Episode 825: … You Cleared Your Plate. Why Is It Full Again?With Tialyn John

EBT 825 – Tialyn John

[00:01] Megan Porta

Hello, Tialyn, how are you today?

[00:04] Tialyn John

Good, how are you?

[00:05] Megan Porta

I’m good. Welcome to the podcast. It’s so great to have you here. We are going to talk about systems today, why better systems alone do not prevent burnout, which I think is so important for us to hear. So just give us a rundown of who you are and what you do.

[00:23] Tialyn John

Yeah, so I am a business coach, and what I do is I offer strategic support for business owners really navigating growth, big decisions, or balancing a lot of competing priorities. And I love this industry and bloggers because that’s where my original main base is as a food videographer. I’ve had a food videography business since 2018, and then some of you are familiar with Pretty Focus too, and so I’m co-owner of Pretty Focus. And I know Megan, you’ve talked to Melody before on a podcast. Yeah.

[00:56] Megan Porta

Yes, I have a couple times. She’s great. She’s, I mean, nice, obviously, but like such a wealth of knowledge too. She’s so smart. So it’s great to have you here. Thank you for joining us. So yeah, let’s get into like the title, I guess. Like why better systems alone won’t prevent burnout. I think that’s gonna attract a lot of people because burnout is kind of a thing right now with all that’s going on in our space. It’s a little bit stressful if we allow it to be right now. So why is that? Why won’t better systems prevent burnout?

[01:35] Tialyn John

So one of the things I notice when working with business owners is they’re always looking at the symptom, and that’s what they’re trying to fix, which a lot of times is what a system will fix, a symptom, but it doesn’t fix the root cause of what’s causing the symptoms to happen in their business. And so, for example, I always hear a lot of business owners, well, this season’s just really busy, and next season, or when a new season starts, but the problem is it’s not the time that goes by, because once another season comes along, they’re still overwhelmed because they still have the same patterns and the behaviors and the same thought processes. And so I have a client, she’s so adorable, but she’ll clear her plate and be really excited. And by next call, when I first met with her, it was already filled again. It’s because she’s a yes person. And it’s like, okay, that’s the opportunity. A system is not going to fix the opportunity of you saying yes to everything that comes your way.

[01:58] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[02:20] Megan Porta

Yeah. Yeah.

[02:31] Megan Porta

So how do we stop that? I mean, like the client you referred to, I think a lot of us do that. I know I do, or it’s like, yay, I got through the inbox, I got through this, but then everything just builds up again. So how do we start kind of taking care of that in a better way?

[02:50] Tialyn John

Yeah, so the first thing is really understanding why we do that. And so going back to the example of the yes person, sometimes it’s a yes because they’re always over functioning and they know they can do it and they’ve done it for so long. So it just becomes natural. Like, yes, I have the mental capacity, but we really don’t. We’ve just been high functioning for so long, it feels like we do. Sometimes we say yes because we’re people pleasers. We’re afraid we’re gonna disappoint somebody. And a lot of times, too, we’ll say yes, and again, this is just one example, because you feel an elevated responsibility over something that’s really not yours to begin with. And so once you start to understand really what’s triggering that yes, then you can start to deal with, okay, now how do I fix this? Now that you have the awareness around it. So I think the first thing when you’re overwhelmed, just start thinking, like, what did I say yes to that got me to this point? Sometimes we’ll say yes to a project and we don’t realize it’s gonna take as much time. Okay, that’s a learning. But sometimes we’ll say yes when we know we really shouldn’t. And that’s where kind of our little red flags in our systems go up that we’re like, hey, we should pay attention to why we’re doing this so that we can correct, reframe, or do it differently.

[04:08] Megan Porta

So if a project comes into our world, what do you suggest? That we sit on it for a certain amount of time before answering, or how do we go about just avoiding those yeses that we always, you know, it’s so easy to say yes to people in projects. Yeah, how do we navigate that, I guess?

