Embracing non-linear growth

As you receive this, we are on a plane flying over the Atlantic back to the U.S. to spend a few weeks visiting family and friends. ✈️ Our hearts are with everyone affected by Hurricane Helene and the aftermath. ❤️‍🩹

After next Monday's newsletter, we'll be taking a break through mid-November to rest, recharge, and be present with our loved ones.

Speaking of loved ones, last week we also got to host dear friends for the week here in Portugal. After focusing more than usual on work stuff this year, it's been nice to slow down a bit as the fall season rolls in and focus a little more on life stuff.

Now that we’ve caught you up on the happenings over here, let’s dive into this week’s newsletter!

- Caroline and Jason

calm creator chronicles ✍️

Embracing non-linear growth

👩🏻‍🦰👋: When you think of "business growth" on a graph, you probably imagine it as a steady line, perpetually stretching "up and to the right."

That's certainly the expected trajectory that gets sold to us.

But when you think about it, that's a perspective that comes from the corporate world—a notion connected to publicly-traded companies who have investors clamoring for the biggest returns possible.

The advantage we as creators have is that we don't have to subscribe to that idea of constant, perpetual growth.

And yet...

It's still so easy to get caught in that trap, right? 🙄😅

Once you hit a benchmark, you set a new one. Once you have your best launch yet, you still want the next one to be better.

And while that isn't necessarily a bad thing—goals can be fun and motivating— it can also trap us into thinking that if we don't see constant growth in numbers, that we're doing something wrong.

This is top of mind this week as we just published a podcast episode going over the results of our most recent launch. The good news: we improved on our launch from Spring. The bad news: we fell short of our low goal.

As you'll hear in the episode, this year, we came off the back of our best year of launches in 2023, which naturally set a higher bar for 2024. But despite running two amazing launches this year, they didn’t quite meet those lofty expectations we set based on last year's benchmarks. And it’s easy to let that feel like a disappointment. After all, we’re conditioned to believe that anything short of record-breaking is a step back.

But, WHY did we have those goals so high in the first place? Why did we set the expectation for ourselves that we needed to keep up with or outpace last year's record sales?

Because "up and to the right" growth is what we're programmed to desire.

An Enough mindset helps us counteract this programming when it creeps in. It reminds us to have gratitude for what we have right now in our business instead of disappointment for an of our unmet goals.

This year’s "growth" hasn't been about revenue—it’s been showing up in other ways. We’ve reorganized our priorities, strengthened our relationships, deepened our connection with our community, refined our processes, and opened ourselves up to new ways of operating going into next year.

That’s the solopreneur advantage. Our growth can be non-linear. And if we allow ourselves to let go of rigid goals and move the way we want to, we can embrace a different kind of success—one where some years are about breaking records, and others are about refining the foundation.

So, yes, we still want to grow, and we’ll keep setting goals. But we’re also learning to appreciate the years when the growth isn’t tied to the numbers. If we can do that, we won’t rob ourselves of the joy of what we’re building right now.

⚡️ Taking action: embracing non-linear growth

This week, take a moment to reflect on the different ways your business has grown this year that aren’t tied to sales or metrics.

Did you strengthen relationships with your audience? Did you refine a system that’s making your workflow smoother?

Write down three ways you’ve grown in your business that might go unnoticed if you were only looking at revenue.

​- Caroline 👩🏻‍🦰​

Calm Creator Tips of the Week

predictable 🔁

Make sure you have an "idea bank" for content creation and a system to organize them. Use Notion (what we use), Google Docs, Notes—whatever works for you! Create categories (e.g., educational tips, personal stories, behind-the-scenes, etc.) and add new ideas as they come to you. This ensures you always have fresh, organized content ready when it’s time to plan.

Profitable 🤑

Start planning your Black Friday or Cyber Monday offer now. Think about a special product offer or discount for your audience and outline your promotional strategy early, so you’re prepared to execute without scrambling last minute.

Peaceful 🧘

Design an “end of day” ritual for yourself. Whether it’s journaling or a 5-minute meditation, this will help you mentally close out your workday and transition into rest mode with a sense of completion. We always talk about rituals to start your day, but moving out of work mode can be equally important!