The Sheila Botelho Show: Business Strategy and the Inner Work of Leadership
You've built a business and hit the goals that looked impressive from the outside.
And somewhere in the middle of it, you started wondering what it would feel like to grow without trading pieces of yourself for the next milestone.
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Every week, Sheila brings the kind of conversation you'd have with a strategist who's been inside the systems, the identity work, the decisions that don't have a clean framework yet. An exchange built from decades of sitting across from founders navigating exactly this stretch.
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The Sheila Botelho Show: Business Strategy and the Inner Work of Leadership
The Loop That Still Catches Me, No Matter the Level | EP 610
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Earlier this year, I hit a season where my body and my spirit were tired at the same time, even though the plan in front of me hadn't changed. In this minisode, I walk through the loop that pulled me back in, at a level I thought I'd already moved past, and the one question that broke it. You'll leave with a way to act on the plan you've already made, instead of waiting until you feel fixed first.
Full show notes, transcript, and chapters at sheilabotelho.com/610.
✍️ Sheila's Notes - The reflections I write only here. For your Expansion Season.
🧭 Your Vision Map - Name what you are building before you build it.
💎 Work With Me - Choose the most aligned pathway for your business.
When Body And Spirit Are Tired
SheilaEarlier this year, I woke up more mornings than I want to admit with my body tired and my spirit tired at the same time. The plan was right in front of me of what I wanted to do. I still believed in it completely. And yet the fire I usually run on felt burnt out. And I want to walk you through the question that pulled me out of that season. Because I've lived this exact loop at every level I've ever built to. And the way through turned out to be simpler than I expected. Hi, welcome to the podcast. I'm Sheila Botelho, and I believe true success is built from the inside out. This mini sode is designed to help you live into what lights you up this week. Earlier this year, I hit a stretch where my body was tired and my spirit was tired at the exact same time. It wasn't one or the other, as sometimes it can be. It was both together, which is a different kind of tired. The plan I'd built for what I wanted to do with my days was still right there in front of me. And all of the connection that went along with it, I had the vision. It was still very bright in front of me. And I hadn't stopped believing in it. But the fire I usually run on definitely was burnt out. And if you listen to previous episodes, you'll know why. There was a lot that happened earlier this year that I won't get into now. So I sat with that for a while
The Self Fixing Loop
Sheilabefore I understood what it actually was. Because if you've come out of a health event, your own or someone you love, or if you've moved through a long season of caregiving that pulled on every reserve you had, or if you've built something from the ground up while your sleep took the hit, or if you've grown into a bigger role inside a company that asks more of you than you had that quarter, or if you're fresh out of a big transition, personal or professional, you know this specific kind of tired. The vision is intact, but the energy just hasn't caught up yet. So I want to speak to the person who intellectually knows they're committed to this and genuinely wants it, and whose fire feels burnt out anyway. Well, earlier this year, that was me. And here's what I noticed once I slowed down enough to look at it honestly. I found a loop. And it's one that has caught me before. I've seen it at different levels of success in my life in different seasons of my life. I'd wake up and immediately scan for what was wrong with me, to reach for the next tool, the next teaching, the next reflection, the next resource, and try to fix myself first. Tell myself I'd earned the right to act once I'd fixed that. And I want to name something important here. That loop shows up loudest when your body and your spirit are tired at the same time. Because that's exactly when old programming has the loudest voice in the room. This is a pattern many of us learned early, a way to stay safe or stay ahead. And it runs on its own if we let it.
What If Nothing Is Wrong
SheilaThe question is this what if there isn't a problem? I sat with that one for a long time. What if I'm actually good? What if what I've built is already good? What if the plan I made is already the plan? What if I don't need any new information right now? What if I just need to act on what I've already created? Taking even a baby step at a time if the energy is requiring me to do it that way.
You Are The Director
SheilaHere's the shift that changed things for me. Knowing that I'm the director of my own life. The tools, the teachings, the podcasts, the reflections, the frameworks, those are context. They were never the direction. I already had the direction. I made the plan. And the form the outcome takes can look different from what I originally planned as well. We have permission for that. But I wouldn't know that until I actually followed the plan that I already had. So here's
One Small Action Unpolished
Sheilawhat I did. And it's what I'd invite you into this week. If you're in any version of this in this season, stop looking for the problem. Choose one small action from the plan you already have and do it before you polish it. Let the outcome be information and take the next action from there. Move to the next thing on the plan. And then on and on. Action broke that loop faster than insight ever did. And I didn't think my way out of this. I acted my way out in small reps, repeated, until the version of me who acts caught up to the plan that I'd already made.
Feelings That Derail And Redirect
SheilaOne more piece. Because this part that came through clearest for me needs to be said. My feelings have always been a strength with the people that I serve. Empathy, attunement, care. When those feelings point toward the person my work is meant to reach, I follow them every time. But I have learned that when those same feelings start looping back on me, they're actually a derailler. They're not the gift that they are when I'm moving outward with those things. So the redirect became service for me. When I felt the pull to loop back on myself, I moved the attention to the person my work was meant to reach. So hear this. You don't need new information right now. You need to act on what you've already created. And this holds whether you're building your first offer, running a team of 50, holding a fractional contract, growing a service business, or writing a book. The loop doesn't check what stage you're at. And the good news is neither does the reframe.
Weekly Challenge And Vision Map
SheilaSo, of course, I am going to give you an aligned action for this week. I invite you to this week pick one action from the plan that you already made and do it before it's polished. And if this landed for you and you want to dig deeper into the clarity that you've already begun on, then Vision Map holds the framework. And I lean on this framework for exactly this kind of season. The one where you already have the plan and you're finding your way back to acting on it. You can find it in the link in the show notes or at SheilaBotello.com forward slash map.
Wrap Up And Next Steps
SheilaThank you so much for listening. And listen again if you need to, if you want to take some notes on what your next steps are. I hope you have a beautiful rest of your week, and I'll see you on the next episode.