[04:29] Tialyn John

Yes. So I’m really big on analyzing anything that comes my way. So first of all, one of the things I’ll look at is rate of return. If it’s really a good use of our time with our realistic capacity. We have to be honest about what our capacity is because sometimes seasons, it might be a great opportunity, but it’s not the right time. And so really analyzing, is it the right time? Do I have the capacity? Why do I want to say yes to this? Does it align with my goals, or is there like an overarching like people pleasing? It’s a certain person who’s asking you and you feel obligated. And so really analyzing that’s extremely helpful with your yeses. And so just taking time, I would say, you know, depending on how big of an opportunity it is, depends on how much time you should really give it. But just writing down like, why would I want to do this? Why should I say no? I’m always big on kind of trying to prove myself wrong. So if it’s something I want to say yes to, I try to prove myself wrong on why I should not say yes to that. And that kind of opens up our thinking a little bit differently sometimes. When you don’t have like somebody there next to you challenging you, that’s a little best practice that I do personally on if this is my best yes. And then also, when you’re gonna give a yes to something, I don’t encourage somebody to layer it on top of what they’re already doing because that’s how we continue to get overwhelmed and really unbalanced. And instead it’s like, well, what are you going to replace? What is less important? And if you cannot find anything on your schedule that’s less important, then should we be saying yes to it if you can’t remove something from your plate and replace it, if that makes sense.

[05:27] Megan Porta

Mm.

[06:06] Megan Porta

Yeah, that does make sense. It feels hard though, and it kind of makes sense why food bloggers are generally stretched and doing a lot more than they probably should. Because it’s really hard to replace projects because our projects are ongoing, like taking care of our blogs, updating content, creating new content. Those are things that we don’t let go of, and those can’t be replaced. So if we’re just in a steady stream of that, how do we find the time for other projects?

[06:40] Tialyn John

So one of the things that I always challenge a business owner is looking at, when are you ready to really, if you can’t take it off your plate, it has to be completed. Where is your business at on being able to outsource certain tasks or change your expectation on how the task should be performed or at what level or what consistency. And I know especially with bloggers with like social media, your expectations of like posting. I actually just was listening to part of your seven million views. And so I see that a lot because sometimes we get expectations on projects and then we have to start to challenge ourselves, well, where’d that expectation come from? Is it because one of my peers was doing it, or was it because it’s really what was best for my business? And is it still what’s best for my business? So even challenging those projects, I think, is really important. But I am big on outsourcing 100% because we can truly only grow so big as one person. And so I think too, it’s where am I willing to sacrifice some things in my business to make the growth happen or to be able to pull back on my schedule so I can enjoy my family and I’m not mentally thinking about work when I’m with them because of all my projects I’m saying yes to.

[07:14] Megan Porta

Yeah. Yep.

[07:31] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[08:01] Megan Porta

I always love asking people this question who do strategize with food bloggers and business owners. How do you suggest starting with outsourcing? Because I know this is a huge hurdle for so many. It’s so scary. People are like terrified. They don’t know how to start, they don’t know who to start with, they don’t know which projects, etcetera.

[08:25] Tialyn John

Yeah, so I’m going to say, first, know what task in your business that really only you can do. Like nobody else can be the face of your business, of your brand. So that would be one that you need to know that you need to hang on to. But anything that really slows you down and it’s not a strength, look at outsourcing that. I was working with a business owner not too long ago and she was working so hard to sell a product and it wasn’t her strength. And I’m like, why are you the one selling it? Like if it’s not your strength, so it’s stuff like that. And I know, well, of course, for my background, I know video, photos, that’s a huge thing that’s outsourced in the industry, but also somebody writing your email, somebody handling your social medias, somebody even editing your footage. You know, if you’re still the one in front of the camera, still having an editor to take care of that and the posting, the comments. There’s a lot of tasks. And what I really see when people struggle to outsource something, it’s because, one, it’s the unknown of, I’ve always done it. And even though it feels chaotic, you can control the chaos. You know what to expect. But when you bring a third-party contractor in or you hire an employee, that’s a lot of unknown. And that can, we can shrink back because of that unknown. And then we start to have the excuses, well, I don’t have time to train somebody or I don’t have time to outsource because we want to stay in the comfort of our chaos. And that’s another thing that goes back to mindset that really holds us back. So I see so many business owners comfortable in the chaos, even though they know it’s stressful, even though they know it’s a pain point, they’ll stay there. And I think it’s because they focus on what they have to lose. Like, well, what if something goes wrong and I lose followers or I waste all this money because the photos don’t come back correctly, but they forget, well, what do I have to gain? Like what can my business look like if I really let this go and find the right fit? And so this is a best practice I love to do. When you’re thinking about outsourcing or something that really scares you in your business, and you find something like, well, I’m really not great at it, somebody could do it way better and my business can grow even further, so you have like those list of items, we often will think like worst case scenario. So I’ll challenge you: for every worst case scenario, okay, give yourself five best case scenarios.

