Finding Time When You Don't Have Time with Lauren Golden of The Free Mama
Episode 235: Show Notes
Today on the podcast, we welcome Lauren Golden. Lauren loves helping mamas free themselves from the nine to five grind. Lauren launched The Free Mama Movement to show working moms that they don’t have to choose between family and financial stability. We’ve all said it and we’ve all heard it: “I don’t have time.” This is the easiest excuse that people love to pull out of their pockets when they’re not seeing business growth or success. But is it really true?
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For every single person out there who has ever said, “But I don’t have any time to grow my business” – this episode is for you. Here, Lauren is busting myths, knocking excuses out the window and giving you action steps on how to better utilize the time that you do have in your day – regardless of kids, dogs, full-time jobs, health, hobbies and life. All this so you can make amazing things happen in your business. No more excuses – grab your notebook and give this one a listen!
“Busy” Is A Dirty Word: Why It All Comes Down To Choices
“I’m so busy,” “I’m so busy,” “I’m so busy.” Entrepreneurs say this all the time, right? To a point where being busy has been glamorized. For Lauren, “busy” is a dirty word because a lot of the time, we don’t even mean it when we say it. Being busy has come to be expected and normalized and being exhausted and complaining about your job has almost become a trend! Don’t fall into the trap because what you keep yourself busy with really comes down to choices. We all have the same amount of time in a day. How is Beyonce able to be Beyonce, when you’re struggling to just send an email? Lauren truly believes that it is possible to have kids, to be a mom and to build a successful career. She doesn’t believe that we have to sacrifice one for the other. But one of the things that people get caught up in, is doing things that aren’t really serving them and that’s where they get stuck. Maybe you’re doing something because you’re a people pleaser? And one of the easiest ways to get out of your “busy” complex is to say, “no more.” Because when you say you’re “too busy” what you’re really saying is “that’s not important to me.”
Happy Wife, Happy Life? It’s Time To Put Yourself First
You have to stop doing what you believe you should do and say “yes” to the things you truly value. And saying “no” to something doesn’t mean, “no never,” it can also just mean, “no, not right now.” It’s really hard to put yourself first. Happy wife, happy life, right? So many women fall into that trap of people pleasing, of doing what they think they should do as mothers, as wives. But the truth is, we are all constantly giving of ourselves. If you are constantly pouring out of your cup and never refilling that cup – you will run dry sister! Saying “no” is not easy and making those discerning choices are not easy or even obvious but it’s important that you take ownership of the decisions you are making. So please give yourself the gift of self-awareness. Please be honest with yourself about what you need and then give yourself that. Don’t wait until you are forced to make those decisions.
Lauren’s Daily Five and Why She Scraps Traditional To-Do Lists
Lauren believes that traditional to-do lists are not serving most entrepreneurs. She sees so many people messing up here because they’re focusing their time and attention on the wrong things. So how do we know what is worth saying “yes” to? To help you decide, Lauren teaches a practice called The Daily Five. The way that this works is you make your to-do list the night before and you prioritize five things in order of importance. At the top should be your number one, momentum generating activity for the day. The key to being successful with The Daily Five is you have to go in order. You do not move on to number two until you have accomplished number one. This helps you avoid procrastination and to be more intentional with your time. When people have huge to-do lists, a lot of the time they don’t know where to start and they start avoiding. Avoiding the hard stuff, avoiding the sales conversations, avoiding the stuff that pushes them out their comfort zone. You have to be constantly checking in with yourself because your work methods and habits will have to change as your business does. So take note of what is working and what is not working and constantly be re-evaluating.
The Four-Hour Work Day: How Lauren Manages Her Time
Lauren has just four hours a day to work on her business. So this time is precious and has to be highly productive in order to be effective. Lauren has three kids and believe it or not, her mornings are fantastic. Her family is systematic and the mornings look something like this: Her husband makes breakfast, the kids dress themselves, they pack their own lunch and do their morning chores. Lauren and her husband have raised their kids to be independent and self-sufficient because if they as parents had to do everything, their mornings would definitely not be as calm as they are right now! In Lauren’s four-hour work day she meets with clients, works on her business, does her own freelance work and works on her podcast. She picks up her kids at 2pm and they do activities together from then onward. Like go to the library, the pool or extra-murals. After dinner, once the kids go to bed that is when Lauren gets back on the computer and does the “mindless work” – checking emails, checking in with the team, etc. And as of this summer, she will be taking Friday’s off too. Life is calm, organized, balanced but what makes it really work is that everything is intentional. But living this way takes work, bear in mind, if it were easy – everybody would be doing it, right?
