excusing bad behaviour it’s about making room for humanity.
Because life has a way of humbling you when it’s your turn to carry something no one else can see.

One day, you’ll be grateful for the person who didn’t judge you too quickly.
Be that person for someone else.

PS:
Share this with someone quietly gripping their own growth.
Follow Dawn McGruer for grounded, body-led ways to scale with ease and inner power.

Talks about #mindset, #business, #marketing, #entrepeneurship, and #digitalmarketing

What No One Told Me About “Making It”

I used to think success would feel like a celebration.

The kind where you wake up grateful, light, deeply proud of yourself.

And on the surface it looked just like that.

Clients were signing on.
The revenue numbers had finally stopped stressing me out.
I was being seen, acknowledged, even admired.

But the moment I closed my laptop?

My chest would tighten. My breath would shorten.
And I’d start scanning for what could go wrong next.

It didn’t make sense.
I had what I wanted wasn’t this the dream?

That’s when I came across a term that put words to what I couldn’t explain:

Success Anxiety.

The paradox of getting everything you’ve worked for…
and suddenly being terrified you can’t hold it.
That it might slip through your fingers.

Not because you’re ungrateful.
But because your nervous system is still bracing for survival.

Still preparing for collapse.
Still wired to fear “more” as if abundance isn’t yours to keep.

That realisation didn’t fix it. But it softened something.

I started to shift in small, sacred ways. Not in my strategy but in my body.

When the panic rose, I hummed to calm my vagus nerve.

I splashed cold water on my face to bring myself back to the moment.
I wrote down one question every morning:
“What if this was safe? What if this was mine?”

I began visualising a version of myself who could hold success gently with open palms, not clenched fists.

Who could grow without gripping.
Who could receive without shrinking.

And one day not all at once, but gradually 
the tension started to melt.

The fear that once lived in my chest
began to be replaced by trust.

Not blind trust embodied trust.
The kind that lives in your breath, not just your thoughts.

If you’ve felt a similar fear…
If you’re secretly worried you can’t hold all that’s arriving…
You are not broken.

You are growing beyond your past wiring.

And that is brave work.



📬 DM me FEAR and I’ll send you a free guide to help you rewire your nervous system for calm, safe expansion.

♻️Share this with someone quietly gripping their own growth.
➕ Follow Dawn McGruer for grounded, body-led ways to scale with ease and inner

What No One Told Me About “Making It”

The crowd is comfortable.

It moves in one direction.
It thinks in familiar patterns.
It speaks in the language everyone recognises.

And if you’re not careful, it will swallow you whole without you even noticing.

For years, I stayed in that crowd.
Not because I agreed with everything…

But because blending in felt safer than standing out.

I laughed when everyone else laughed.
I followed the same trends.
I adopted the same “acceptable” goals.

It was survival disguised as belonging.

But here’s the problem with the crowd →
It’s loud enough to drown out your own voice.

The more you match it, the more invisible you become.
And when you’re invisible, your potential stays hidden too.

The turning point came when I realised the people I admired most never blended in.

They had edges.
They had perspectives that made others pause.
They walked a path where the footprints ahead of them were few.

So I started small.

I stopped agreeing just to keep the peace.
I chose projects that scared me.
I shared opinions before checking if they were “popular.”

And little by little, I saw what happens when you refuse to become another echo in the room.

Opportunities started finding me not because I was louder, but because I was different.
People don’t remember the one who fits in perfectly.

They remember the one who makes them think differently.

Being unique isn’t about trying to be shocking.
It’s about having the courage to be fully yourself, even when the crowd moves the other way.

And here’s the truth →
The crowd might not always understand you.

They might even resist you.
But the right people?

They’ll recognise you instantly.

And that’s who you were trying to reach all along.

PS:
Share this with someone quietly gripping their own growth.
Follow Dawn McGruer for grounded, body-led ways to scale with ease and inner power.

As my business grew, so did a quiet fear I couldn’t shake.


It wasn’t obvious at first. I was hitting goals, crossing milestones, building momentum.
From the outside, it looked like everything was working.
But inside, something else was happening.

I was constantly tense.
Every win was immediately followed by worry.
What if it doesn’t last?
What if I can’t hold this?
What if it all disappears?

The fear didn’t show up loudly.
It crept in through the pressure I felt to sustain it all.
I couldn’t rest. I couldn’t pause.
I believed if I slowed down, it might slip away.

