So, since the last time I shared a solo episode on this podcast, we've had a brand new social media platform hit the stage. That's right. I am talking about Threads, which is the newest offering from the people at Meta who also bring us Facebook and Instagram. And I kind of feel like I need a little caveat here right at the start of the episode because I know most of us have mixed feelings about social media in general and strong feelings about Meta specifically. And a lot of us are reevaluating our relationship with social media, especially with Facebook and Instagram. And I just want you to know that I am here for that conversation. I am also reevaluating my presence on social media, how I use it both professionally and personally. And this is a conversation that requires a lot of nuance and curiosity and openness. So if you have mixed feelings about social media, please know I'm right there with you. And yet I am so intrigued by what I am observing and experiencing on Threads. And I want to talk a little bit about how that actually got me to this epiphany moment and how it's informing the way in which I'm showing up for my people and in my business moving forward. 

So as of the time of this recording, it is July 15th, around 11:00 a.m. Eastern time. Just this morning, on one of the news podcasts I listened to, they mentioned that over 100 million people have already signed up for Threads. Which is fascinating because even though a lot of us have mixed feelings about Meta and we talk about how we don't want to be on social media, 100 million people, myself included, immediately went and signed up for Threads. Well, maybe not immediately, but within the first two weeks. And in fact, I think Threads was the fastest growing app ever. And when I looked at my number, because if you go into your Instagram profile, at least as of today, there's a number there, a little @ and a number, and if you click it, it takes you to Threads. That number is the subscriber number. So it shows you kind of among these 100 million plus people where you ranked in the sign up list, so to speak. And I am like 5,000,900 something hundred thousand, I don't know. I was within the first 6 million people, which means I was one of the first 6% to sign up. I guess that makes me an early adopter. I don't know. It's really interesting because I don't consider myself to be an early adopter when it comes to social media, but I got on pretty quickly. I actually got on within the first 24 hours. And I have been spending more and more time on Threads lately. And in fact, I know I'm spending more time on Threads than I am Instagram. I think I'm still on Facebook more than Threads, although I see that changing and I find the vibe on Threads to be completely different than on any other social media platform. It is playful, it's fun, the focus is on transparency and connection. It almost feels like I'm at summer camp and I'm hanging out with a bunch of people and we're playing and we're having fun and we're sharing jokes and we're sharing stories and sometimes those stories get deep. So it's this really interesting mix of light heartedness and depth and it's something that I can see now that I have been craving for a long time. And I was describing Threads to someone who was skeptical and I said, “Well, I'm really enjoying it.” To me, it has like circa 2010 Facebook vibes before monetization, before all of the ads. And I recognize that we're probably in the honeymoon period with Threads and that once they figure out a way to monetize it and we start seeing ads, it will probably lose a good deal of that playful, fun vibe that it currently has. So I am mindful that we are in a particular moment in the history of Threads and it may not last. So that's part of the reason why I'm spending more time on it now, but I find it fulfilling in a way that I've not found on the other social media platforms. Another thing that's really interesting about Threads, at least among the people who I'm following and engaging with, there is a strong desire to keep overt marketing and sales off the platform. Like people are not here for it.

They don't want the tried and true marketing strategies that we see on Facebook and Instagram. And it's been interesting to see some of the thought leaders in the online marketing space come on and try to engage with people on Threads using the approaches from Facebook and Instagram that have been successful on those platforms, and they're completely falling flat on Threads. It's also interesting to me that the closest competitor to Threads is Twitter, and in fact, I think Twitter may even be suing Threads because they see it as being too close and copying their intellectual property, et cetera, et cetera. We'll see how all that plays out. But I was never particularly active on Twitter. I'm one of those people who really didn't use Twitter except when something was happening in the moment and I needed real time information on it. So if Facebook or Instagram was down, I would go to Twitter to make sure I wasn't the only one having issues, or if there was something happening that was newsworthy. For example, the January 6th attacks, I was on Twitter for that to get up to date information about what was happening, but that was the extent of my Twitter usage. And so I find it really interesting that I'm on Threads more and more, even though I was never really an adopter of Twitter. And I think it has a lot to do with that vibe I mentioned before of it being about depth and enjoyment. And again, I think that's just something we're all looking for right now. 

