Reset Before January: Reflect, Refine & Redesign Your Business

What if you stopped waiting for January to feel calm and in control of your business, and decided this season could be your reset instead?

This episode is your invitation to step out of survival mode and into a more intentional way of leading your business. We talk about why “new year, new you” pressure keeps you spinning your wheels, and how a simple shift from reacting to reflecting can help you reset your business backend now, instead of dragging the chaos into another year. 

You’ll hear how reflection, simplification, and realignment work together to support your boundaries, protect your time, and finally make your business feel like it fits your life again.

So if you’ve been booked with clients but running your business on duct tape systems and late nights, this conversation is especially for you. We’ll walk through how to use reflection to see what is actually working in your business, how to simplify what you keep so you can breathe and make better decisions, and how to redesign your operations around the life you want to live. 

You’ll also hear how the Boundary Reset Scorecard and The Mind Your Time Society work together to give you both awareness and a practical path forward, so your next season is built on structure, not stress.

Related Episodes Mentioned:

Episode 222 - How to Go From Scrambling to Strategic with Emani Guy

Resources Mentioned:

⏰ Ready to see where your time is really slipping away?

The Boundary Reset Scorecard is a quick, fillable Google Doc you can complete online in under two minutes. It helps you spot the gaps in your boundaries, from unclear office hours to unsynced calendars so you know exactly where your time is leaking and what to fix first.

🔧 Ready to turn those ❌’s into ✅’s?

 Join The Mind Your Time Society, your space for guided resets, copy-paste scripts, and a 90-Day Roadmap that makes boundaries stick. You’ll get the tools and support you need to reclaim your calendar, protect your energy, and finally feel in control of your time.

Let me know your thoughts! Click here to send me a text.

Leave a Rating and Review: https://ratethispodcast.com/mindyourtime

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
What if I told you that you don't have to wait
until January to fill in controlof your business again?
That can be your reality.
So today we're going to talkabout one small shift that you
can make right now so the chaosyou're experiencing right now
doesn't follow you into the newyear.

(00:21):
Welcome to the Mind Your TimePodcast.
I'm Shannon Baker, your coffeeloving host and business
operations strategist.
If you're a service providerwho's great at what you do, but
stuck with misfit clients, messyonboarding, or draining
workdays, this show is for you.
Each week I share bothstrategies and practical
insights rooted in my poweremotional framework to help you
streamline your back end,protect your time, and lead your

(00:43):
client experience withconfidence.
Because skills got you clients,but systems will take you
further.
So grab your cup of coffee oryour favorite drink and let's
dive in.
Sometimes I have to pinch myselfbecause I've been in business
for over two decades.
And one thing that I've learnedabout the end of every year is
it has its own rhythm.

(01:05):
But no matter what, one of thethings I've learned is things
slow down just enough for you tobe reflective, but they don't
slow down enough to stop thenoise so you can calm the chaos.
You see, for years I would sitdown in December, determine I
was going to plan for the nextyear.
I'd pour my cup of coffee, openup that fresh notebook, and then

(01:28):
I would start listing everythingI wanted to fix, launch, or
finally get right this time.
But after a few hours, that meangirl in my head would say, You
know you're behind, right?
You should be further along thanyou are.
But one year I caught myself, Irealized that this process, I

(01:50):
wasn't planning.
I was actually just reacting.
I was dragging all of that mindtrash and clutter in my business
that's messy folders,half-finished projects, and
unrealistic goals into a newyear.
So those lists, they weren'treally a strategy.
They were survival tactics.

(02:11):
The moment I realized that itchanged everything.
I stopped making those lists,and instead of sprinting into
January, I paused.
I sat in silence with my coffee,and I took time to reflect, to
look back, to see what wasworking, identify what wasn't

(02:33):
working, and then I decided whatI wanted my business to look and
feel like.
That shift going from reactingto reflecting, it changed how I
plan strategically from thatpoint forward, and it definitely
has changed how I lead.

(02:54):
One, I stopped chasing thatperfect reset moment, and I
started creating resets when Ineed them, and especially before
the noise of the new year kicksin.
So trust me, you don't have towait until January, or and I say
this in quotes, the right timeto reset.

(03:15):
I stopped doing that years ago.
As a matter of fact, Septemberhas been my January for years.
Now I've talked about that inanother episode.
So if you want to hear moreabout it, I'm gonna put a link
to that episode in the shownotes for you.
But I want you to really changeyour mindset about the right
time because again, your resetcan start today, tomorrow, next

(03:40):
week, next month.
You get to decide.
But one thing I know about thisseason is that it's your
built-in opportunity to reflect,refine, and rebuild a business
that doesn't burn you out.
So over the past few episodes,we've laid the foundation for
this.
We've talked about your goals,your operations, and the

(04:01):
routines that you need tosupport them.
And today is a step thatprevents you from sliding
backwards.
That's reflecting.
Because this is where you pause,you take note of what worked
once and still works now, andthen you can course correct
before things break down againor you get overwhelmed.

