When Your Business Stops Feeling Fun (And How to Get It Back)

If you've been waking up and dreading the work you used to love, you're not broken, you're burnt out on a version of your business that stopped serving you. In this episode, Crissy Conner breaks down why so many female entrepreneurs lose the joy in their business, how to tell the difference between hard and joyless, and the practical resets that bring the fun back without burning everything down.

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What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why your business starts to feel like a job (and the sneaky moment it usually happens)
• The difference between a hard season and a joyless one -- and why that distinction matters
• How to audit what's draining you vs. what's actually lighting you up
• Simple operational shifts that make your business feel like yours again
• Why joy is a visibility strategy (and how people can feel when you've lost it)

OMNI is my full visibility system built for CEOs who want to grow online without living on their phone. If you’re ready to be truly seen, more strategic, and unmistakably in demand, head to check out OMNI at www.omniqueens.com 

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Transcript

0:00

was scrolling through my Facebook memories and you know how it just pops and says, here's what you were doing six years ago, here's what you're doing three years ago, here's what you were doing five years ago. And I stopped on this video and my first thought was, dang, I used to be so much fun. Not in a sad way, more like noticing. Also like who was this person? And I caught myself because the real question isn't, what happened to this person even if it was a year ago, right? Because the real question is when or why did I decide that the version of me who is me today can't have just as much fun or even more. And that's what today's episode is about. Not getting back to who you were because that person was great. She was amazing, but also she didn't know what you know now. This is about figuring out what fun actually looks like. for the version of you that exists right now in this moment as you're listening to this episode, in this business that you're in right now, in this season that you're in right now. I think a lot of us have quietly let the joy drain out and just accepted it, called it consistency, called it maturity, called it focus, called it being serious about the business. And I'm here to call that out today because joy is not a distraction from the work. It is the work. I want to ask you, when did it get heavy? Do you remember the moment that things in your business started feeling heavy? The shift is typically gradual. Like you don't wake up one morning and just start disliking, feeling not fun, right? There are turning points that happen in this process and it can look like you started doing tasks that you absolutely loathe. You took on clients for the money versus for the joy or what you really enjoy doing. A lot of times we take on clients because we air quote need the revenue and we know they're going to be what we call a PETA, right? I'll let you figure out what that stands for. But you start performing for an audience instead of building who you really are. You maybe optimize all the joy out of the name of strategy. Like, I want you to really think back. When did your business feel electric? What were you doing? What were you not doing? There is a big difference in hard and joyless. Hard seasons can still have energy behind them. Hard seasons, we can still find the joy. Joyless is different. very, very flat. One of my coaches who coached me through my first certification reached out to me and invited me to a year-long experience with her with a similar but different type of certification. And I was really on the fence and I decided, you know what, let's just do it. Let's just do it. Let's go. let's get outside of my comfort zone. The first thing I wanted to think was, my gosh, what all is involved? What all do I have to do? I had to have 250 hours last time. I had to coach like four people. Like it was a lot, right? And so I was spending about four hours a week coaching, plus keeping up with my other responsibilities. And so I really just, this fear like crept in. But I'm glad I said yes, because I showed up to the first call. And one of the things that she's talked about was how we create true change is through There are three things and the first thing is our state. And back in probably November of 2023, I created something called the CEO state and I started doing this every single morning because it lit me up. It really helped me get prepared for my day to take on my day, but really just set the tone for the entire day. And when she said that statement, right? This is the first thing. to create real lasting change is you have to change your state. There are other things, but that was the first thing. And it made me think about my CEO state and how I'd kind of gotten out of the habit of doing it. I did some of my morning routine. I was doing some of my morning routine in what we could say, checking boxes, showing up to show up, but not really feeling it. And once I really started thinking about this, I was like, wait a minute, my state. the state I get into