And I think that says a lot about what's happening in general with the entrepreneurial zeitgeist. Like how are we, small business owners and people in the online space feeling about things? Well, we're tired, we're overwhelmed, we're burned out, and we don't want the same old thing. We don't want another Instagram, we don't want another Twitter. We want something new that really focuses on deep connections and making friendships in an online space. I think the other thing, too, is that everyone is getting smarter and savvier when it comes to social media.

Certainly consumers are, I know I am. But I think even those of us who are in the online space, who do a lot of business to business or B2B work, we see what's happening and we are pushing against it. We're craving something new and something true. And it's been really interesting to me to see the ways that's manifesting, particularly when I look at, wellknown, entrepreneurs who are either pivoting in their business, doing something new, or who are even leaving their businesses altogether. The number of people I know personally and people who I follow in the online space, the number of those people who have shuttered their businesses, sold their businesses, stepped away, those numbers are higher than I've ever seen before. And while I realize that's anecdotal data for now. I think there's something really important there for us to look into.

So I started thinking about the emergence of Threads and the vibe over there and what people are looking for and seeing that running parallel to people feeling bored, burned out in their work, pivoting, even leaving their business altogether. And I think those two things are related. I know for me, with the exception of Threads, I've not been feeling social media lately. Everything feels the same when I'm on social media, especially Facebook, it is mindless scrolling. For the large part. I feel disconnected, I'm dissociating. I'm basically a zombie. I don't feel that way on Threads, and I think it's because when I'm on Facebook and Instagram, oftentimes I feel like I am being talked at. Someone is speaking to me instead of speaking with me. Threads feels more like a dialogue or a conversation, whereas on other social media platforms, it feels like people are like, “Let me get my message out! I need to be heard. I need you to get it.” And so I'm being talked at instead of talked with. And I suspect that that's what a lot of us are pushing against with regard to social media. I'm also noticing my own desire to shake things up a bit, even pivot a little bit. I think I've mentioned on an earlier episode that right now I'm at work on a book proposal for my second book. And whereas my first book, ACT On Your Business, was one that I self published. And by the way, you can still get that book, just head to coachwithclarity.com/getthebook. It's on sale for the month of July. You can get it for $2.99 on Kindle, $7.99 paperback. That's in US dollars. So there's never been a better time to pick up ACT On Your Business again, that's coachwithclarity.com/getthebook.

Anyway, my first book was self published, and for this next book, I'm certainly open to self publishing, but I really want to see if it is a book that is suitable for traditional publishing. So I am writing a book proposal and I will submit it to smaller publishing houses and to agents and we'll see where it goes. But this new book that I'm creating is a bit of a departure for me. It's building on concepts that I have been talking about and coaching on for years. It's certainly pulling in some of the information from ACT On Your Business, but it's looking at it through the lens of spirituality and creativity. And that is a bit of a new take for me. I mean, I've always talked about the role of intuition in coaching. I personally have always been very spiritually connected, and I actually see my coaching work as being a spiritual process. But it's not something that I have talked about at length in the last few years. And interestingly enough, I find that as I'm working on this book proposal, I'm returning to a lot of the thoughts and concepts I explored in my very first podcast, Work Your Inner Wisdom, which is still out there, by the way. If you search Work Your Inner Wisdom on whatever podcast platform you're using, you'll find it. And that's where I really learned how to become a podcaster. It's where I learned how to interview, how to develop solo episodes. That show will always have a special place in my heart. And who knows, I may wind up returning to it one day, especially if this book takes off. But all of this to say is, I'm noticing a desire in myself to change things up a bit, to do something new to pivot.