This is what success anxiety looks like.
It’s not about fear of failure anymore—it’s fear of losing what you’ve built.

And that fear is heavy.
It makes you work harder, not because you’re inspired, but because you’re scared.
It makes you overthink every decision.
It makes ease feel unfamiliar, and struggle feel normal.

It took me time to understand that this was never about my strategy.
It was about my nervous system.

If your body doesn’t feel safe with success, you’ll unconsciously sabotage it.
You’ll push harder than necessary.
You’ll brace for a fall that hasn’t happened.
You’ll attach stress to every level of growth.

I had to unlearn that pattern.
I had to stop making fear a sign that something was wrong.
Instead, I started seeing it as a sign I was expanding.

The more I allowed my body to experience safety without tension,
The more I could hold success without gripping it.

Now, I move differently.
I let my nervous system set the pace.
I choose trust over hypervigilance.
And I remind myself every day growth doesn’t have to feel like pressure.

If you’ve ever felt afraid of losing what you worked so hard to build,
You’re not alone.
You’re just learning how to let success feel safe.

PS: ♻ Share to help other founders break free from growth barriers.
➕ Follow Dawn McGruer for more stories of bold women and business breakthroughs.

She built something extraordinary.

A business rooted in purpose That now changes lives and turns profit with power.

She hit dream milestones:

→ Multi-6 figures
→ Speaking gigs
→ Industry recognition

But when it came time to scale to consistent £100K months?

She froze.

Not because she lacked capability, strategy, or drive.
But because a quiet voice whispered:
“Who do you think you are?”

I work with the top 1% of female founders 
Multi-6, 7, 8, even 9-figure women.
And still, I hear this story often.

Smart. Fierce. Visionary women…
Still second-guessing their right to expand.

And the crazy part?

Far fewer women hit consistent £100K months than men.

Not because they can’t. But because they’ve been conditioned to play small unconsciously.

They wrestle with:

• Fear of being seen or judged
• Deep-rooted doubts around deservingness
• Generational beliefs and societal norms
• Pressure to “do it all” perfectly
• The “good girl” conditioning that punishes ambition

Scaling isn’t just about revenue.
It’s about becoming the version of you who can hold:

→ More wealth
→ More visibility
→ More trust
→ More freedom

And that kind of growth?
It’s not just strategic it’s deeply psychological.

When you blend:

🔹 Success reconditioning
🔹 Neuroscience-backed mindset work
🔹 Feminine-aligned growth strategy refined over 25 years

You don’t just scale your business.
You scale your capacity.

And when that expands, £100K months stop feeling like a stretch 
They become the next natural step.

So if you’ve already built something powerful…
If your work creates real transformation…
If you know you're meant for more…

Why wouldn’t you scale?

Let it feel smart.
Let it feel aligned.
Let it feel like you.

📩 DM me “SCALE” and I’ll show you what that journey can look like with clarity, confidence, and ease.

You’re not meant to carry the next level alone.

♻ Share this with someone who’s quietly ready to rise.
➕ Follow Dawn McGruer for strategy that honors your power, energy, and purpose.

My Designs

Always give your 100%.

You never really know when your moment will arrive.
It rarely comes with a big announcement or the perfect setup.

More often, it slips in quietly, disguised as just another ordinary day.

An unexpected conversation that changes the direction of your week.
An unplanned opportunity that challenges you to rise.

A problem no one else is willing to step in and solve.

And in that instant, the habits you’ve built, the skills you’ve sharpened, and the discipline you’ve practiced will either rise to meet the moment or slip through your fingers.

I’ve watched people hold back because they believe the “real” chance will show up later.

They give half-effort to the projects they don’t enjoy.
They coast through the days they believe don’t matter.
They save their best energy for “when it really counts.”

But here’s the truth → it all counts.
Every task you take on, every conversation you have, and every choice you make to give your best effort matters more than you think.

Every time you show up fully, even without recognition, you’re rehearsing for the opportunity you can’t yet see.

You’re building the strength, focus, and confidence to carry the weight of something far bigger when it arrives.

When I look back at the biggest turning points in my own life, none of them felt significant at the time.

They were moments hidden inside ordinary days.

Stepping in to lead when someone was absent.
Sharing a quick idea in a casual setting.

Taking ownership of a problem that wasn’t mine to solve.

