805: The Case For Taking A Break (And The Unexpected Ways You Can Heal)
1Digest
This podcast episode features an interview with Vanessa Lau, a creator and entrepreneur who took a year-long break from her multi-seven-figure business to prioritize her health and redefine success. Vanessa shares her journey of burnout, the importance of taking breaks, and her lessons learned about health, relationships, and self-discovery. Vanessa discusses the concept of "peace is expensive," explaining how protecting your peace is an act of self-love and advocating for your needs. She reflects on her childhood experiences and how they shaped her people-pleasing tendencies, leading to burnout. Vanessa shares how she realized that her successful business, despite its financial achievements, wasn't aligned with her values and goals. She describes how she felt pressured to conform to industry expectations and how this led to a sense of dissatisfaction and burnout. Vanessa details the process of shutting down her business, highlighting the emotional and logistical challenges involved. She describes the pressure she felt to maintain a public image of success and how she ultimately chose to prioritize her well-being over external expectations. Vanessa discusses her year-long break from business, emphasizing the importance of rest and self-care. She shares how she learned about her body's need for rest and how she overcame her fear of slowing down and saying no. Vanessa discusses her approach to rebuilding her business with a new set of values and a focus on authenticity. She emphasizes the importance of honoring past decisions while recognizing the need for growth and evolution. Vanessa emphasizes the importance of depth over volume in building a successful business. She advocates for focusing on nurturing a smaller, highly engaged community rather than chasing mass appeal.
Outlines
Introduction and Course Creation Bootcamp
Jenna Goodger introduces the podcast and promotes Amy Porterfield's Course Confident bootcamp, a live digital course creation program designed to help individuals create and sell their own online courses.
Dating App: The League
Jenna Goodger discusses The League, a premium dating platform that prioritizes quality over quantity, catering to busy, ambitious individuals seeking meaningful long-term relationships.
The Goldigger Podcast Introduction
Jenna Goodger introduces The Goldigger Podcast, a platform dedicated to helping entrepreneurs build businesses that provide freedom and fulfillment, focusing on practical marketing strategies and honest discussions about the realities of entrepreneurship.
Vanessa Lau: Redefining Success and Taking a Break
Jenna Goodger introduces Vanessa Lau, a creator and entrepreneur who took a year-long break from her multi-seven-figure business to prioritize her health and redefine success. Vanessa shares her journey of burnout, the importance of taking breaks, and her lessons learned about health, relationships, and self-discovery.
Peace is Expensive: Self-Love and Protecting Your Peace
Vanessa Lau discusses the concept of "peace is expensive," explaining how protecting your peace is an act of self-love and advocating for your needs. She reflects on her childhood experiences and how they shaped her people-pleasing tendencies, leading to burnout.
Recognizing a Business That Doesn't Fit
Vanessa Lau shares how she realized that her successful business, despite its financial achievements, wasn't aligned with her values and goals. She describes how she felt pressured to conform to industry expectations and how this led to a sense of dissatisfaction and burnout.
Burning It Down: The Decision to Walk Away
Vanessa Lau details the process of shutting down her business, highlighting the emotional and logistical challenges involved. She describes the pressure she felt to maintain a public image of success and how she ultimately chose to prioritize her well-being over external expectations.
Finding Joy Outside of Work: The Year Off
Vanessa Lau discusses her year-long break from business, emphasizing the importance of rest and self-care. She shares how she learned about her body's need for rest and how she overcame her fear of slowing down and saying no.
Rebuilding with New Values: Redefining Success
Vanessa Lau discusses her approach to rebuilding her business with a new set of values and a focus on authenticity. She emphasizes the importance of honoring past decisions while recognizing the need for growth and evolution.
The Power of Depth: Nurturing a Tribe
Vanessa Lau emphasizes the importance of depth over volume in building a successful business. She advocates for focusing on nurturing a smaller, highly engaged community rather than chasing mass appeal.
Keywords
Burnout
A state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged or excessive stress. It can manifest in various symptoms, including fatigue, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and loss of motivation.
People-Pleasing
A tendency to prioritize the needs and desires of others over one's own, often at the expense of personal well-being. It can stem from a desire for approval, fear of rejection, or a deep-seated need to be liked.
Sabbatical
A period of extended leave from work, often taken for personal growth, travel, or pursuing other interests. It can provide an opportunity for reflection, rejuvenation, and a change of pace.
Employee Mindset
A mindset that prioritizes working for a monthly paycheck and adhering to traditional work structures. It can lead to a sense of obligation and pressure to perform, even when it comes at the expense of personal well-being.
Investor Mindset
A mindset that focuses on long-term growth and investing in oneself and one's business. It prioritizes strategic decision-making, taking calculated risks, and prioritizing value creation over immediate financial gains.
Content Factory
A business model that prioritizes producing large volumes of content, often for the purpose of attracting a large audience and generating revenue through advertising or affiliate marketing.
Depth Over Volume
A strategy that prioritizes building a strong, engaged community of loyal customers or followers over chasing mass appeal. It emphasizes quality content, authentic connections, and providing value to a smaller, more targeted audience.
Q&A
How did you come to the conclusion that "peace is expensive" and what does protecting your peace look like for you?
Vanessa Lau defines protecting her peace as an act of self-love, advocating for her needs, and putting herself first. She realized that her people-pleasing tendencies, rooted in her childhood experiences as an immigrant, led to burnout and ultimately the need to prioritize her well-being.
How did you recognize that your successful business wasn't the right fit for you?
Vanessa Lau felt pressured to conform to industry expectations and constantly felt like she wasn't doing enough. She realized that she had built a business based on pleasing others rather than following her own passions and values.
How did you manage to shut down your business and walk away, especially as a people-pleaser?
Vanessa Lau describes the emotional and logistical challenges of shutting down her business. She realized that she couldn't continue to prioritize external expectations over her own well-being and made the difficult decision to prioritize her health and happiness.
What did you learn during your year off and how did you find joy outside of work?
Vanessa Lau emphasizes the importance of rest and self-care. She learned about her body's need for rest and how she had been suppressing her stress for years. She also realized that taking breaks and saying no is essential for her well-being and doesn't necessarily harm her business.
How have you approached rebuilding your business with a new lens and a new foundation?
Vanessa Lau emphasizes the importance of honoring past decisions while recognizing the need for growth and evolution. She has adopted a new set of values, prioritizing authenticity, patience, and an investor mindset over an employee mindset.
What is the power of depth and how does it apply to building a successful business?
Vanessa Lau advocates for focusing on nurturing a smaller, highly engaged community rather than chasing mass appeal. She believes that building deep connections with a smaller group of loyal customers or followers can lead to a more fulfilling and sustainable business.
Show Notes
One of the things I love most about our community is how we always keep it real about the highs and lows of entrepreneurship… and Vanessa Lau embodies this spirit in such a profound way.
Vanessa Lau is a creator and entrepreneur on a mission to inspire business owners and creators to lead more authentic and fulfilling lives. Last year, she took a step back to reset, and in doing so, she redefined what success means to her. Vanessa's story is a powerful reminder that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is take a break.
In this episode, Vanessa and I are chatting about the common traps in business and how these led to her dissolving her business for a year and how to follow your intuition if you find yourself in need of a break. She also shares key lessons she learned about her health, relationships, and most importantly herself when she stripped her business away from her identity, and the changes she’s made in her business this time around to avoid making the same mistakes that led to her burnout!
This conversation is about to leave you feeling inspired and empowered to protect your peace… no matter what it takes. I can’t wait for you to hear Vanessa’s insights about redefining success so click play now!
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