Choosing Less Changed Everything
Running a business with a chronic illness isn’t just a different path, it’s a completely different terrain. Uneven, unpredictable, and full of detours.
For years, I chased success the way productivity culture told me to: long nights, chaotic Asana boards, and saying yes to anything with a pulse. I bought the narrative that more was better. More effort meant more results, and more hustle meant more credibility. But eventually, my body called bullshit.
Chronic illness doesn’t care about your hustle calendar. It doesn’t care that your launch is timed perfectly or that your coach said “consistency is key.” When your body can’t get out of bed, all that advice becomes background noise. I had to let go of the version of success I was taught to want (the one built for people with unlimited energy) and start building a version that actually worked with my capacity.
So I stopped measuring progress by how much I could cram into a week and started measuring it by how much capacity I had left by Friday. As it turns out, doing more wasn’t the flex I thought it was.
Choosing less (on purpose) changed everything.
The Noise That Drowns You
At my peak “good entrepreneur” phase, I treated every ping like it was a 911.
A DM? Better reply instantly.
A Slack message? Jump in, even if I’m mid-task.
A new mastermind? Sign up before I even check if it fits my capacity.
I was always reacting - to content, to pressure, to imaginary expectations I projected onto everyone around me. FOMO had me chasing strategies that weren’t even mine. Every new idea felt like an emergency. Every offer felt like a missed opportunity if I didn’t say yes. But that kind of noise doesn’t just clutter your calendar, it buries your clarity.
What helped wasn’t a productivity hack - it was muting everything. Unsubscribing. Logging out. Pausing before I responded. It felt uncomfortable at first, like I was missing something. But eventually, that quiet became fertile ground.
My best ideas didn’t come from another email funnel workshop, they came in the silence, in the space I made when I stopped chasing and started listening.
The more noise I cut, the more clearly I could hear what I actually wanted to build.
People-Pleasing in Disguise
Half of my “strategic yeses” were just people-pleasing in a professional outfit. I’d over-deliver to prove I was still capable. I’d agree to things I didn’t have energy for, just to keep people happy. I thought if I was always responsive, always agreeable, always on, I’d stay safe.
Yuck! I was constantly betraying my own boundaries to manage other people’s comfort.
Saying no felt terrifying at first, but I didn’t lose everything. Instead, I gained a business that actually felt like mine. The minute I stopped contorting myself to be the “good strategist” or the “collaborator everyone loves,” things shifted. Clients who respected my pace started showing up. Peers stopped expecting instant responses, and collaborators stopped treating me like a vending machine for value.
Saying no didn’t isolate me - it filtered in the right people.
And those are the ones worth building a business around.
Simplicity Isn’t Settling - It’s Strategy
I’ll admit it: I used to build complex systems because I thought it made me look legit. Every time I felt uncertain or insecure in my business, I responded by adding more: more funnels, more automations, more moving parts. It gave me the illusion of control, but in reality, it was just more energy leaks I had to manage on my worst days.
Eventually, I hit a wall and realized I needed to stop pretending I had the capacity to run a Fortune 500 backend out of my living room while nursing a massive Gastroparesis flare-up.
So I simplified everything.
I scaled down my offers.
I cleaned up my systems.
I let tech do the heavy lifting in a way that felt intuitive and simple, not overcomplicated and chaotic.
And no, things didn’t fall apart.
Sales didn’t tank. My business didn’t slow down - it actually sped up. Because simplicity creates consistency, and when you’re working with unpredictable health, that kind of consistency is gold.
What Wealth Actually Looks Like
We’re sold a very specific image of wealth in business: six-figure launches, constant growth, fully booked calendars. But that version doesn’t hold up when your body is in crisis - so I redefined it.
To me, wealth is waking up without dread.
It’s having an inbox that doesn’t make me dissociate.
It’s logging off before 3PM and still feeling accomplished.
It’s knowing my business won’t go to shit if I’m down for the count.
That’s not “less than”, it’s sweet sustainability - and most of all, it’s freedom. When I stripped away the pressure to perform a certain way, I made so much more space for my business to support me.
Success, Rewritten
Success used to mean visibility. Virality. Proving myself. And now, that looks like:
Rescheduling a call wit zero guilt
Skipping a trend and trusting my own system
Recovering from a launch in one day, not three (because the launch wasn’t crazy)
Making money while I rest, not because I’m forcing myself to perform through pain
It’s not flashy, not all all. But it’s stable, and more importantly, it’s mine.
Start Small. Simplify On Purpose.
If your business feels too heavy right now, you don’t have to overhaul it all at once.
Start with one decision.
Cut something you’ve outgrown.
Mute the account that throws you off.
Say no , just once, and see what changes.
Then pat yourself on the back for creating space! Because, in that space, you might just find the version of your business that fits you. Let’s build for that version. Let’s build businesses that honors your capacity instead of tanking it.
I’ve got your back, boo - if you need someone to walk you through what this might look like in your own business, snag a Strategy Sesh with me - it’s a 90 min., super value-packed session where we will nail down exactly what you need to cut, what you need to modify, and what you need to simplify in order to make your business feel like you again. I’ll even follow up a few weeks later with a 30 min sesh to make sure you’re still on track!
Grab your strategy sesh here: 90 Min. Strategy Session
Hugs and spoons,