[08:58] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[09:42] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[09:55] Megan Porta

Ooh, yeah.

[10:45] Megan Porta

Mm, I love that.

[10:46] Tialyn John

And that helps me think, like, okay, yeah, I might have to go through three or four people outsourcing this, but what if that allows me to ultimately never really have to do this again and my business can grow 2x because my time can go into these other areas that I actually enjoy and am able to do.

[11:07] Megan Porta

That’s so great. I think if we could do that for every single fear that comes into our brains about our business, that would eliminate so much. So even just like writing it down, right? Like, okay, trigger, I feel a fear. I don’t want to take action because XYZ, I’m gonna open my doc and I’m gonna write this down. I’m gonna write five things, you know, like you said. I think that would be such a great practice to start. Yeah.

[11:18] Tialyn John

Mm-hmm.

[11:32] Tialyn John

Yeah, I love it. Well, and the thing is, too, as business owners, if you’re like, okay, I need to outsource certain things, it’s not like the end of the world if you put somebody in the wrong place. So just know, like, okay, I need to outsource this. I can undo it at any time. I can change my mind and I can take it back at any time. And so, two, just your expectations on yourself. You don’t have to get it right with the first hire. It’s maybe a new skill, maybe you’ve never hired somebody before. So you’re sharpening that and there’s nothing wrong with it. But like in the long run, when you’re thinking five, 10 years from now, your business is going to be so much better for it. And that’s one of the things too when you’re thinking of like, well, should I outsource this? Well, what do you want business to look like five years from now? And if you’re still doing that task five years from now, how much is your business going to be held back because of it? Because it compounds, you know us, Megan, we’ll think, we’ll do this and then we’ll put it off, we’ll put it off. And like two or three years later we’re thinking, my good gravies, I should have done this years ago and now I just did.

[11:44] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[12:24] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[12:30] Megan Porta

I know. And then it feels so good. You’re like, why didn’t I do this five years ago? That’s crazy. Yeah. So we talked about kind of fear and some of those challenges that we all have. Why do you think we resist taking actions in these ways that we know we need to do? Are there any other reasons why we resist that?

[12:53] Tialyn John

So we’re funny creatures. We identify. It’s really interesting when I’m talking to somebody, and I’ll listen to the words that they say, and I can really see how they identify as certain things. And so you might have somebody, well, okay, we’ll do this example, they have a fear of being on camera for social media. Okay, so I know that’s blogging right now, huge for social media. Being on camera is highly encouraged for multiple reasons. And even though they know it’s good for their business, they just have this fear and it’s holding them back. And I start to see they start to identify, well, I’m not good on camera. And I’m like, are you not good on camera? Yeah, let’s talk about that. And so they’re identifying as somebody who’s not good, so it’s not going to work. And so why even bother? Like nobody’s gonna be able to connect. And so we start to tell ourselves these stories that really aren’t true. And it’s like, where did it come from? And it’s so funny because once you find an underlying story about yourself, and then you start to challenge it, then it kind of opens up a lot more of opportunities within your business for growth and really stepping out of fear. And sometimes it sounds really silly. It really does on some of those things. And I’m like, you’re not good, or you just don’t have experience doing it. Like you can’t or you haven’t learned how yet. Like how much time have you spent, you know, trying to learn this skill versus not? And so I think that’s a huge thing with us as business owners that often will hold us back is what we’re identifying as, I can’t, or you’ve already made up your mind that it’s not successful. And I see this a lot with comparison. And we’ve seen it in the blogging industry. And I know we’ve seen it from a photographer industry standpoint, when something’s going bad for somebody’s business, a lot of times it’s so easy, well, that’s gonna be for me, so why should I try?

[12:58] Megan Porta

Ha

[13:16] Megan Porta

Hmm.

[13:38] Megan Porta

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

[14:21] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[14:51] Megan Porta

Mm-hmm.

[14:52] Tialyn John

And so there’s sometimes we look and we get inspired by people, but there’s other times we look and what their story is, we start to tell ourselves that that’s gonna be our business story too, even though there’s no facts that point to that. And that’s more of like you have some feelings and some emotions that you start to drive your business with versus actual like logical facts of, well, let’s look at what’s true, you know? And so I think that’s a big thing too.

