The ER Visit That Fixed My Business
Download MP3Hello and welcome to the Service Based Business Society podcast. I'm your host, Tiffany Ann Bottcher. I left the corporate world to build my own businesses and along the way I've learned that scaling isn't all highlight reels. It's messy, it's hard, and it's totally worth it. As a mom of three, the author of the Data Driven Method and a serial entrepreneur, I know firsthand what it takes to build something bigger than yourself.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:This show is where we get real about entrepreneurship. The good, the bad, the beautiful, and yes, even the ugly. Each week, I'll pull back the curtain to share stories, lessons, and strategies that help ambitious entrepreneurs scale their success. So let's get started. I ended up in the emergency room.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Not because I was sick, but because I was done. I literally passed out, fell over, and my mom had to come take care of my kids. I was completely down and out. And here's the thing. I didn't see it coming.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I thought I was fine. I thought I was just busy, just grinding, just doing what entrepreneurs do. But my body said no and said it loud. That was my wake up call. The moment I realized that my energy isn't free, that I can't just keep withdrawing from an account that I'm never depositing into.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:So today we're talking about energy, not in some woo woo, manifest your dreams kind of way, but in the very real, very practical way of you only have so much and how you spend it determines everything. I'm Tiffany Ann Bacher, and this is the episode I wish I'd heard before I ended up in the hospital. Taylor Swift said something recently that stopped me in my tracks and really made me think of this episode. She said, think of your energy as if it's expensive, as if it's a luxury item and not everyone can afford it. Not everyone has invested in you in order to be able to have the capital for you to think about what they think.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Your energy is expensive. And for the longest time I was giving it away like it was free samples at Costco. You know what decision fatigue feels like? For me, it's the end of the day. My husband asks that horrible question.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:What do you want for dinner? And I just blank. Completely blank. Do I know what I want? Nope.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I am completely decisioned out by that time of the day. Every decision you make during the day withdraws from your energy account. And here's what nobody tells you about entrepreneurship. You're making about a 100 more decisions per day than you ever did when you worked for someone else. What platform should we use?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Should I hire this person? What do I say in this email? Do I take this client? How do I handle this team issue? What's this price point?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Should I launch this? Should I not launch that? Should I pivot this? And by the time someone asks you what you want for dinner, you've got nothing left. When I'm feeling it the most, I want to just get out of meetings and just head down into my office and work in the quiet.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Just me, my computer, and no decision that involves any other humans. But as a business owner with a large team, I just can't. And here's where it gets tricky. Because I'm a natural introvert, too much peopling leads to burnout fast for me. But here's what I learned.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And this is the game changer. Not all energy expenditure is created equal. Recently, I was exhausted on a Friday, like totally fried. And I was doomscrolling, which let's be honest, is what I do when I'm too tired to do anything productive, but too wired to rest. And I saw this nerdy automation video, something I clicked.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I went down a rabbit hole looking for some gold ideas. And Saturday morning, I woke up at 6AM voluntarily, voluntarily, and dove into building out this idea I had based on what I'd seen in the video. Same person, same week, same energy, but sometimes the right thing gives you energy instead of taking it. And that's when I realized I wasn't burned out from working too much. I was burned out from spending energy on the wrong things.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:So here's what we're doing today. Three questions, just three that filter everything. Direction, protection, sustainability. These three questions will change how you operate your business. They changed how I protect my energy and honestly probably saved me from another trip to the ER.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Let's dive in. Question number one. Is this moving me closer or further away from my goals? First question, and this one comes from Leila Hermozzi, who has built a business empire and knows a thing or two about focus. The question is, is this bringing me closer to my goal or further away?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:This is your direction filter. Here's where I see business owners, myself included, waste massive amounts of energy stepping on a $100 bill to pick up a five. Let me give you a real example. And I see this all the time with automation, outsourcing, choosing a new app. Business owners don't want to invest.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Maybe they don't want to upgrade to the premium plan. Maybe they don't want to pay for the better system. So instead they spend hours every single week doing a task that could happen automatically. Let me do the math for you. Let's say you're billing at $150 an hour.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:That is your value. That's what your time is worth in your business. And you're spending five hours a week on a manual task because you don't want to pay $50 a month for an automation platform. That's $750 of your time to save $50. You're stepping on a $100 bill to pick up a 5.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And I get it. I really do. Because that $50 is a recurring expense that you can see. It shows up on your credit card statement every month. But those five hours, they're invisible.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:They don't show up anywhere. They just disappear into the night, into the week. But they're costing you so much more than money. They're costing you energy, focus, momentum, the mental load of having to remember to do that thing every single week. So whenever something crosses my desk now, an opportunity, a task, a decision, I ask, is this moving me closer to my goal or taking me further away?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:If the answer is, well, it's not really moving me closer, but it's not terrible. That's a no. Because neutral is still a withdrawal from your energy account. You want deposits. You want momentum.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:You want everything you do to compound towards where you're actually trying to go. This is your direction filter. Use it ruthlessly. Question number two. Has this person opportunity, whichever invested enough to afford my energy?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:This is the second question, and this is the one that changed everything for me. Back to Taylor's quote, not everyone can afford your energy. Not everyone has invested enough to have the capital for you to care. This is your protection filter. I was on a call recently, someone asked me if I could help them with something.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And here's the thing. I probably could have figured it out. I could probably have helped them. I probably could have spent a few hours researching, testing, helping them solve their problem. But ultimately, it wasn't really in my lane.