And because I had been giving my best in the days leading up to them, I was ready when they appeared.

That’s the part most people underestimate.

You don’t rise to the occasion you rise to the level of your preparation.
And preparation is built in the small, unglamorous moments when no one is watching.

So if you’re in a season where progress feels slow or unseen, keep showing up fully.

Do the work as if the moment you’ve been waiting for is just around the corner.

Not because you’re promised a reward, but because you refuse to be caught unprepared when it knocks.

Your time will come.

It could be years from now, or it could be tomorrow morning.
You don’t control the timing, but you do control your readiness.
And readiness is built right here, in the work you are doing today.

PS:
♻ Share this with someone quietly gripping their own growth.
➕ Follow Dawn McGruer for grounded, body-led ways to scale with ease and inner power.

The moment I stopped operating from ego, everything shifted.

Not because I suddenly had all the answers.
But because I stopped letting noise pull me out of alignment.

Ego is sneaky.
It dresses itself as confidence, control, protection.
But underneath?
It’s fear wearing a polished coat.

And when you lead from that place even subtly it starts to cloud everything.

You overthink the unfollow.
You dissect the client who didn’t convert.
You take silence as rejection and difference as disrespect.

You make other people’s reactions mean something about you.

Here’s what I had to learn the hard way:

That person who didn’t include you?
That weird vibe on the call?
That passive comment that felt a little off?

It’s rarely about you.

It’s about what you reflect back to them.


Your confidence.
Your clarity.
Your rising identity.

That light you’ve cultivated the one you’ve worked hard to own might feel like too much for where someone else is.

That doesn’t mean you need to shrink.

But ego?
Ego will tell you to chase approval.
To prove. To explain. To fix.

And in doing so, you dull your own glow.

The antidote?
Is presence.
Is integrity.
Is learning to stay rooted in who you are even when others can’t meet you there.

Because when you stop trying to be understood, and start showing up in your truth…
The energy changes.

The right people feel it.
The wrong ones distance themselves.
And your peace stops being up for negotiation.

Let them misunderstand you.
Let them fall away.
Let them process you through their own filters.

That’s not your job.

Your job is to keep building, leading, and rising from truth, not ego.

Because when ego leaves the room, real power enters.

And that kind of power?
Doesn’t chase.
It attracts.

PS:

 Share to help other founders break free from growth barriers.
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Moment I stopped operating from ego, everything shifted

A letter to the version of me who almost quit

I think about you often.
The one sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor, wondering if all the effort was worth it.

The one who worked twice as hard just to feel half as confident.

You wanted certainty.
You wanted someone to tell you that the sacrifices would pay off.
But all you had was the noise in your head and the fear in your chest.

You thought you were failing because it felt hard.
You didn’t realise that feeling was the proof you were building something that mattered.

You stayed.

Even when the numbers didn’t move.
Even when the rejections piled higher than the wins.
Even when it felt like everyone else was passing you by.

You stayed when it was thankless.
You stayed when no one noticed.
You stayed when quitting seemed easier.

And slowly, without fanfare, the work began to bear fruit.
Opportunities that once seemed unreachable began to knock.
Decisions that used to paralyse you became instinct.

And the version of you that doubted everything?

She started to trust herself.

Now I’m here looking back at you.
Not with pity, but with pride.

Because you planted seeds in rocky ground and watered them anyway.

I am the proof you needed then.
And somewhere in the future, there’s another version of us smiling at the person I am today.

PS:
♻ Share this with someone quietly gripping their own growth.
➕ Follow Dawn McGruer for grounded, body-led ways to scale with ease and inner power.

The dinner that made me rethink my circle

It was a Friday night one of those dinners where the food is good but the company is better.
Around the table sat five people I’d known for years.

Different careers, different stories, but one thing in common: none of us were afraid to dream out loud.

We didn’t spend the night picking apart other people’s choices.
We didn’t compete over who had the busiest schedule or the flashiest success.

Instead, we traded ideas like currency.
We challenged each other’s thinking without tearing each other down.

Someone shared a bold goal.

No one laughed.
No one rolled their eyes.

We just leaned in and asked, “How can we help?”

I left that dinner with more than just a full stomach.
I left with clarity: this is what the right people feel like.

They don’t drain your energy they amplify it.
They don’t keep score they invest in your wins as if they were their own.
They don’t shrink your dreams they stretch them.