[15:13] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[15:16] Megan Porta

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[16:39] Megan Porta

Yeah, I think that is so true now in twenty twenty six because a lot of people go into, you know, Facebook groups and spaces where a lot of food bloggers are talking about how the industry is doomed and there’s no hope and our traffic’s gonna be gone in a year. I mean, there’s all this stuff. So it’s so easy to be like, well, why would I work on my blog? Because everyone’s telling me that this is who I am. This is who I’m destined to be. I hear this all the time. Like, why? No, don’t. You don’t need to read into that. And I think we were talking about this a little bit before we hit record. Your business is what you want it to be. Like if you wanted, if you choose to focus on the creativity and the good things, and certainly something is working in your business, focus there, put your focus there and put your blinders on where you need to. And make that your identity. Make the good stuff your identity.

[17:33] Tialyn John

Yes, one hundred percent. Yes. Like yes.

[17:36] Megan Porta

Yeah. I know. Well what do you tell people about just looking kind of at those, I don’t wanna say negative, but like kind of doom and gloom, you know, sources. There’s a lot out there that feeds into that. So what do you, I don’t know, like guide people about what to do with that?

[17:59] Tialyn John

Yes. And so one of the things, what’s true for somebody doesn’t have to mean it’s true for you. And so I think it’s really important. Somebody can have a business that’s struggling. It doesn’t mean your business is going to struggle. And so I always just encourage people when you’re reading through Facebook posts. I’m just like, is this helping you be a better business owner, or is this fueling feelings that probably is not going to allow you to be your best self? And if it’s like fueling negative feelings, I’m just like, stop reading, stop engaging, hide. There’s certain groups I do not participate in. And I’m like, you know what? There’s a lot of negative like post threads. Those aren’t my people, you know?

[18:42] Megan Porta

Hm.

[18:43] Tialyn John

And so I want to be with the people who are winning right now because a lot of times you can look at some negative post and it just feels like, this is the entire industry. But then you see another post of all these other wins, and it’s like clearly it’s not the entire industry. And so we, you know, there’s always gonna be businesses winning, there’s always gonna be businesses struggling. But it’s never like the catastrophizing that some of those posts show. So I’m gonna say avoid anything that’s really catastrophizing, something that’s going off a feeling, something that’s not factual. I am really big on do not base a business off of anything that’s not factual. And so you don’t pivot your business, don’t make decisions, and so do what’s best for your business in alignment. But yeah, so just really watch that. Like, how did it make you feel? Did it make you feel like you were ready to go post and try to do 60 days of posting on social media, you know, you got inspired, or was it something that made you want to like go eat ice cream in your PJs and just like whatever?

[18:59] Megan Porta

Right.

[19:10] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[19:13] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[19:36] Megan Porta

Yeah. Yes.

[19:43] Megan Porta

Hide forever. Yeah.

[19:44] Tialyn John

Yeah, like look on Indeed. Maybe we don’t need to be business owners. Maybe I just need to go back to work somewhere else. And so, but yeah, avoid it at all costs. But really just pay attention when you’re reading that, how it makes you feel. And if you feel your mindset starting to shift, then you just really need to eliminate it altogether. Because I am a true believer of whatever you believe deep down is going to be your results of your actions. If you believe that this industry’s over, you’re not going to put out the effort necessary to actually be successful. And that’s the key thing. But if you believe, like, no, I can be successful, I’ve been successful, there’s other people successful, there’s still room at the table, and that’s your focus, you’re gonna put out the actions that are necessary to get the results that you need, which is why protecting that is so important from a mindset standpoint and not allowing the negative, I call negative Nancy. Sorry if anybody listening’s name’s Nancy, you know. But sorry, Nancy, we love you. Unless you’re negative and then we’ll love you from afar.

[19:50] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[20:33] Megan Porta

Yes. Sorry, Nancy. Yeah. Yeah. That’s funny. I think what you said is so simple, yet so important. And that is how do you feel when you are reading whatever or talking to someone? Like you mentioned my sixty day short experiment that I talked about in my last episode. And that came from Pat Flynn, who I had this interview with, and that is the kind of person I want to listen to and talk to because it was inspiring. It made me feel good. It made me feel excited and all the good things. And it ended up providing this whole year journey of joy and ups and downs and craziness. But those are the things you want to look for. It’s just how does it make you feel? Does it light you up inside? And if it’s not doing that, then evaluate is kind of what you’re saying.

[21:32] Tialyn John

Mm-hmm.