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:So I steered. I steered them to someone else, wished them luck, and ended the call. At one point in my business, I would have taken it on. I would have said yes because I could help because I felt like I should help because saying no felt uncomfortable. But here's what I've learned.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Your capacity to help does not create an obligation to help. Not everyone gets access to your energy, not because you're being mean, but because your energy is finite. And when you give it to everyone who asks, you have nothing left for the people and projects that actually matter. Think about it like this. If someone wanted to access your bank account, you'd ask, what have you invested in to earn that access?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Are you a client, a partner, a team member? Have you paid for access to this resource? We have no problem applying this logic to money, but we forget to apply it to energy. And your energy is more valuable than your money because you can always make more money, but you can't make more time. You can't manufacture more energy.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:So when someone asks for just a quick call or wants to pick your brain or needs a tiny favor, ask yourself, has this person invested enough to afford my energy? Have they bought from me? Have they referred to me? Have they shown up for me? Have they created value in my world?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Or are they asking me to make a withdrawal for free? And look, I'm not saying don't help people. I'm not saying don't be graced. I'm not saying don't be generous. What I am saying is be strategic about where your generosity goes.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Give to the people who are invested in your success. Give to the relationships that aren't reciprocal. Give to the opportunities that align with where you're going. Give to the charities that feel good and fill your cup. But stop giving your energy away to anyone who just asks because they can.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:This is your protection filter. It's how you guard your capacity for what actually matters. Question number three. Does this honor my boundaries or erode them? This third question is important And this is your sustainability filter.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Does this honor my boundaries or erode them? Because here's the thing about boundaries. They're not just about saying no to bad things. They're about creating the conditions for you to show up sustainably long term. And every time you violate your own boundaries, you're making withdrawal from your future self's energy account.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Remember that hospital story from the beginning of the episode? I didn't end up there because I had one bad week. I ended up there because I spent months pushing past my limits, ignoring the signals, telling myself just this one time or just until this project is done or just until we hit that goal. And my bodily and my body finally said, Nope, we're done. You're done.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:We're shutting this down. I've always been someone who pushes hard. I ride the line. I work right up until the edge. But that time, I went too far.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And the scary part, I didn't see it happening because the boundary erosion doesn't happen all at once. It's the small yes when you should have said no. It's the just this once that becomes every time. It's the I can handle it when you actually can't. So now I ask this question constantly.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Does this honor my boundaries or erode them? And I'm talking about all kinds of boundaries. Time boundaries. When do I work? When do I not work?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:When do I respond to messages? Energy boundaries. How much peopling can I do before I'm fried? How many decisions before I'm useless? Capacity boundaries.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:How many clients? How many projects? How many commitments? And here's what I've learned about boundaries. They're not so set it and forget it.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:They shift as your business grows, as your life changes, as your capacity evolves, as your team grows. But the question stays the same. Does this honor where I've drawn the line? Or am I slowly eroding the very thing that keeps me sustainable? Because you can't build a business long term if you're burning yourself out in the short term.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:You can't serve your clients, lead your team, show up for your family, or do any of the things that matter if you've depleted your energy account to zero. This is your sustainability filter. It's what allows you to play the long game. And don't kid yourself. Business is a long game.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:So let's bring this home. Three questions. That's it. Number one. Is this moving me closer to my goal or further away?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Your direction filter. Number two, has this person or opportunity invested enough to afford my energy? Your protection filter. And number three, does this honor my boundaries or erode them? Your sustainability filter.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Direction, protection, sustainability. Those three things determine whether you're building something that lasts or burning yourself out chasing things that don't matter. Here's what I want you to understand. Your energy is not free. It's not unlimited, and you can't just keep withdrawing from that account without making deposits.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And every time you say yes to something that doesn't pass these filters, you're not just spending energy, you're stealing it from something else that does matter. From the project that would actually move your business forward, from the client who deserves your full attention, from your family, your health, your future self. Taylor Swift gets it. Layla Hermozzi gets it. Every successful person operating at a high level gets this.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Your energy is expensive. Not everyone can afford it. And the moment you start pricing it like it is, everything changes. So start asking these three questions on everything. That meeting request, filter it.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:That opportunity someone brings you, filter it. That task you're about to start and add to your plate, filter it. Direction, protection, sustainability. If it doesn't pass all three, it's a no. Because you're not here to do everything.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:You're here to do the right things. And the right things are the ones that deserve your expensive, finite, irreplaceable energy. Thanks for being here. If this episode hits home, share it with a fellow entrepreneur. I'd love to know which of these three questions resonates with you the most.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Until next week, protect that energy, filter ruthlessly and build something sustainable. That's all the time we have for today. But the conversation doesn't stop here. Be sure to subscribe to the Service Based Business Society podcast on all of your favorite apps. And if you're hanging out over on YouTube, search for Tiffany and Bocher.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Your likes, comments and shares don't just help the show, they help more entrepreneurs find the real stories and strategies that they need to scale. Until next time, keep pushing, keep building and I'll catch you in the next episode.
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