It’s not about surrounding yourself with people who always agree with you.
It’s about being around people who want to see you grow, even if growth means outgrowing parts of the old you.

I’ve also learned this:

The wrong circle will make you question your worth.
The right one will make you forget you ever doubted it.

And when you find people who bring out the absolute best in you — hold onto them.
Because environments shape outcomes more than willpower ever will.

PS:
♻ Share this with someone quietly gripping their own growth.
➕ Follow Dawn McGruer for grounded, body-led ways to scale with ease and inner power.

Some days just feel heavy.

It might be the work piling up, the conversations you wish had gone differently, or the quiet pressure of carrying things you can’t put into words.

I used to think the only way out of a bad day was to push harder to stay busy enough that I could drown out whatever I didn’t want to feel.

But all that did was make the noise louder.

One evening, I stumbled into something different.
It was after a long day that had drained me completely.

I got home, turned off every screen, dimmed the lights, and put on a playlist of instrumental music.

No lyrics.
No voices.

Just melody and space.

At first, I thought I’d get restless.
But within minutes, something shifted.

The tension in my shoulders began to ease.

My thoughts stopped racing to the next task.
I could feel my breathing deepen without forcing it.

It was as if the music was giving shape to emotions I hadn’t been able to name.
Each note made the day feel lighter, like it was quietly untying the knots I’d been carrying.

That night, I realised something powerful →
You don’t always need answers to feel better.
Sometimes you just need space.

Instrumental music became my way of creating that space.

It’s a pause that isn’t empty.
It’s solitude that feels like company.

Now, when a day goes wrong, I don’t fight it.

I give myself permission to step away.
I put on that music and let it do its work.

It’s not about fixing everything in an hour it’s about remembering that I am more than whatever today brought.

And here’s the truth →
Alone time isn’t isolation.

It’s an act of care.
It’s how you return to yourself when the world feels too loud.

So if you’ve had a bad day, try it.

Find a quiet corner, press play, and let the music carry the weight for a while.
You might be surprised at how much lighter you feel without forcing a single thing.

PS:

 Share this with someone quietly gripping their own growth.
 Follow Dawn McGruer for grounded, body-led ways to scale with ease and inner power.

Retreats aren’t a break from the business.

They’re a recalibration for everything you’re building.

Most people see them as downtime.
A reward.
A reset.

But the truth?
Retreats are one of the most strategic growth tools I’ve ever used and offered.

Because when you shift your environment, you shift your energy.
And when your energy shifts, your thinking changes with it.

You stop problem-solving from stress.
You start leading from vision.

You zoom out.
See the gaps.
Feel the clarity return.

And the best part?
You don’t just leave with a plan.
You leave with a different identity.

↝ The woman who doesn’t wait to be ready
↝ The woman who doesn’t hustle to be seen
↝ The woman who doesn’t outsource clarity to noise

Inside my retreats, we blend mindset, neuroscience, and strategic elevation.
Not just to talk about what’s next but to embody it before you even go home.

Here’s what happens when you retreat with intention:

→ Mindset Upgrade:
You leave the habits, patterns, and environments that keep you thinking small.
Your brain opens to new beliefs the kind that make big results feel inevitable.

→ Energy Realignment:
You move from burnout to flow.
From overthinking to execution.
From chaos to calm strategy.

→ Strategic Precision:
You make smarter decisions because your nervous system finally has space to think.

→ Identity Elevation:
You leave as the woman who runs the next-level business not the one still over-functioning for it.

This is what most scaling founders are missing:
Not another tactic.
But a complete nervous system and mindset reset that makes space for sustainable growth.

That’s what my retreats deliver.
And why they’re not just experiences they’re expansion moments.

So if your strategy feels flat, your vision feels crowded, or your energy feels pulled in too many directions…

You don’t need to push harder.
You need to step back differently.

That’s what a retreat does.

PS:
Share to help other founders break free from growth barriers.
Follow Dawn McGruer for more stories of bold women and business breakthroughs.

It’s hard to beat someone who never gives up.

But here’s the part no one talks about
Not giving up doesn’t mean charging forward at full speed every single day.

Sometimes, it looks like moving slowly when the world expects you to sprint.
Sometimes, it looks like showing up tired, unsure, and underprepared but showing up anyway.

And sometimes, it means standing still long enough to catch your breath before the next climb.

I used to think persistence was about pushing harder than everyone else.