[21:33] Megan Porta

Yeah. And that’s easy to do. Like how you feel, it’s easy to check in and just be like, okay, good or bad. How am I feeling about this? It’s as simple as that. And then you have a system for moving through overwhelm and just being more intentional with yourself and your business. Do you want to talk through that?

[21:54] Tialyn John

Yeah, so I have, it’s called a RED system. It’s just easier for me to remember, but reframe, eliminate, or delegate. And it’s a practical framework. I actually started using it for myself. And then when I was working with clients, I saw their need for it. So then I’m like, okay, let’s take you through the exercise that I take myself through. And this is when you’re looking at things in your business. And we talked about how do you know what to outsource or to take off of your plate and all those kind of things. And so really what you do when you’re really overwhelmed, the first thing you want to be like, okay, so we’ll start backwards. What can I delegate? What if I have a team or as a small business owner? Or if you do not have a team, what can I delegate household responsibilities to have more capacity as well? So I love that as a small business owner, we can go back and forth on the delegation. It may not be business, it may be home life that we’re delegating. And so what can I delegate? What can I truly eliminate? So when you’re looking at eliminating something, you want to look at the rate of return it’s truly giving you. Not what you think it should, not what others are saying it is, but the real data. Like, are you really growing your business through this avenue? And if not, why are we spending so much time there? Why don’t we spend more time in these other areas? And so I’m big on eliminating. So if it’s not truly urgent, it’s not really giving you a rate of return, it’s really not as important as what we thought it was when we first started doing it. We need to eliminate it, find a way to get it completely off of our plates. It’s not worthy of delegation. And then reframing, this is the big thing. So there are going to be tasks and projects as business owners that we have to do, that we cannot delegate, we definitely cannot eliminate. We have to be the ones who do them, but we’re not always excited to do it.

[22:37] Megan Porta

Yes. Yep.

[23:40] Megan Porta

Hm.

[23:40] Tialyn John

And so this is where we have to reframe it so that it stays a priority and we do not continue to procrastinate or push it off. And so I’ll give you an example because I know this is something I hear a lot of bloggers say. So we’ll use the example of actually being on camera for social media. A lot of them know the importance of doing it and they are not excited about it and they need to reframe it because if they do not, they’re going to continue to push it off and their business is going to continue to not experience the growth and potential that it really has because of it. So one of the things that I find is they’re embarrassed with maybe their appearance, with maybe the background of the kitchen, if they’ll sound dumb, you know, or awkward.

[24:29] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[24:31] Tialyn John

And so we have to reframe it of, well, why is this important to who you’re serving? And what are they really looking for? And so what we do is we take the focus off of them because that’s where the awkward is, that’s where their focus is. And we focus it on where the focus is supposed to be, which is the end user, the audience, of why they want to see your personality, why they want to learn from you, all these different things. And we start to reframe it of, well, I’m not [unclear] on social media and I’m uncomfortable on the camera. But now let’s reframe it. If I’m doing this because the people I serve truly want to hear from me and I’m here to serve them. And so it’s a privilege to step in front of that camera and to be able to make their day with a favorite dish or to be able to share your fun personality. So many bloggers have the best personalities. And they’re so hidden. And I’m like, I’m just over here thinking, man, no, like we’re real people on the other end making these recipes. We want to connect. Like you’re a best friend in the kitchen, and it’s fun, it’s sometimes entertaining, you know, you don’t have to dance, but some of you guys are sarcastic or really funny or just super cute.

[25:05] Megan Porta

Hm.

[25:14] Megan Porta

I know they do.

[25:34] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[25:36] Tialyn John

And so, reframing of the importance of what is this gonna do for your business, what is this gonna do for your end user, and stop thinking about the overall awkwardness of how you feel. And it’s just really important to reframe that. So the RED system is a system that I absolutely love, and it really helps to kind of take overwhelm, kick you from being overwhelmed, just now you’re productive, you’re loving what you’re doing, you’re having a good time, you have some clarity of what direction you’re going, and your business feels a little bit more in order because it’s not chaotic because you’ve delegated, eliminated, or reframed what you need to do. So that’s, yeah, that’s a system I love. It’s a great framework. So for those of you who have a lot on your plate, just start with what can I delegate, eliminate, and then how can I reframe my thinking so that I don’t put these tasks off.