every single day is 100 % in my control. Just piddling along, right? Going through the motions in the morning, like this is what I do versus this is what I freaking get to do. So interesting how little shifts in our language and the way we say things to ourselves can totally shift a whole entire moment, a whole day, a whole week, a whole year. And so the thing is, that number one, I wasn't starting my day out with fun. I was letting circumstances throughout the day decide, are you going to have fun today? Is something going to happen that's going to make you laugh? Why did I not start the day in my CEO state, which I know works? Because we get out of habit of things. And so I told myself, this, you got to start this back. Like this is how you control your day. This is how you start your day. It's kind of like, if you don't run your day, your day will run you or some kind of quote like that. Very, very similar. Right? And so when I realized when I'm in my CEO state, I move my body. When I'm in my CEO state, I'm learning. When I'm in my CEO state, I'm giving gratitude. I'm journaling. I'm praying. I'm reading the Bible. I'm doing all the things. And it just clicked. And the thing is, is that we can think a couple of different things. Well, I don't have time to do that. But then there's this thing called habit stacking, which means I can get on my vibration plate. I can read the Bible at the same time I'm standing on the vibration plate, or I can read the Bible a different time and I can stand on my vibration plate and I can actually do exercises and stretches while I'm on it. And it's like, we get to decide. Even if you only have 10 minutes a day, which I love teaching, you can get visible in 10 minutes a day if that's all you have. Even if you only have 10 minutes a day, you can literally shift your state. It's totally up to you. And it's like, what is gonna shift my perspective in this moment? What is gonna shift my day in this moment? And so I didn't just change my mindset or my perspective around it. I actually changed the actions that I'm going to take every single day. The other thing is that we could be doing or taking actions or doing tasks that are killing our joy. So I want you to ask yourself, think if you're driving, write it down if you're not. What is everything I did in my business this week? Not. Not like in categories, but every single thing. Did I invoice people? Did I check my email 100 times? Did I get on client calls? Right? And like write them all down. And then make a color of a highlighter of this energizes me, this I felt neutral about, this drains me. And then I want you to look at the things that drain you. Can you eliminate it? Can you automate it? Can you delegate it? With AI? I'm gonna guess there's something you can automate. I'm gonna guess there's something you can delegate. And also, is this something that has to stay? And if so, can you restructure how you do it? Or, yes, I am gonna say this, can I shift your perspective or can you shift your perspective on how you do said thing? Do you have to do said thing or do you get to do said thing? And then I also want you to look at what energizes you. Are you doing enough of those things? Are they buried so far underneath the things that are draining you? And can you protect more of your time to create more of those energizers in your life? We have to remember that joy is actually a strategy because when we, for example, when I get in my CEO state, people will fill it in every single thing that I do, whether I show up on a call, whether I send an audio and broadcast, whether I do a strategy call. whether I show up on a piece of content and my stories, it doesn't matter because people feel when you're performing versus when you're playing, you're having fun. And I love to play in my strategy. I love to play in my content. I love to play in my energy. Where are we performing? Because we feel like we have to do this and we have to look a certain way and we have to do a blah, blah, right? Versus where are we playing and really having fun? The most magnetic content, the most magnetic sales pages, the most magnetic anything that you do is going to come from the seasons when you're genuinely lit up. You're on fire. And I don't care if you haven't made a sale in six months. Figure out a way to get on fire for your business. When you are joyless, you will start shrinking your visibility without even realizing it. You will start hiding. You will post less. You will show up less. You will invite less. And guess what that does? That affects your bottom line. So bringing back the fun in your business is not some luxury, nice to have thing. It is truly a part of a visibility and business growth strategy that every single person listening to this podcast and probably thousands more that aren't listening to this podcast, need to implement. Because joy creates consistency. Consistency builds discoverability. builds attention, right? And that discoverability and that attention builds the freaking business. You get to decide, am I going to keep sitting on this and just going through the motions and checking boxes? And yes, I'm raising my hand because sometimes I do it too. But let this be a lesson. Learn from me. Do a fun audit this week. Create the list. Even if you don't