And for a while I was wondering, do I need to leave my business entirely? Is that what I'm being called to do? Now that I am exploring issues around spirituality and creativity? Does that mean Coach with Clarity needs to go on hiatus or even come to an end? Now, before you get nervous, don't worry, Coach with Clarity is not going anywhere. I had the realization that there is still work to be done in Coach with Clarity and in the coaching space, that this is something I feel very strongly about, the role of coaching and its capacity to create sustainable, positive change on an individual level and for the collective. I really, in my heart, believe in the power of coaching to change the world. And it has all felt so much more challenging lately. It has felt like trying to run through jello, especially with regard to marketing and sales. And in fact, I should say here the times in my business where I feel in flow, where things feel exciting and fun and the things that come naturally to me, that is when I am actually coaching. It's when I'm working with my private coaching clients, the people in my Mastermind, the people in the Coach with Clarity Collective. When I'm actually showing up and doing the work, I feel so inspired and encouraged. And that's actually why I knew it wasn't time for me to step away from Coach with Clarity. But with the exception of that actual client work, it has been a challenge, especially with regard to marketing and sales. I have just felt a little, well, bored with the traditional day in, day out, here's what you have to do to grow your business kind of stuff. And I suspect a lot of you feel the same way. At least that's what I'm seeing on my Threads feed. It's what I'm seeing in my email inbox when you write me, which, by the way, I love. If you ever want to just chat, my inbox is open. You can email me at info@coachwithclarity.com or you can find me on Threads, start a thread over there. Or you can DM me probably on Instagram would be the best place to do that. I'm @CoachWithClarity on Threads and on Instagram. 

Anyway, I am hearing from so many of you that all of the things we have to do or all the things we're “told” we have to do to build a business are just feeling really boring. And in my case, in addition to all of this going on, I'm also dealing with some health issues. I think I've mentioned in past episodes that a few years ago I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, which is an autoimmune disorder that affects the thyroid. And for the last couple of years, I've been aware of it. It's been pretty mild, and I've been able to manage it largely through nutrition and lifestyle changes, supplements, et cetera. But over the last few weeks, I've noticed that my symptoms have been worsening. And I suspect that I am now on the tail end of a Hashimoto's flare. And I think this was probably my first flare. Hopefully I've got some time before my next one. But it was really hard. There were days where it was exhausting to walk up one flight of stairs. I would get to the second story of my house and I would be winded and I would need to sit down, and my sleep was impaired. When I did wake up in the morning, I was so groggy. One day in particular, I was so fatigued, I could barely get out of bed. And I can think of three times in my life where I have felt this fatigued. Two times were right after I gave birth, and the third time was right after major surgery. And then on a random Monday, I woke up with that same level of fatigue, and I knew something was wrong. So I'm in the process of working with my healthcare providers and adjusting my supplements in order to bounce back. And I'm already feeling better. But I'm learning that when you have health issues, on top of feeling bored and tired, that is a recipe for burnout. So I really am adjusting to living with a chronic health disorder, and I am having to learn what it looks like to run a business while dealing with that. This is kind of new territory for me. 

So, okay, hopefully I've just set the stage as to what's been going on. Yes, for me personally, but also what I'm seeing on a larger collective level with regard to our energy levels, social media, how we want to run our businesses. It's all kind of overlapping. And I thought, you know what, I want to know what other people think about this. I'm going to post about it on Threads. And so I've started a couple conversations on Threads, and in one of them I asked, “What do you do when you are starting to feel bored in your business or when you are feeling disconnected from your vision, your purpose, your sense of meaning?” And I received a lot of really insightful feedback, and I want to share a few contributions with you. Number one, my friend and colleague, Ixchel Lunar, talked a lot about the importance of rest. And yes, we can talk about naps and we can talk about taking breaks, but she's really talking about true rest. Very much in line with my friend Jordan Maney, who also talks about rest. I had Jordan on as a podcast guest several months ago. We'll go ahead and link to that interview in the show notes, it's definitely worth listening if you haven't yet. And Ixchel's perspective on rest is very much congruent with Jordan's. Maybe I'll reach out to Ixchel and see if she wants to be a guest on the podcast in the future. But one thing she said that really stood out to me is that we talk a lot about wanting to get into a flow state. That's what feels good in our business. Well, we get to flow from that rest state. Flow states start in that rest recovery phase. And so I really appreciated Ishelle sharing that. And if you're on threads, you can follow her. She is @decolonizing_time, so we'll link to that in the show notes as well. So Ixchel was talking a lot about rest. 