(04:23):
Because let's be honest, growthis not linear, things evolve, we
change, our boundaries gettested, our boundaries have to
change, and sustainable successthat comes from your ability to
pause, adjust, and realign.
Now, one thing's for certain, Iknow you're amazing at what you

(04:45):
do, but your back end probablydoesn't show it or support it.
So it's hard to lead withconfidence when your systems are
basically kind of duct tapedtogether and you're up working a
whole lot of late nights.
And I know you need to do thisbecause you've been booked out
with clients, but on the otherside of that, every project

(05:09):
creates new admin tasks.
And who has time for that?
Your tools probably don't talkto each other, and you keep
remaking that same document thatyou know you made somewhere, but
you can't find it.
You really want to be in demandand not be on demand for your

(05:30):
clients.
You want clarity and you don'twant to have to be constantly
catching up.
You want workflows that make youlook as professional as you
really are.
That's what this episode is allabout, if that's what you want.
So we're gonna talk about howyou can use reflecting to shift

(05:52):
from operating in chaos tocreating a small space right now
before the next season in yourlife begins.
Because the truth is the chaosis not going to fix itself.
And if you don't pause and resetit now, it's just gonna follow
you into the new year.
So there are three steps thatwe're gonna talk about today to

(06:14):
help you reset and startbuilding a business that works
for you.
Step one, you need to reflectbefore you plan.
No surprise, right?
And let me tell you, mostentrepreneurs skip this step
because slowing down, it feelsreally unproductive.

(06:34):
It's contrary to what we thinkis actually working.
But reflection is what givesyour next move direction.
So there are three questions Ineed you to ask yourself and be
honest in your answer.
What worked this year and whydid it work?
What drained you, and how youcan you prevent that from

(06:55):
happening the next time?
Where did your systems breakdown?
You see, when it comes toboundaries, they're linked to
every single part of the powerand motion framework.
But they aren't built in onemoment.
It's not a at water and stir,and you get instant results.

(07:18):
They're reinforced by how yoursystems help you protect your
time day after day, week afterweek, month after month, year
after year.
Now let's go to step two.
You need to simplify what youkeep after that exercise.
And keep this in mindsimplification is not about

(07:40):
shrinking your goals, it's aboutfreeing up your capacity so that
you can grow with clarity.
So if you've ever looked aroundin your digital space and you
feel like you're buried by yourown brilliance because you got
too many ideas, too many tools.
Simplification is how you startto create room so that you can

(08:04):
breathe again and think.
Then you can start makingstrategic changes.
When your back end stops leakingtime, you stop leaking money.
You also gain capacity forbetter clients, higher pricing,
and you deliver better work.
So consider this.

(08:25):
Here are some things that maybeyou need to think about.
Do you need to retire an offerthat drains you?
Do you need to fire a client whokeeps disrespecting your
boundaries?
Or do you need to clean up theback end of your business and
create systems so you don't haveto work as hard?

(08:45):
When I simplified my ownscheduling system and limited
the days and times that I wasavailable for calls, clients
started respecting my time morebecause my system protected it.
That one change gave me hours ofspace back every single week.

(09:06):
And the space that was createdallowed me to be able to reflect
and get clear on what trulydeserved my time and energy.
And inside the My Your TimeSociety, that is exactly what we
do together using the Systemsand Sanity Suite Roadmap.
It helps you simplifystrategically and at your own

(09:26):
pace.
Think of it as your compass, itgives you the entire journey
inside the membership from yourfirst login to running a
business that operates withoutchaos.
You see, when you can see thewhole path, it's easier to
choose the right next step thatworks for you without second

(09:47):
guessing.
And once you clear the clutterand start to breathe again, that
is really when you can step backand redesign how your business
actually fits into your life.
Get it to do what you want it todo.
And let's talk about that a bitmore.
That's step three.
You need to redesign yourbusiness to support your life.

(10:08):
This is where everything comesfull circle.
Your business should supportyour life, not consume it.
You don't have to keep runningon the hamster wheel at full
speed just to keep things going.
See, when you intentionallydesign your business to support
you, that structure becomesself-care.

(10:29):
And that looks different foreverybody, but it includes
things like setting real officehours and honoring them,
scheduling downtime betweenprojects, or finally delegating
the tasks that drain you.
And I've seen howtransformational just a few
small changes can be.

(10:49):
When Imani joined the Minor TimeSociety, she was in the same
place many of us have been, andyou may be there now, booked out
with clients but burnt outbehind the scenes.
Her boundaries were pretty muchnon existent because she didn't
have the systems in place thatshe needed to support her.
Once she used the boundary resetscorecard, everything shifted.