[26:25] Megan Porta

I love that. We should all do that. And I feel like this would clean up so much in our lives and our businesses if we could just like really stick to that, especially the reframe. That’s something we don’t hear as often as we hear eliminate and delegate. But I love that. Just one simple, you know, shift in your thinking can completely change the way you see like your example, getting on camera. As you were talking, I was thinking about certain accounts where I know the people behind the account and they don’t show their faces. And I’m like, dang it. They are so cute and sweet and funny. And if they only showed their face, it would just add to their account so immensely. And that’s kind of what you’re talking about. Just getting that perspective of people want to know you and want to see you. And I think that’s a really important reframe to mention. So yeah.

[27:08] Tialyn John

Yes.

[27:18] Tialyn John

Yeah. Well, and people, too. So anyone struggling with like being awkward on camera. We never scroll social media and are judging and expecting the person on the other end to be perfect because we’re more interested in the value they have to give us. That’s what we’re interested in, either from an entertainment standpoint or an educational standpoint. And so when I’m working with business owners, I’m like, why would you feel that somebody’s gonna think about that when you never think about that? You know, so it’s just like, let’s think about this. We’re really hard on ourselves. And yes, we have a lot of reframing that if we do, our businesses could go to a whole nother level.

[27:29] Megan Porta

Never.

[27:43] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[27:48] Megan Porta

We are.

[27:53] Megan Porta

Yeah. And I feel like even writing it down, just whatever your reframe is, whatever it’s about, make the reframe change the perspective. But then for me, just having it visible helps me too, like, okay, I need this reminder all the time. So that could be something that would be helpful. What else are we missing, Tialyn, that we haven’t mentioned yet that you feel would be helpful for food bloggers who just feel like their wheels are spinning, they’re overwhelmed, they’re not doing enough, they need to do more, et cetera?

[28:28] Tialyn John

Yeah, I would just say always look at your expectations of your role, yourself. See where those expectations come from. Because a lot of times we set very unrealistic expectations. They don’t start that way. But, okay, realistic expectations, speaking of that too, don’t ignore your success. Like everything you’ve accomplished, a lot of times as business owners, we’ll have these goals, we’ll hit them and we might celebrate just a little bit, but then we move on as if they never happened. And so I think too stopping and just appreciating where you’ve grown your business, even if you’ve been through a hard season, it’s like look at where you are and everything you’ve done, even in a hard season. And just honoring that I think is really important too as a business owner, especially as a blogger. I know you guys have a lot of ups and downs. And I know it’s an emotional roller coaster. It can be a lot.

[29:22] Megan Porta

Yeah. It can be, yes. So how often do you recommend doing this? Daily, weekly?

[29:30] Tialyn John

Yeah, so okay, so if you’re looking to readjust expectations, I’m gonna say every quarter. I actually do a deep dive in my business every quarter. I go through on like a rating system scale of how happy I am with the role that I had in my business. I look at how happy I am with the rate of return, the projects I said yes to, my schedule, the revenue that’s being generated. So I’d really do a deep dive on that and really understand like where’s my time going and all of this stuff. What are my expectations within these areas? And then I set up like a next 90-day kind of action plan. And then on a monthly basis is where I track my wins because I am one of the world’s worst at really accomplishing things and not giving myself credit, which is why I speak to it so much, because then I’ll go back. And over the course of a year, it’s incredible. So I hate that they’re going out of business, but the Cultivate What Matters planner. I don’t know if you’re familiar with it. It’s like, don’t fall in love with it because 2026, their last year. It’s going away, but I love it because every month you just track like what was working, what could have used less of your time, and, you know, what you really want, your favorite memories, and I love looking over that at the course of six months or a year because it’s like, wow, like we’ve done great things. And so I like to do that in my business on a monthly, like, where were the wins? And I count wins differently too, Megan. I don’t look at wins of results I got, I look at wins as the actions I take because we can’t control the results. But we can control our actions. So if you start to shift even your mindset of, my business is winning because I played all out in these areas and I did X, Y, and Z, that’s where you count your wins as a business owner. And that’s where, too, I think you start to learn what your expectations are. Because it’s your expectations of what you can control versus expectations of, I can’t control if I get seven million views on one of my Instagram posts. You can’t control that, but you can control the energy and effort you took in making that and posting it and showing up consistently, and so I think that’s something else too for business owners to really just kind of hold tight to, and I think that helps too as well. Sorry, I love talking about business. When I even just think about overwhelmed too, and just expectations on everything, it’s just like, it’s okay to change your mind on things. It’s okay. And I think a lot of times as business owners, we forget that. It’s okay to move what the goalpost looks like. And so, but yeah, so always just every quarter, just do a deep dive in your business and your expectations and all of that.