My good friend Briar Harvey, who has also been on the show in the past, we'll link to that in the show notes. Briar had a really interesting take that when she's getting bored in her business or she's feeling disconnected from her purpose, she looks at what it is that's draining her energy. And are these things that can be delegated and if so, let's get them off her plate. But if they're not, if they really are tasks or thought processes that need to stay with her and they're not lighting her up, then it's time to reassess. It's time to reassess whether this is still what we want to talk about, the business model, we want to have, all of that. I'm paraphrasing Briar's words a bit, I'm kind of throwing my own perspective into it, but I really agree with where she's coming from and what she has to say about that. And she is @thebriarharvey on Threads, so you can follow her over there. I had several other people come into the conversation talking about the importance of journaling, taking time away, stepping back, all of which is true and important. 

And another colleague of mine, Whitney McNeil, she is @messengerofspirit on Threads, made the point that while, yes, Rest is important and taking a break is often necessary, she's seeing a lot of people who want to take time away to clear their mind, but she's not sure that's going to fully fix the issue. And I would agree with her. I think rest is key. I will never argue against that point. We all need true restorative practices around rest. And yes, I think even taking a hiatus or a sabbatical can be helpful. And yet I'm not sure either really get to the root cause of our malaise or our fatigue. And if we are resting or stepping back without some reflection or examination of the root cause, it's not going to serve us in the long run. So I really wanted to shout out these thought leaders on Threads. I highly encourage you check them out, follow them. They have such powerful insights to share. I want to thank them for contributing to this conversation because it really inspired me with this episode for sure and beyond. 

So as I was reading their thoughts and I'm kind of weaving together all of this engagement on Threads with feeling burned out on social media and bored in our businesses, I kind of came to the realization and this is the epiphany, not all boredom is created equal. And in fact there are probably multiple types of boredom that we all experience and some can be destructive and some, I would argue, are actually necessary for our growth. Now there is a boredom that feels like apathy, it feels like malaise. There's a fatigue that comes with that boredom and that is the kind of boredom that I believe is a bellwether for burnout. That's the kind of boredom we want to really address quickly and we want to do whatever we need to do to address it because it can be destructive, in my opinion. But that boredom to me is very different than the boredom that sets in when you feel like you're talking about the same thing all the time. That is a boredom I know well. And it's a boredom that I have been struggling with probably for the last six to twelve months, if I'm honest. And yet I think that boredom may actually hold the key to our collective success. Here's the thing, and we've talked about this a lot in our businesses we need to be visible and we need to be credible in order to see growth. Visibility and credibility means you are seen or heard as an expert in your subject matter area. This is vital to gaining traction, to connecting with new clients and referral sources. I will always maintain that visibility and credibility are paramount. And so in order to be visible and credible, that means you have to talk about your subject matter a lot, you have to demonstrate your expertise in it. And so that means talking about the same thing over and over and over again. And that can feel incredibly boring. And just because it feels boring doesn't mean that it's bad or wrong or that you should be doing something differently. And I think that's what a lot of us have done, myself included. We start feeling bored and it's like “Oh, I got to do something different.” So what happens? We get shiny object syndrome. We get distracted by other projects or ideas or things that we have to do right now and it pulls us away from our work. Maybe we start creating new stuff instead of refining our existing body of work and sharing it with the people who need to hear it. We get distracted, our energy gets diffused and we feel like we're all over the place, which then only reinforces that feeling of overwhelm. And then that can lead to the kind of boredom that stems from fatigue and malaise and apathy. So we have to be careful because I do think the healthy boredom can morph into a boredom that is constrictive and potentially destructive. 