Longer hours.
More sacrifice.

Forcing myself through walls until I broke through or burned out.

But burnout isn’t resilience.
It’s a sign you’ve been running without a strategy.

The people who are truly “hard to beat” aren’t the ones moving the fastest.
They’re the ones who know how to keep moving even when progress feels invisible.

They rest without quitting.
They adjust the plan without abandoning the mission.
They treat every setback as part of the process instead of a reason to stop.

I learned this the long way.
There were seasons when I almost gave up not because I lacked ambition, but because I confused pace with persistence.

I thought slowing down meant I was falling behind.
In reality, it was the only way to keep going for the long game.

The truth is, most people quit not because they can’t do it… but because they can’t stand the space between starting and seeing results.

They want the leap, but they resist the climb.
They expect progress to feel exciting every day, but most progress feels like work you’re doing in the dark.

And that’s where persistence matters most →

When there’s no applause.
When no one is watching.
When the only proof you have that it’s worth it is your own conviction.

The ones who win aren’t always the strongest, the fastest, or the most talented.
They’re the ones who are still in the game when others have stepped off the field.

So yes it’s hard to beat someone who never gives up.

But it’s impossible to beat someone who knows how to keep going without losing themselves along the way.

PS:
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The Moment My 7-Figure Year Went Quiet

There’s a photograph tucked somewhere in the archives of my memory
me, standing in soft light,
champagne glass tilted just so,
a practiced smile stretched across my face.

The caption read: “We did it.”

Seven figures. The dream, realised.

It was meant to be a moment of triumph
the kind you work years to earn.

But in the quiet between clicks of the camera, there was an ache I couldn’t name.

I had arrived at the milestone, but not in the way I imagined.

The energy in the room was high.
Congratulatory messages flooded in.
From the outside, everything was unfolding beautifully.

And yet, something inside me had gone still. Not broken. Not sad. Just... distant.

It felt as though I had climbed a mountain
only to realise I had lost the sound of my own footsteps.

I kept moving through the day  grateful, smiling, responding.

But beneath the surface, a quiet knowing had settled in.

It wasn’t burnout. It wasn’t regret.
It was the realisation that somewhere along the climb, I had started living for the next milestone and stopped asking whether I felt at home in any of it.

Success, as it turns out, is not just about what you build. It’s also about how your body feels inside the life you’ve built.

And mine? It was tired. 

Not from the work but from holding everything together without pause.

There was no dramatic collapse.
No grand revelation.

Only a soft, persistent question rising from somewhere deeper:

Is this what you wanted it to feel like?

I didn’t answer right away.

Instead, I allowed space to listen, to feel, to come back to parts of myself I had silenced in pursuit of “the next level.”

I began unlearning the rhythm of urgency
and started moving in tune with something gentler.

Not out of strategy, But necessity.

With time, I reimagined growth. Not as a sprint toward more, but as a quiet return to meaning.

Work became lighter. 
Decisions felt cleaner.
Clients arrived without the chase.

There was no need to perform.
Only the invitation to fully inhabit the life I had built.

And for the first time,
success felt safe in my system.

If you've ever reached a peak
only to find yourself quietly wondering why it doesn’t feel the way you thought it would—
know that you’re not alone.

That stillness isn’t failure. It’s an opening. A gentle invitation to rebuild from within.

You don’t need to rush.
You don’t need to force anything to make sense.

Just begin where you are with honesty, with slowness, with breath.

If this found its way to something in you that’s been quietly asking for more
not more achievement,
but more truth
let it settle.

And when you’re ready to explore a different way of growing,
one that doesn’t cost you your peace in exchange for your goals,
I’ll be here.

✉ Message me when it feels right.
♻ Share this with someone moving through silent questions of their own.
➕ Follow me, Dawn McGruer, for stories that hold space for success with soul.

20 Real-Life Cheat Codes I Wish I Knew Earlier

Not hacks. 

Just real stuff that makes life smoother.

1/ Be easy to work with. It’s the most underrated career skill.

2/ Want to be more charismatic? → Become a better listener.

3/ Stop caring so much about others' opinions. 
➩ You’ll gain so much energy.

4/ Practice “Positive Gossip” 
↳ Praise others even when they’re not around.

5/ Invest in daily-use items 
➠ Shoes, mattress, chair, etc.

6/ Surround yourself with people who live the way you want to live.