[30:35] Megan Porta

It’s going away.

[31:55] Megan Porta

No, you keep going.

[32:08] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[32:23] Megan Porta

Yeah. Gosh, so much of that. That was so good. And you never have to, don’t apologize for talking about this. This is exactly why we’re here and I love it. But I just had that recently, Tialyn, where a friend of mine reminded me, because I’ve been really into video, they reminded me that a few years ago, Megan, you said that you weren’t doing video. And I was like, yeah, I think I’m allowed to change that. I definitely at the time wasn’t feeling it, but I am now. And there’s so much to do as a food blogger, which is great. We have all of these avenues to explore with our creativity and knowledge and skills and all of that. But yeah, like we can change our mind. Like, I love that we own our businesses. We are free to do whatever we want at any time. Yeah. So Tialyn gives you full permission to change your mind if you need to.

[33:12] Tialyn John

Anytime.

[33:18] Tialyn John

Yes.

[33:20] Megan Porta

Okay. Anything else before we say goodbye? You were on a roll. I don’t wanna stop the momentum. If there’s more.

[33:26] Tialyn John

Well, no, one of the things that I was just thinking is, I know you guys talk about like a word of inspiration. And so I wanted to mention a quote that I absolutely love for business owners. And so it’s a Nelson Mandela quote, and it said, There is no passion to be found in playing small and settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living. And I’m a firm believer as a business owner, like don’t play small and do not settle for a business that is less than one you’re capable of building. Because there’s a lot of things we know we should be doing that we’re not for various reasons. Usually it’s like an underlying emotional kind of attachment that we have. Don’t let those hold you back from being successful. And another thing that I just I love this quote, it was, I can’t even remember what training I was doing at some point, but it was the thought that you are the only one who can steal your potential. And so I love that too of like nobody else can steal our potential as business owners. So as a blogger in your business, only you can steal your potential. And so just go all out. Just, you know, I would say take action as if you couldn’t lose. A lot of times we take action as if we’re going to lose or we’re not gonna win, like, it’s oversaturated and everybody has all the followings on social. We’re never gonna be able to build that or do this. No, no, no, no. Go as if winning is absolutely gonna happen. And I think you’ll just be really surprised as a business owner what you accomplish. Yeah.

[33:34] Megan Porta

Yeah?

[34:47] Megan Porta

Yeah.

[35:03] Megan Porta

I love that. Such a great way to end. Thank you for all of that. So I know through your website you offer strategy calls and I think you have some available in the coming months. Do you want to talk about that and other things that you offer?

[35:17] Tialyn John

Yeah, of course. And so, since we talked about the RED framework, I know, Megan, I will send you a link to that for anybody. I have a workbook. It’s lengthy, I’ll be honest with you, but you can do the RED framework in every area of your life. You can do it in home, health, and business because I’m big on everything matters in life. And so I’ll provide that for anybody who actually wants to work through my framework. You can definitely do that. And then, yes, so I love meeting with business owners. And as much as workbooks are really helpful, honestly, a great conversation. I’m old school. I just like having great conversations, seeing where you’re at. So if there’s something that you’re feeling stuck on, or say you’re looking to build something new, you’re needing to pivot, or you just can’t figure out something in your business that you’re trying to push to the next level. I love to help strategize with business owners, and so feel free to reach out. You can contact me every month. I have a few openings for just a complimentary strategy call. So just the thirty minutes, just you and I hanging out talking business. Yeah.

[36:25] Megan Porta

Amazing. Thank you for that. So you can go to Tialyn’s website or you can go to the eblog talk show notes, which can be found at eblogtalk.com slash Tialyn John. So that’s T I A L Y N J O H N. And just want to verify I got that correct, Tialyn. Was that all correct? Thumbs up. Okay, good.

[36:45] Tialyn John

That is all correct, yes.

[36:47] Megan Porta

Well, thank you so much. I know that this episode is going to give people so much to think about, encouragement, ways to kind of think through the overwhelm and prevent the burnout because the burnout is real and it sucks. Don’t get to the burnout. Yeah, so thank you so much for being here. We truly appreciate you today. And thank you for listening, food bloggers. I will see you next time.