I know that when I'm feeling the healthy kind of boredom, I often look for other perspectives from other thought leaders because it's like I'm so bored with myself. What is someone else talking about with regard to this issue? And I want to be clear, I don't think that's inherently a bad thing. I actually think it's a positive thing to learn from others and to expose ourselves to other people's perspectives. But we need to do so mindfully because if we're not careful in that I think it can actually heighten impostor syndrome, it can heighten our sense of overwhelm. If we're prone to self judgment, it may bring on comparisonitis. So we want to be really careful when we are looking to other people for inspiration or for new takes on an existing idea. So it's not that it in and of itself is bad, we just need to be mindful about how we're engaging and how much we are doing that. So another thing that we tend to do when we're feeling bored, the healthy boredom, is maybe we pivot or we abandon our idea or our business even completely. Because if we're feeling bored then maybe that's a sign that something is wrong. I think maybe now we are being invited to view that healthy boredom differently, to view it as a sign that we're actually on the right track and it's time to double down on our expertise and our messaging. Even though it may feel boring to us, it doesn't mean it's boring to everyone else. And I think this is where it's really important to remind ourselves and I cannot tell you how much I have to do this. I remind myself constantly that I am the only person who has seen or heard everything I have ever created. And so it makes sense that I would be bored with myself because I am constantly exposed to it. But my people, my audience, my clients, the people I want to serve, they are probably not bored of me because they're still hanging around, right? And so even though I am familiar with everything I've ever done, said or created, no one else is. And so I need to have a little faith in my audience that they're going to be along with me for this ride. 

The other thing that I think is really important to remember is that what feels mundane to you likely feels mind blowing to someone else. And I again have to remind myself of that constantly. I had to remind myself of that for this very episode, I almost minimized the epiphany I had about not all boredom being created equal. I literally recorded a section that said, “Now you all may have already gotten to that before I did. Maybe this isn't new for you.” And then I thought, Lee, what are you doing? Stop minimizing it. So I deleted that section and I recognized that maybe this is a concept that you've already thought of and if so, terrific. Now we can have a conversation about it. But that doesn't mean I have to minimize or justify my epiphany. So I cut that out because I had to remind myself that even though it felt kind of like a no duh statement to me, that doesn't mean it is to everyone. And so we really need to claim our expertise and our thought leadership and just own it and trust that the people who resonate with it and who need to hear it and specifically need to hear it from us, they are going to stick around. So that's one thing that I recommend doing when we are feeling the healthy boredom in our business. The first is to remind ourselves that we're the only people who are 100% familiar with our content. And what is mundane to us is likely mind blowing to others. So that's the first thing. 

The second thing I think we need to do is we do want to choose wisely when it comes to defining our thought leadership and our area of expertise. Yes, we want to feel passionate about it. Passion is important, but I don't think passion necessarily needs to be the leading or sole indicator of whether we should invest our time and energy into something. I think we need to consider whether it's aligned with our values, and I think we need to consider whether it's something we are willing to commit to over the long haul. In fact, when I was thinking about this, I kept thinking about marriage and what it means to commit to a person for the long term. And in many marital relationships, it kicks off with passion. I mean, I think about when I met my husband 24 years ago. My God, I cannot believe it's been 24 years. But it has. We met in 1999 and like most relationships, it started off strong, it was passionate, I couldn't get enough of him. And now, 24 years later, having been married for 22 of those years, that passion has morphed into a deeper, more profound sense of love. Doesn't mean the passion has disappeared. I assure you it hasn't. But it does mean that the depth of our love has evolved over time. And that's only happened because we remained committed to each other day in and day out, through the hard days. And believe me, there have been many hard days and also through the joyous days. So I think it might be helpful. To think about our business like a long term relationship. And I said marriage, I should probably qualify. I don't think it's limited to marriage. I think any long term partnership is a relevant metaphor here. But we need to be willing to commit to something for the long haul and to stick with it, even when the passion wanes. Because when the passion wanes, that's when the boredom sets in. And as we've just talked about, not all boredom is bad, and some boredom is healthy and a sign that we need to double down and keep going. So we want to choose wisely when it comes to defining our area of expertise. And then once we've chosen that, we want to develop our frameworks. We want to make it easy for our people to understand our perspective and our process. So that's what I've done when I created the three M's. That's what I talk about in ACT On Your Business. I talk about meaning, mindset, and mindfulness and why they are the cornerstones of a successful business and a fulfilling life. Now, I did not invent the core principles embedded in the three M's, but the three M's and the way I describe them, that is uniquely mine. The same goes with when I teach coaching inside my certification program or some of my group programs. I talk about keyhole coaching. I talk about the Locks method, that is my proprietary approach to coaching. It's based on fundamental coaching principles that are taught in all sorts of places. But the way I teach it and the metaphors and the frameworks I use are uniquely mine, and it makes it easy for my people to understand and follow along. So I think we want to develop our frameworks to find our own messaging, our own language, our own way of describing these core principles in whatever area of expertise we are stepping into. And I would say that, yes, it can feel boring to talk about the same frameworks over and over and over again. And so this is where we want to vary the context but not the content. So as an example, I talk about the three M's, meaning, mindset, mindfulness a lot. But I can talk about the three M's with pharmacists, which I've done in the past for the Pharmapreneur Academy. And I talk about how it's specific to pharmacists. I've talked about the three M's with therapists. I've talked about the three M's with brick and mortar store owners in my town. So we can hold fast to the concepts, to our frameworks, but we can vary the context. So who we're talking to, examples we're using. And that's a way that we can inject some new life into some tried and true frameworks. 

