Hey Reader!

This summer was a lot.

A couple of tough health things landed on my family at the same time, and for about 4 weeks I could keep up with reviewing/editing my clients' chapters + responding to them on Voxer.

Inbox Zero did not happen. Updating my program website pages didn't happen. Finishing that new workbook I wanted to add to a course didn't happen. Yap Challenge didn't happen.

But the annoying thing was: It wasn't the first time I've had a season of "a-lot-ness".

In fact, it's the 3rd time in 3 years that a medical "surprise" has cut my week down to client work and not much else, so at first I felt so disappointed in myself.

I really thought I had this sorted out.

But when I looked back at the first two times, I could see I handled this one much better. I knew which things I could let drop and which ones I couldn't, and I'd set things up ahead of time so the drop was softer, and picking things back up after a lot easier.

I talk about all of that in my episode of Beyond the Bottleneck.

Carly Clark Zimmer invited me onto her free private podcast series, where business owners talk about a bottleneck they hit, what they changed, and what happened afterward.

Our conversation is called You're Not Back at the Beginning, and it's about what to do when an old pattern shows up again after you thought you'd fixed it.

There are 23 conversations in the series, and here are a few I've bookmarked:

• Linda Sidhu, founder of MixerMind, got clear on what she wanted from her business and her life, and she's spent years off social media since then. I've stepped back from social media for the past three years too.
• Rosemary Dede says her instinct was always to add something, and adding turned out to be her bottleneck. I love starting a new project, so I'm sure I need to hear this one!
• Heather Sager went down to a 13-hour workweek once she stopped measuring her success by how much she was doing. I'd probably get antsy (and start another project!) in the leftover hours, but... what if I didn't? What if you didn't?

If an old pattern is back in your business right now, you're not starting over. Compare this time to the last time, and look at the details. That's where you'd find the fix—it worked for me! And it's also the first step in taking back control.

Because there will always be another "something"... another "Alot."

But we can get better at how we respond to it—and how it affects us.

🎧 Listen to Beyond the Bottleneck

Your book bestie,

Holly

PS — You don't have to listen to every episode. Start with the one that sounds most like what's going on in your life/business, and skip the ones that don't. It's free, so no presh.