If you've spent any time in the online business world, you've probably gone looking for the blueprint. The exact steps someone else took, the launch strategy that worked for them, the one thing that's supposedly going to get you clients too. And there’s nothing wrong with that! We’ve all tried to find that golden bullet that will catapult our business forward.
But the thing is, using someone else’s strategy or blueprint often leaves people creating a business that doesn’t feel aligned with their life and their gift. This episode of the Soul & Strategy podcast is about exactly that and how your intuition is the secret ingredient you might have been looking for.
Listen to the full episode above or keep reading, I'm sharing how I use my intuition in my own business and how you can start doing the same ✨
Someone else's success is only one part of their story
I get it! We all want to know how other people did it and what the secret to success is. Here's what I've come to see; everyone who tells you how they built their business is sharing what worked for them, with their personality, the period of life they are in and the life they wanted. It's real, and it's only one part of the story.
I've been looking into human design lately, and it keeps reminding me that we are all so different. What works for one person might not work for you, or it might work and still feel not right. That is exactly where your intuition comes in: your secret ingredient to a successful business that actually feels aligned, exciting and sets your soul on fire.
Your intuition is the north star; strategy is the road
I imagine my intuition as a north star. It doesn’t show me the whole picture, but it guides me in the direction. This is how I build my entire business and actually most of my adult life, by following these small nudges.
The first calling I had was my yoga teacher training about five years ago. I never intended to become a yoga teacher. All I wanted was to deeply understand the practice, philosophy behind it and why it made me feel so calm after class. So I just followed that calling.
Then came the nudge to start teaching my own yoga classes. I felt very clearly that I didn't want to teach in studios. I wanted to build my own community, and I later brought journaling and meditation into my classes, which I could never have done inside someone else's studio.
The coaching training was the same story with a twist. During COVID, I signed up for a 6-week personal development course, which was the entry point into transforming my inner world and led me to the woman I am today. As I was doing the course, I had this thought that one day, I’d love to be like the course facilitator, to be a Spiritual Life Coach as well.
At that time, I had no idea how I would make this happen. I was studying full time and working part time, so there was no additional time to study something else. So I let the idea go and trusted that the time would come. Then the same coach announced that she was launching a Spiritual Life coach training later in the year. I immediately knew that this was my moment! I signed up within hours, and it felt like divine timing ✨
The life and business I have now wouldn’t exist if I didn’t follow my intuition and those small nudges at the time!
How I ask my intuition about my business
Intuition shows you the direction, but you still need a strategy to implement your vision. Your inner guidance and an actual plan are not two completely separate things. They need to work together to create the soul-led business you’re dreaming of.
This podcast, for example, was a very intuitive decision, but the implementation of it was strategic. These days, every decision in my business goes through my intuition, because I would never choose something that makes sense on paper but doesn't feel good for me. Then I map out the actual plan to make it happen.
When you want to ask your intuition for guidance, big open questions are often hard to answer. "What should I launch next month?" feels huge, because there are so many possibilities. So I’d recommend asking yes-or-no questions. When I have an idea, or someone brings one to me, or I see something online that looks cool, I take a moment and feel into my body. Do I want to run this workshop? Does it feel exciting; do I feel lit up? Or does it feel tight, with resistance and pushback? I do this with collaborations and invitations to speak on a podcast as well.
The reason this works is that your body answers faster than your mind can build an argument. If you've felt those little signals before, you already know how to do this. If you haven't, it's a practice, and the next section will help you recognise what you're feeling.
Is it your intuition or your mind saying no
Sometimes the no is your intuition, and sometimes it's your mind feeling scared of following your calling. Say you ask yourself whether you want to host your first workshop. It might feel exciting at first, and then the next thing you feel is a no. That's the moment to get curious about where the no is coming from.
Your first impulse is often your intuition, and you feel it in your body. Your mind lives in your head; it's more theoretical, with more sentences, more excuses and more explanations of why something can't work. It feels a bit like someone arguing with you. I go deeper on this in episode 13, and you can hear my take on it in the full episode above too ✨
Something that helps you to start hearing the difference between your mind and your intuition is creating space and silence. Switch off social media, eat your lunch without your phone in your hand, go for a walk, take a shower, or cook something; chopping vegetables can be surprisingly meditative. The reason it works is that you remove everyone else's opinions from the room, and your own voice can finally be heard.