The last thing I want to mention today is that one antidote to healthy boredom is to really build your own sense of community. And the beautiful thing about being an online entrepreneur is that we can create virtual communities and connect with people all over the world. So, yes, you can focus on creating a local community, and if that's available to you, I highly recommend doing so. But if you're looking for other forms of community, you can find that online. It's one of the reasons I started the Coach with Clarity Collective, and the community aspect is key to that program. So if you are a coach and you are looking to connect with other intuitive, innovative coaches, I highly recommend you check out the Collective. You can go to coachwithclarity.com/collective to get on the waitlist, and you will be the very first to know when we reopen enrollment. And if you're looking for some general entrepreneurial based community, I've recently joined two programs that I am loving. The first is The Success Revolution Society It's hosted by my friend Jennifer Battle, and if you go to coachwithclarity.com/successrevolution all one word, successrevolution, that'll take you to her page where you can sign up to learn more. That is not an affiliate link, by the way, but I just really believe strongly in Jennifer's program, so I want to share that with you. 

This next link is an affiliate link, by the way. So this means if you decide to join, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. And that is The Collab Club, run by my friend Nicole Beatty. I have been involved in a lot of Nicole's Summits and programs in the past. She is a dynamo. I love the community she's creating over at The Collab Club, and you can learn more about that at coachwithclarity.com/collabclub, and we'll have links to all of that in the show notes. 

So I realized today's episode, it felt a little more, we'll say conversational. I was going to say rambling. I don't think that's fair. We'll say conversational. It's been a little more conversational than some of my past solo episodes, but that's kind of where my head is right now. I'm interested in conversation and connection and collaboration. And so it makes sense to me that today's podcast episode would have that feel, and I hope you've enjoyed it. If you have, well, I hope you'll join me in two weeks for our next episode of the Coach with Clarity podcast. And to make sure you get that episode in your feed, be sure to follow or subscribe to the show right now. You can do that basically, no matter what podcast platform you're using, there should be an option to follow or subscribe or a little plus sign. Just click whatever button is there and that will ensure all future episodes of the show wind up in your podcast feed. 

I also send out all sorts of goodies to my email list, and so if you are not receiving emails from me, the best way to do so is to go to coachingquiz.com. That is my free quiz that shows you the coaching style you lead with because there are five coaching styles, so the quiz will tell you which one is your primary style. And when you put your email in, you'll not only get on my email list, so you'll get all sorts of fun little love notes from me, but you will also get access to information about all five coaching styles. So not just the one that you scored highest in, you get access to all five, and I think you'll find it really fascinating. So just head to coachingquiz.com to take the quiz and sign up. And let's keep this conversation going. I would love to hear from you. Again, you can find me on Instagram or Threads @CoachWithClarity, or send me an email at info@coachwithclarity.com and let me know if today's episode resonated with you. I would love to hear your thoughts. 

All right, my friend, that is it for me. But I'll be back in your feed in two weeks. So until then, my name is Lee Chaix McDonough, reminding you to get out there and show the world what it means to be a Coach with Clarity.