7/ Work expands to fill time. 
Set fake deadlines to finish faster.

8/ Say “Thanks for your patience.” 
→ It sounds better than “Sorry I’m late.”

9/ Learn kind self-talk 
➨ That voice in your head? It’s always there.

10/ Want to build a habit? 
Set the bar low. So low that you can’t fail.

11/ Always plan to be 15 minutes early.
Saves you from stress.

12/ Can’t start? 
Just do it for 5 minutes. That’s enough to begin.

13/ Skincare early = Looking 30 when you’re 50.

14/ Write down 1 story-worthy moment every day. 
➩ Build your story bank.

15/ Friend owns a business? Support them. 
Don’t ask for discounts.

16/ Don’t buy to impress. 
Especially people you don’t even know.

17/ Sit too much? 
Stretch your hips and chest often.

18/ Want someone to get mad? 
Tell them to "calm down." → Don’t do it.

19/ Anything you want to learn 
→ There’s a YouTube tutorial for it.

20/ Think of each day as 4 quarters:
Morning / Midday / Afternoon / Evening.
Blow one? 

➠ Win the next.

Which one hits you the most today?


PS:
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Follow Dawn McGruer for grounded, body-led ways to scale with ease and inner power.

The chapter that didn’t make sense at the time

When I started my first business, it looked nothing like the work I do now.

It was messy.
It was underfunded.

And half the time, I wasn’t sure if I was moving forward or just moving in circles.

I compared myself to people whose paths seemed straight.
People who had “figured it out” years before.

Meanwhile, I felt like I was stuck in the preface while everyone else was already halfway through the book.

But here’s the thing about beginnings they rarely make sense until you can read them in reverse.

I think of the stories behind the brands we all know:

Lamborghini started with tractors.
Samsung began as a grocery store.
LG sold facial cream.
IKEA sold pens.

On paper, those early days don’t connect with where they ended up.
And yet, without those beginnings, the later chapters wouldn’t exist.

The same is true for us.

That “irrelevant” job you had in your twenties?
The side project that never took off?
The skill you learned out of necessity, not passion?

All of it shapes the work you’ll do tomorrow.

Your current situation is not your final form.
It’s just one scene in a much bigger arc.

The dots will connect just not in the order you expect.
So keep experimenting.

Keep testing.
Keep showing up for the version of you who’s still in the making.

One day, you’ll look back and realise the chapter you almost skipped was the one that made the whole story worth reading.

PS:
♻ Share this with someone quietly gripping their own growth.
➕ Follow Dawn McGruer for grounded, body-led ways to scale with ease and inner power.

What Actually Builds Performance (It’s Not What You Think)

I used to believe the hype.

5 AM routines.
Cold plunges.
Perfect productivity hacks.

They looked great on social media.

But in my real life?

They didn’t stick.
And more importantly, they didn’t work.
Because performance isn’t built by doing more.

It’s built by doing less but better.

Top performers don’t add more to their plates.

They subtract noise.

They double down on the tiny habits that actually move the needle.

I didn’t learn this all at once.

I had to unlearn a lot first.

But once I started simplifying instead of stacking

Everything shifted.

Here are the 12 micro-habits that made the biggest difference for me:

→ 1. Morning reset:

 3 minutes of silence. That’s it.
 No phone. No scroll. Just stillness.
 Start calm. Win early.

→ 2. Brain-first fuel:

 I stopped riding the caffeine rollercoaster.

Now I eat to think, not just to move.

→ 3. Energy-aligned work:

 I stopped forcing 9-to-5.
 Instead, I tackled big work during my peak hours.

→ 4. 90-minute cycles:

 Sprint. Then really rest.
 No guilt. Just clarity.

→ 5. Instant calm:

 The 4-7-8 breath changed how I handle pressure.
 No one sees it but it resets everything.

→ 6. Micro-movement resets:

 Not for steps. For sanity.
 A stretch, a walk just enough to shift energy.

→ 7. Energy before the dip:

 I don’t wait to crash.
 I refuel before I run dry.

→ 8. Smart snacks on hand:

 Tiny habit. Huge difference.
 No more broken focus from brain fog.

→ 9. Firm boundaries:

 I set a hard stop time.
 And I honor it like it’s a client meeting.

→ 10. Prep tomorrow tonight:

 This one’s magic.
 My future self always thanks me.

→ 11. Protect deep work:

 It’s sacred.
 I block time. I defend it.