change anything right away, when you name what's draining you, That is your first move. That is an action. What are you gonna do about it? When are you gonna make the move? When are you gonna take the action? Because at the end of the day, business didn't stop feeling fun. You either fell all love with your business, you burned yourself out, you made your business feel like a job, you stopped getting the results that you desired, so you just kind of phone it in, but it doesn't have to stay that way. Pretty much all of your problems in your business would be resolved if you shifted your joy. If you turned your lack of love, we're not gonna say you hate it. We're gonna say your lack of love for your business, if you turned it around and brought the freaking joy back. You could decide every single day when you wake up, how am I getting up today? Am I getting up with dread? Here, I gotta go do that thing in business again that's not rewarding me, it's not giving me the results that I want, blah, blah, blah. Or you can jump out of bed and remember the lives that you've changed. Remember the messages that people have sent you. Remember the things that they have told you. Remember how you've literally visually seen them not only change their life, but create ripple effects after that. And if you haven't helped anybody change their life yet, think about your own. Whatever you do, how did you change your own life? Where were you at the bottom? And how did you pull yourself back up? The bottom of XYZ, whatever you do. And remember that feeling and how amazing it would feel to help someone else create that exact same result. To help someone else create the ripple effects that that change in your life helped you with. I was gonna end the podcast a second ago, but I feel really called to do one more thing. So before we go any further, I wanna do something a little different. I want you to stop for a second. If you're multitasking while you're doing this, just pause. I want you to really, really fully listen. If you can and you're in a place, close your eyes. If you're driving, just soften your gaze and take a breath. Take a slow breath in through your nose. and let it out. Take another breath in through your nose. and let it out. Now I want you to think about the person that you help. Not everybody that's following you on Instagram, but that one person, not some demographic, that one person you can see her, maybe she has a name, maybe you know someone that you can help, that you've just said to yourself, if I could just help them, they just realized how much I could change their life. So maybe you know her name, maybe you see her, maybe she's a client you've worked with. Maybe it's somebody that sent you a message that your heart just hurt for them because you know how much you can help them. Maybe it was someone who found you when she had nothing left to try. I want you to picture her. Where was she when she found you? What was she carrying? What had she tried already? And what did she told herself about why things weren't working? Now think about where she is now. or where she could be. because of you. Not because of a course, not because of a framework, because you made the decision to show up, to share what you know, to tap back into your joy, because you were willing to be seen doing the thing that you are so freaking good at. The ripple doesn't stop with her though. She goes home, she shows up differently, she leads her team differently. She has more confidence. She gives herself permission to want more because you showed her that it was possible. She tells her friend about you. Her friend finds you. And it starts again. You are not just building a business. You are not just building this little small side hustle. You are building a body of work that outlasts algorithms, trends, slow crappy seasons, and the fun, the joy, the version of you that in your mind you think used to light up a room. She is far from gone, my friend. She is waiting for you to remember that the work was always supposed to feel like this. Like something matters. Like something worth showing up for. Like someone's life can be transformed when you decide to bring the joy back into your business. When you decide to tap in to the fulfillment that you know what you do brings you. As you're sitting there grounded, Take one breath. And now, it's time to get back there. Whether you feel like this is something you can't do on your own, or you feel like you need a community of people that can support you, hop on a Discovery call with me. I will not sell you, but I will listen and give you direction. Help you decide if the next step is working with me in some capacity or just me listening gives you some peace of mind. that someone understands exactly what you're going through. And you feel seen and you feel heard. There's absolutely no obligation to buy anything off of me. I would love to talk to you. I would love to hear where you're at and I would love to support you in any way I can. I hope today's episode really served and supported you, helped you tap back into that joy because I know every once in a while I need this too. Make sure you reach out and let me know how today's episode helped you. supported you and how you are going to bring the joy and fun back into your business.