Susan Boles's Linkedin Analytics

The decisions stealing your energy? They're the ones you don't even realize you made. Most business owners don't design their business. They default into it. → You chose tools because they're "what everyone uses." → You offer services because they're "what's working right now." → You hire reactively - just to stop the bleeding. Individually, these seem small. But stack them up? You've got a business solving for speed, not sanity. And here's the catch: 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗮𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵. More clients. More offers. More chaos. But what if that default assumption: growth = success - isn't the right metric for you? Calm isn't the opposite of ambition. It's what happens when your business finally fits - and starts designing for something different. It's what happens when you make Calm your new KPI.

Tiny decisions. Massive chaos. Default decisions are like operational lint. You don't notice them - but they pile up. One tool here. One "best practice" there. A workaround to glue it all together. Now your business is friction city. Every default adds weight. Not dramatic weight... sneaky weight. → Manual followups → Repetetive tasks → Forgetting where things live. It's not hard... just exhausting. Compound chaos = death by 1,000 defaults. If it feels harder than it should... it probably is. Default decisions = chaos + weight Intentional choices = margins + calm

Automation and AI can be a powerful way to create margin - if you use it the right way. On the most recent episode of Beyond Margins Podcast, Dylan Kinder and I geek out about how to use automation and AI in your service business... and how to turn your service into a software. Listen to the full episode at https://lnkd.in/gH7QWKKN

Your energy is like a line of credit. You can spend it all until you’re running on empty… but eventually, you’ll have to pay it back—with interest. But what if your work gave you energy instead of constantly withdrawing from it? When you design your work to match how your brain actually works—when you build in systems, rhythms, and tasks that fuel you instead of depleting you—you expand your energetic margins. And that? That’s what makes work sustainable in the long run. #CalmistheNewKPI

𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼. So... if yours feels... well, less than calm... it's not failing. It's just doing exactly what it was build to solve for. Want different results? You have to solve for something different. → Solve for calm.

I did this and can attest that this is awesome!!

Calm isn't just a vibe. It's a business strategy. One you can design, measure and build around. Default solves for growth. I help folks solve for something else: → 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗺. 𝗔𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗞𝗣𝗜.

Your business isn't broken. It's just somewhere on the spectrum between default and calmer. The question is... do you like where it's sitting? Most of us didn't design our businesses. We defaulted into them. We copied what worked. Followed "best practices." Layered on offers and tools and tasks... until the whole thing got heavy. But here's the truth: 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗺. 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗮𝘂𝗹𝘁 → 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗿. And you can move it. It's not all-or-nothing. You don't have to blow it up. You just have to start pulling the right levers. That's what the Calmer model is for. It helps you see where you're defaulting - so you can shift: • From controlling everything → to trusting your team • From doing what sells → to offering what fits • From optimizing for speed → to building margin • From reacting → to intentional action You don't need to be "done" to feel better. You just need to be moving in the right direction. Where's your business sitting on the spectrum today? And what would 10% calmer look like? (That's where we start)

If your business feels like it's running you over... It might be because it's doing exactly what it was built to do. 🦛 Let's talk about angry hippos for a second. (Stay with me.) A hippo is fast, strong and wildly hard to stop once it's moving. You don't argue with it. You don't reason with it. And you definitely don't try to hold it back. Now picture your business. If it's always charging forward, dragging you with it- Overbooked, overstretched, reactive, relentless - That's not a bug. It's by design. 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿. And if yours was built around urgency, complexity, and chasing growth at all costs... you can't willpower your way into calm. You have to solve for something else. → Calm doesn't happen by accident. → Calm is designed... it's engineered. → Calm is a KPI. So if your business feels misaligned, chaotic or exhausting, Don't just work harder. As yourself: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼? And is that still what you want? #CalmIsTheNewKPI

Some default decisions you notice - eventually. Others shape your entire business without you realizing it. There are 2 types of default decisions: → Micro defaults → Macro defaults Micro default decisions are the everyday choices: → Picking a tool because someone said it's good → Using a template because it might save you time → Hiring someone who seemed "close enough" They're tiny. Fast. Convenient. (at least in the moment) But they stack up - until you're drowning in systems duct-taped together, manual processes and mental friction you never meant to carry. Macro defaults are bigger - and sneaker. They sound like: → Courses scale better than services → You have to grow to seven figures → The only way to get your time back is to build a team These shape your entire business model. Your strategy. Your identity. And unless you pause to question them, you can build an entire company solving for someone else's version of success. Micro defaults cause friction. Macro defaults create misalignment.   And together? They'll build a business that looks "successful" from the outside - but quietyly burns you out from the inside. You didn't fail. You just followed the defaults. Now it's time to design intentionally. To solve for calm instead of the default.

Most businesses aren’t designed. They’re 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 into. Default tools. Default offers. Default decisions. All tiny. All harmless-seeming. Until the day you look up and think: “This is not the business I meant to build.” If it feels chaotic, hard, or exhausting… It’s probably not a 𝘺𝘰𝘶 problem. It’s a 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 problem. Businesses do what they’re designed to do. So if you want calm? Design for calm. Make Calm Your New KPI.

Most growth advice for service providers sounds like: Built a course → Launch a group program → Scale with a team But... what if you could grow your revenue without changing your offers, ditching client work or managing a dozen team members? That's what licensing can do - and it's probably closer than you think. In the latest episode of Beyond Margins Podcast, I geeked out with Janet Alexandersson about how service providers can turn the exact same tools, frameworks and processes they already use... into revenue-generating assets. You can check out the full episode at: https://lnkd.in/gMDD37tj

Let's face it... most meetings aren't great. They could have been an email... or a video... or just skipped entirely. Here's some ideas for alternatives to consider:

What if the calmest move... is no move at all? There's this pressure - especially in business - to always be optimizing, tweaking, improving. But what if the best thing you can do right now... is nothing? A colleague of mine used to say: "You can always choose to do nothing." Not out of apathy. Not out of fear. But as a conscious choice to maintain what's already working. Choosing 𝘯𝘰𝘵 to act is still an action. And sometimes, it's the wisest one. So, if you're feeling itchy for change just for change's sake... consider this your permission slip: 💡You don't have to fix what's not broken. 💡You're allowed to just let things be. 💡Calm is a strategy too.

Are you a potato or a tornado (like me)? Or... are you someone who loves a consistent, sustained pace every day?