→ 12. Kill digital noise:

 No pings. No tabs.
 If it’s urgent they’ll call.

Each habit takes just minutes.

 But together? They rewired how I work.

More calm. More clarity.

More momentum.
These aren’t trends.
They’re tools.

And they’re worth protecting.

If you’ve been chasing complex routines and still feeling stuck:

Try subtracting instead of adding.

One micro-habit at a time.

That’s where the real shift happens.

DM me “PERFORMANCE” and let’s talk about building habits that actually work for you, not Instagram.


♻️Share this with a founder who’s tired of doing more and getting less.
 ➕ Follow me, Dawn McGruer, for real-talk strategies rooted in neuroscience & quantum growth.

The rat race is quiet until it isn’t.

For years, I didn’t even realise I was in it.

I woke up to an alarm I didn’t want to hear, rushed through a breakfast I barely tasted, and spent my mornings in traffic rehearsing meetings in my head.

By the time Friday arrived, I felt like I had survived something rather than lived through it.

I convinced myself that the long hours, the endless calls, and the constant hustle were simply the cost of ambition.

The world told me this was success →

The steady climb.
The respectable salary.

What I didn’t see then was how the rat race rewards you in just enough increments to keep you running without questioning the track.

A slightly bigger pay cheque.
A title that looked better on LinkedIn.

It was the same meetings.
The same deadlines.

I didn’t notice the pattern because speed creates an illusion.

I was sitting at my desk, surrounded by spreadsheets and unread emails, when I realised I had spent years trading the best hours of my life for outcomes that no longer mattered to me.

I had the income.
The recognition.
The framed certificates on the wall.

But I also had a calendar I didn’t control and dreams that were permanently on hold.

You can climb the corporate ladder with precision and efficiency, only to find it leaning against a wall that was never meant for you.

I started asking harder questions:

↳ What if I stopped measuring progress by other people’s metrics?
↳ What if my worth wasn’t tied to my job title?

Stepping out of the race didn’t happen overnight.

It began with small but deliberate shifts

Saying no to projects that drained me.

It meant letting go of the comfort of predictability in exchange for the uncertainty of building something I could truly call mine.

It meant learning to sit with the discomfort of slower, more intentional growth instead of chasing the adrenaline of constant motion.

The rat race thrives on busyness because busyness keeps you from asking if the race itself is worth running.

It rewards compliance and punishes stillness because stillness is when the truth catches up with you.

And that truth is simple →
A life spent running toward someone else’s prize will never feel like your own victory.

When you finally step back, you see that there was no real finish line to begin with just an endless loop designed to keep you moving without ever arriving.

The moment you leave that loop, you stop being a competitor and start becoming a creator.

And creation, unlike competition, has no limits.

The world will keep trying to pull you back in with promises of stability, status, and belonging.

But once you’ve tasted the freedom of setting your own pace, no reward inside the race will ever be enough again.

Leaving the rat race isn’t about giving up.
It’s about finally choosing to run a race that matters to you.

PS:
♻️ Share this with someone quietly gripping their own growth.
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The version of me I had to rebuild

There was a point when I thought “starting over” meant failure.
That every restart erased the work I’d already done.
That every pause set me further back from where I “should” be.

So I kept pushing.

Even when the work felt hollow.
Even when the vision I once loved felt like a burden.

It wasn’t resilience.
It was fear fear of losing the identity I’d built, fear of admitting that what I was chasing no longer fit.

One night, staring at my laptop long after the workday should’ve ended, I asked myself a question I’d been avoiding:

What if I gave myself permission to start again?

Not because I’d failed.
But because I’d outgrown the version of me who built this life.

That shift changed everything.

Restarting stopped feeling like going backwards.
Resetting became an act of care, not shame.
Refocusing became a way to honour where I was going instead of clinging to where I’d been.

And each time I rebuilt, I realised something:

The skills stayed.
The lessons stayed.
The strength stayed.

What changed was my alignment my ability to create from a place that actually felt like me.

You are the longest-running, most important project you’ll ever work on.

It’s allowed to look different from season to season.
It’s allowed to start fresh as many times as needed.

The only thing that’s not allowed?
Giving up on yourself.

PS:
♻ Share this with someone quietly gripping their own growth.
➕ Follow Dawn McGruer for grounded, body-led ways to scale with ease and inner power.

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