Build your inner team
I like to think of my intuition as someone on my team. Imagine you’re not asking others for advice, but your own inner team. Mine includes my future self, my higher self and my intuition. My tarot cards are part of it too, and sometimes I think of people I look up to, ask in my mind what my next step could look like, and listen to their answer.
Who is on your inner team? Let your intuition be part of it, so that when you make a decision, you can ask it first and build a life and business that feels good to you and works for you, because you're following your own unique magic.
Why a borrowed strategy can leave you feeling empty
A lot of us want to leave our nine-to-five to start a business. If the business we build doesn't feel good or fit the life we want, we've simply built another nine-to-five, another box we're trying to squeeze ourselves into.
Someone being successful with a certain strategy doesn't mean you will be. Say someone is doing really well with low-ticket offers like PDFs or digital products. If what you love is deep, in-depth conversations and your heart is in one-on-one work, launching those products won't fulfil you, because you won’t have those deep connections with people. And a quick side note here: Passive income also isn't as passive as it sounds, since you still do all the marketing.
However, both sides of the coin can be true. You can make something successful even when it doesn't feel good, but you’ll keep lacking fulfilment. Or what you’re trying to launch doesn't actually excite you, so it might never take off at all.
When you follow what interests you and lights you on fire, your energy is behind it, and you stand behind what you offer. That makes it so much easier for it to work and for you to truly enjoy the business you’re building!
Do a little audit of your business
Look at the different parts of your business, your offers, how you run things, even how you structure your day. Ask yourself whether you're doing what excites you and feels aligned, or whether you're doing it because someone told you to. Do you post on Instagram every single day because someone said you have to? Did you create a specific offer because someone told you it's the way to attract clients?
There's nothing wrong with getting advice. I'm a coach myself, and I share my experience with my clients and what I think works. But the difference is that I would never ask my clients to implement something that doesn’t feel good or aligned with them. Everything I say is always an invitation and my own opinion, but at the end of the day, everyone needs to decide and check in with their own intuition if that’s actually the right path for them and their business. Only you can know this!
The one thing you've been putting off
Here's the question I'd love you to sit with. What is the one thing you've felt called to create for a while? Maybe a specific offer, a story you want to tell online, or a move from online to hosting more events in person. Is there something you haven't allowed yourself to do because you thought it wasn't the right choice?
I have a story about this! I put off hosting online workshops for a long time. In-person felt safer because I'd done it quite a few times, I knew what I was doing, and I already had the space. Online felt really intimidating, so I kept putting it off. At the beginning of this year, I finally hosted my very first online workshop, and it was a huge success. About 18 people signed up, and five of them became clients. That's a huge conversion rate, and I had no ads and a small following.
It's also a reminder that you don't need thousands of followers. I know people with thousands and thousands of followers who don't have a single client, and people with a small audience who have paying clients.
What made the difference for me was that I was really excited. The workshop was the thing waiting for me, and I just had to say yes.
So here's my invitation. Take one step towards your one thing within the next 24 hours. It can be a small step, and it still counts ✨
Key takeaways
Someone else's blueprint is one part of their story, and it might not fit the business or life you want.
Your intuition is the north star that shows the direction; strategy is the road you build to get there.
Yes-or-no questions and a check-in with your body make it easier to hear your intuition.
Your first impulse is often your intuition, and the explanations that follow are often your mind.
When your energy is behind what you offer, it's more likely for it to actually take off.
Over to you
I would love to hear what came up for you! Come over to my Instagram @sabinelehnhardt and tell me your takeaways, or share the topics you'd like me to talk about next. And if this episode helped you, leave a review and send it to a biz bestie or someone who is about to start their business ✨
And lastly, I want to invite you to take a step forward! If you’ve been feeling called to start your soul business, or maybe you’ve already take the first steps but you know that there is so much more awaiting you and you would like support to build your confidence, step into your most powerful and authentic version and find a strategy that actually feels like you, book a free Soul Business Start-Up Session with me. In this session, we’ll dive into your vision, look at what’s holding you back from that next level, and what you can do now to actually get closer to your dream life and the impact you want to create.
Listen to the full episode above for the complete conversation, and follow the Soul & Strategy podcast so you don't miss what's next.
With love,
Sabine 🤍
