Soul-Based Business Tips with Coach Tiko (Video)

When you dreamed of having your own business, you didn’t think it would be like THIS.

Soul-destroying hours. Tragedies and setbacks. Never seeing your friends and family.

You got into business to have a better life, but it’s not panning out that way. You’re improving other people’s lives at the expense of your own.

How can you take control of your business before it takes control of you?

That’s where business coach Tikoshia Davis can help.

She wants you to know that balance isn’t a nice idea to aim for. It’s a necessity. You’ve got to take care of YOU.

Because you can survive without your business, but your business can’t survive without you.

Learn to build a business you love without sacrificing your health or home life in this week’s YBTV interview.

Business Made Simple with Coach Tiko

What You’ll Learn

You can design your life however you want to design it.”

Coach Tiko knows just how hard it is.

You want your business to succeed, and you’ll do anything to get there.

But when you find your health failing, your family complaining, and the joy draining out of life, it’s time to reconsider your priorities.

Coach Tiko started her business back in January 2013. She threw herself into it for the first few years, relying on her savings to make it month-to-month.

“I was working from the moment I woke up to the time I went to bed,” she says. “I was neglecting myself. I wasn’t eating well, wasn’t getting rest, and I was constantly worrying. After doing that for almost two years, I ended up being diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a huge wake-up call for me, because I realized that this was not sustainable.”

It’s tempting to think that it will be easier someday.

Someday, when the business is making more money.

Someday, when you have the funds to hire more help.

But you’ve got to survive today.

“We are our business’ greatest asset,” Coach Tiko explains. If we drain ourselves dry, we don’t just hurt ourselves. We hurt our business.

As a result of her health scare, Coach Tiko “got a chance to learn firsthand how to create balance and create success at the same time.” Now she teaches other business owners to do the same.

“I try to really instill in women that you have to put yourself first in order to have a successful business,” she says. “We’re so used to multitasking—we’re so used to taking on so many projects and responsibilities—[that] it’s really easy for us to neglect ourselves.”

It starts with considering why you’re doing what you’re doing.

Coach Tiko works with soulpreneurs, which she defines as anyone with “a business that they feel is their calling.”

She adds, “Soulpreneurs are not in it just for the money. They’re usually in it to be of service, to make the world a better place. And so it’s really easy for them to throw their all into what they’re doing and not take care of themselves, because they’re putting their business and the people that they serve before them.”

Women are especially vulnerable, because they don’t always have support at home. They find themselves working long hours at their business then going home and taking on a second shift caring for their families.

“You have to give yourself permission to do things differently,” Coach Tiko says. What works for the typical business may not work for you. You may need to get creative with scheduling, delegation, and prioritizing.

“A lot of times we try to schedule the most important things around our business, but I say you need to schedule your business around what’s most important to you,” she says.

We’re not superhuman. We only have a limited amount of energy each day. We need to make sure we’re spending it wisely.

“You have to be clear on what your priorities are, you have to be clear on what your values are, and you have to schedule your time in order of priority.”

And if it becomes clear there’s no possible way to do it all, it’s time to speak up.

“A lot of times we’re afraid to say, ‘I need help with this,'” she explains. But that’s one of the first things you should do when you’re swamped. “It is important to sit down with whoever is in your support circle … and discuss what all you have on your plate and talk about the type of support that you need.”

If you need to hire a babysitter once a week, or a housekeeper once a month, or even order in a meal service, then do it. Don’t feel like you’re dropping the ball at home. You can’t do it all. Acknowledging that fact doesn’t make you less of a woman.

“A lot of times we put these shoulds on ourselves, because we’ve been raised a certain way,” Coach Tiko says. But you don’t have to follow what society says makes you a successful woman.

I encourage all women—whether you have a business or not—[to] redefine success for yourself. At the end of the day, when you lay your head on the pillow, what will make you feel good? THAT is success.”

She adds, “That is the freedom that we go into business to have: the freedom to create our lives the way [we] want, the freedom to create our businesses the way we want.”

When you exercise that freedom, you paradoxically find yourself creating a stronger brand.

“You are the brand,” she explains. “What makes you unique is what’s going to bring people to you. That’s what separates you from everyone else. That’s why there’s room for all of us—because we all have something unique that we bring. So don’t be afraid to let that uniqueness shine.”

So give yourself permission to put yourself first. “In order for you to give to other people, you have to fill your cup first.” Get “clear on what what fuels you,” do what you need to do, then get out there and make a difference!

Jump to Topics of Interest

2:50 What it means to be a soulpreneur
3:46 What women bring to business
4:46 How men and women run a business differently
6:07 Getting support at home
8:26 How to feel like a woman when you can’t do it all
9:45 Coach Tiko’s wake-up call
11:57 Redefining success
13:41 Having the energy to do it all
16:21 Being your brand
18:01 Get started now