If You Want This Life, You Have To Be Willing To Try And To Fail
So many people come to Lauren for advice, hoping that she’ll blow rainbows and fairies at them. But the truth is, this lifestyle takes hard work and you have to be willing to fail in order to get there. We learn by doing and making decisions a lot of the time is a trial and error experience. You are not going to make the right decision all of the time, but the point is learning to make decisions. For example, Lauren went ahead and made the decision recently to double the price of one of her programs. She had no proof if it would work or if it would ruin her sales forever. Her business coach had no proof either but what she said was, “You have to try it.” Guess what? She tried it and her sales doubled in a week. It was a hard decision, she was terrified and uncomfortable making it but she went with it. The thing we forget is that you can always change or rectify a decision in some way. It is not the end all be all! It is not the end of the world! The end of the world is you sitting there and not doing anything about those goals and dreams you have in your head. Make a decision. Try. Then test and tweak baby! Stop giving your decisions more weight than they deserve. Your business will not fall apart.
Manifesting Your Reality And The (Scientific) Power of Your Mindset
Lauren believes in logic and science, but she confesses that the more successful she has become in business, the more woo-woo she has become too. There is science behind the fact that you can convince your brain what you want your reality to look like. So for anyone out there listening who is struggling, is in a dark place, or is thinking about throwing in the towel – we want you to dig deep right now. You are going to have to work on your mindset because your mindset is 95% of this whole game. Not your services, not your marketing, not anything else – your mindset. This might be woo-woo but it is also science. If you are telling yourself you can’t do something, if you are saying to yourself, “Why would someone hire me?” “I suck,” “I can’t do this” – all of those stories we tell ourselves. If that is where your energy is going, you are going to be climbing a really steep mountain. So make the changes you need to make to your thoughts and start to see them manifest in your life and your business. Enough woo-woo, now go and do it!
Quote This
When you say you’re ‘too busy,’ what you’re really saying is ‘that’s not important to me’.
—Lauren Golden
Highlights
Busy Is A Dirty Word: Why It All Comes Down To Choices. [0:03:20.1]
Happy Wife, Happy Life? It’s Time To Put Yourself First. [0:10:00.1]
Lauren’s Daily Five and Why She Scraps Traditional To-Do Lists. [0:14:30.1]
The Four-Hour Work Day: How Lauren Manages Her Time. [0:24:22.1]
If You Want This Life, You Have To Be Willing To Try And To Fail. [0:33:15.1]
Manifesting Your Reality And The (Scientific) Power of Your Mindset. [0:40:45.1]
#TalkStrategyToMe [0:43:48.6]
Use The Daily Five and time blocking.
Say “no” to the things that aren’t serving you.
Don’t waste the time you get back.
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Lauren Golden
The Free Mama
Lauren Golden loves helping mamas free themselves from the 9-5 grind. She launched The Free Mama Movement to show working moms that they don’t have to choose between family and financial stability. Hundreds of families today are happier and more fulfilled thanks to Lauren and her online programs. Whether you’re a single mom, a military mom, or a mom in a two-parent family who doesn’t want to sacrifice your time with your babies in order to provide for them, Lauren wants you to know that you don’t have to. Today, as the fearless leader of The Free Mama Movement and a thriving community of over 2500 women, Lauren is passionate about showing other moms how to start and run a successful freelancing business from home. In her upcoming book, she shares her own story — along with plenty of practical advice for anyone looking to leave the 9-5 behind and make a real living from home. In addition to her self-paced program, Lauren also works one-on-one with motivated mamas who want to get their businesses up and running fast. Her talks on freelancing, building a business, and making over your mindset, and other relevant topics resonate with women around the world. Lauren also runs The Free Mama Matchmaker Service, where she connects graduates of her elite online program with entrepreneurs who need their specialized skills.
KEY TOPICS
To-do list, Work from home, Entrepreneur, Business mother, Time management, Making excuses, Women in business, Passive income