(11:14):
She told me that was the momentshe finally understood how to
catch those cracks before theybecame chaos.
The boundary reset scorecardhelped her see where her energy
was leaking, and it gave her asimple way to stay aware of how
things were slipping away.

(11:36):
She used it to check herself ona regular basis and to realize
when she was working too late orletting client test creep into
time that she had blocked forsomething else.
Within a few weeks, Imani wasn'tjust more productive, she was
more aligned.
Her system started supportingher instead of stressing her

(11:58):
out.
And once she tightened up herboundaries and stuck to them,
she actually had more billablecapacity and she wasn't ending
every week exhausted.
I'm going to drop a link to mychat with Imani so you can hear
her story in her own words.
That'll be in the show notes.
But I want that for you too.

(12:20):
And please understand theboundary reset scorecard is not
just another worksheet that Iwant you to grab.
It's going to bring you to thatmoment where you can clearly
identify patterns and decidewhat you want to change and when
you want to change them.
So here's a quick one challengefor you.
Before you jump into planningfor the next year, schedule 30

(12:45):
minutes so you can sit andreflect.
Pick one area of your businessyou can focus on, whether it's
your client process, yourcommunication, or even your
schedule, and look at what hasworked, what hasn't worked, and
what needs to change.
Download the boundary resetscorecard and take about 10

(13:07):
minutes and really focus on it.
Be honest with yourself becausethis isn't about judgment, it's
about awareness.
You can't fix what you don'tsee.
But what that's gonna help youdo is instantly see where your
systems are holding you back,where they're supporting you,
where they're slipping so youcan fix it.
And you're gonna see where yourtime and energy is leaking,

(13:30):
which boundaries needreinforcement before your new
season begins.
And then by the end, you'regonna feel lighter because you
have clarity.
You're gonna feel like you'veclosed a dozen open tabs in your
mind and you know exactly whatdeserves your focus next.
That sense of calmness andclarity, that's your first reset

(13:53):
in motion.
See, the boundary resetscorecard is gonna give you
clarity.
The tools inside the My YourTime Society help you create the
plan, and you get the supportand accountability that you need
to follow through with it.
So let's recap what we coveredtoday.
One, reflection creates clarity.

(14:16):
You can't change what you don'tknow and don't review.
Reflection shows you what'struly working and what isn't so
you can take action.
We also talked about howsimplification creates capacity.
And when you clear the clutter,it opens space for you to focus

(14:37):
on what is going to get you theresults you want.
And the last thing we talkedabout was how realignment
creates confidence.
When your systems support yourlife and they match the season
your life is in, you can go frombeing reactive to actually
leading, from being on demand toconfidently being in demand.

(15:01):
And that's what we want.
You've done enough surviving allthis time in your business.
Now it's time for you to startthriving.
You need to build a structurethat supports you, not drains
you.
And you don't need to burn itall down and start from the
beginning.
You just need a clean startingpoint.
Once you feel that clarity,you're gonna have the confidence

(15:23):
you need to lead your businessinstead of chasing success.
If you're ready to feel calm,confident, and in control of
your business without waitingfor January, now is the time for
you to join us inside the MindYour Time Society.
You're gonna get a simple plan,access to the tools and

(15:43):
resources you need, and acommunity that's gonna be there
to support you every step of theway.
In your business, it won't feellike a constant emergency that
needs your attention anymore.
Once you join, you start withthe welcome checklist.
You can follow the Systems andSanity Suite roadmap and get the
support to finally feel calm andconfident and in control of the

(16:06):
back end of your business.
You're not going to be guessinganymore.
You're gonna know exactly whatto do next.
Because growth, it's not aboutdoing more, it's about doing
what matters, but doing itbetter.
And imagine this shutting yourlaptop down and logging off at 5
p.m., knowing everything youneed is exactly where it should

(16:29):
be.
That's what systems andboundaries make possible.
So let's make it happen for you.
Thanks for tuning in today.
If this episode hit home, it'sbecause you already know you're
ready to stop patching up theproblems and start running your
business like the pro you are.
But listening won't fix thecracks.
Action will.

(16:50):
Your next step?
Grab the back office powerchecklist at theshannonbaker.com
forward slash checklist.
It'll show you exactly what'sworking, what's missing, and
where your back end is silentlyslowing you down.
And if you're ready to godeeper, founder circle inside
the Mind Your Time Society iswhere we can fix it together
with the systems insanity suiteand you'll get the clarity that

(17:13):
you've been craving.
Not quite there yet?
Come say hi to me on Instagramat the underscore Shannon Baker.
I would love to hear whatresonated with you the most.
And if you're loving thepodcast, please leave a quick
review because it goes a longway in helping more service
providers like you find thepodcast.
You can do that right now atratethispodcast.com forward

(17:36):
slash mind your time.
Skills got your clients.