E124: The Crow, The Noise and Learning To Trust Yourself Again

I want to tell you about a crow.

About 2 weeks ago one started showing up. Following me from room to room. On my walk. On the lamppost down the road. Sitting on the thinnest branch in the garden just watching. And when I finally worked out what it meant. Transformation. New beginnings. Something shifting. I realised this episode needed to be recorded.

Because I think a lot of us are in that in between space right now. Knowing something is coming but not quite being able to see what it is yet. And navigating that while the online space feels louder and more uncomfortable than ever is genuinely hard.

In this episode of Simple Business Dream Life I'm getting really honest about what's happening out there right now. The tension. The noise. The trust that feels harder to find. And what I keep coming back to when I can't quite hear myself think.

In this episode I cover:

• What the crow taught me and why transformation feels uncomfortable before it feels exciting
• What's actually happening in the online space right now and why so many people are feeling it
• Why the trust question goes so much deeper than just who to invest in
• The bigger picture wobbles. Message, offers, pivoting, direction. And why it's okay to be sitting with those questions
• Why it's genuinely tough out there right now and what that actually means for you
• The difference between clarity and values and why you need both but in the right order
• Why the answer to almost all of it is getting honest about what you actually want
• The one gentle action to take this week when everything feels a bit much

This episode is for you if something feels off but you can't quite name it. If you're second guessing your message, your offers, your direction. If the online space is making you feel more confused not less. If you're not sure who to trust including yourself. If you know something is shifting but you can't see it clearly yet.

You don't have to have it all figured out. You just have to keep listening.

Key Takeaways

• The in between space isn't a problem to be solved. It's a process to be trusted
• It is genuinely tough out there right now. You're not imagining it and you're not failing
• Well known doesn't always mean right for you. Popular doesn't always mean good
• Clarity comes from getting honest about what you actually want. Values are the filter you run it through
• When people get real clarity the noise quietens, decisions get easier and the money follows

Want to connect? Find me here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamemmahine

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-hine

Website:  https://www.emmahine.co.uk

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/@EmmaHineStrategy

Transcript

Hello and welcome to today’s episode of Simple Business Dream Life with me, Emma Hine

Today I want to tell you about a crow.

About 2 weeks ago one started showing up. And I mean really showing up. If I'm in my office it appears on the roof of the house behind. If I'm in the kitchen it's on the drive. I went for a walk and it followed me. In the car it's always on the same lamppost down the road. And yesterday I looked out of my bedroom window and there it was. Sitting on the thinnest little branch in the garden. Just watching.

And I'll be honest with you. My first reaction was not a good one. My mind went straight to bad news. Something's coming and it's not good. 

But I did what I always do. I researched. I asked my Facebook friends what they thought it meant. What this crow was trying to tell me. Because there was clearly something. It was too persistent to be nothing.

And what came back was transformation. New beginnings. Something is shifting. Something is coming. And the crow is just sitting there saying I know. I see it. Trust it.

And when I sit and really reflect on that I already feel it. I have spoken about it a few times. I can feel something shifting. I feel something is right on the edge of clicking into place. But it hasn't fully landed yet. And I'm sitting in that in between space. Knowing something is coming but not quite being able to see fully what it is yet.

And I think a lot of you are sitting in that same space right now. Maybe not with a crow on your windowsill. But with that feeling. That something is shifting. That something needs to change. That you're on the edge of something but you can't quite see it clearly enough yet to know what to do with it.

And that's what today’s episode is about.

Because I want to talk about something that I think a lot of people are feeling but nobody's quite saying out loud.

The online space feels uncomfortable right now. And I don't mean that in a finger pointing way. I'm not here to call anyone out or add to the noise that's already there. But I think if we're honest with each other there's something in the air at the moment that feels different to how it did even a year ago.

There's more tension. More people calling other people out. More of the kind of marketing that makes you feel vaguely uncomfortable but you can't quite put your finger on why. More pivoting. More of a sense that people are struggling and some are responding to that struggle in ways that don't feel great. More cliques. More of a sense that certain rooms are invite only and if you're not in them you're somehow not enough.

And underneath all of that there's something quieter but more unsettling.

It's getting harder to know who to trust.

Who to learn from. Who to invest in. Who is genuinely showing up to help and who has an agenda that isn't quite what it appears to be. And when trust starts to feel like a scarce resource in a space you spend a lot of time in that's exhausting. And lonely. And it makes everything feel harder than it needs to be.

I'm not immune to this by the way. I feel it too. I'm navigating it too. I'm sitting with questions about who to trust, what I actually need, what the right next move is. And I find that genuinely hard even though helping other people work through exactly this is something I do every single day.

Because it's always easier to see clearly for someone else than it is for yourself. You’ll have heard me say it before you cannot read the label from inside the bottle…that applies to all of us however much it looks like we have it all figured out.

So let's talk about trust. Because I think this is really at the heart of what so many people are wrestling with right now.

And I don't just mean trust in other people. I mean trust in yourself.

Because when the outside world feels noisy and uncertain and hard to read, when you're not sure who to believe or what to follow or where to put your energy ,your money and your faith, the natural response is to look harder at the outside world for the answer. To find the right person. The right programme. The right strategy. The thing that will make it all make sense.

But the louder the outside world gets the harder it is to hear the one voice that actually knows what you need.

Because when you stop trusting your own instincts, when you override them with what everyone else is saying or doing or selling, you end up making decisions that look right from the outside but don't feel right on the inside. You invest in something because the person is well known rather than because they're the right fit for where you are. You say yes to things because they sound impressive rather than because they actually move you forward. You follow advice that works brilliantly for someone else's business but quietly doesn't work for yours. And then when it doesn't land the way you hoped you wonder what's wrong with you.

Nothing is wrong with you. You just stopped listening to yourself.

Well known doesn't always mean good. Popular doesn't always mean right for you. And the fact that something worked for someone else doesn't mean it's what your business needs right now.

I've been there. I've invested for the wrong reasons. I've said yes because of the noise rather than because of my instincts. And every single time I've done that it's cost me more than the money. It's cost me time. Energy. And a little bit of confidence in my own judgement.

So when I find myself feeling pulled in multiple directions right now, feeling like I should be doing this or investing in that, I'm trying to come back to something really simple.

What do I actually need. Not what does everyone say I need. Not what looks impressive or logical or like the right move from the outside. What do I actually need right now for this specific business at this specific moment.

That question is harder to answer than it sounds. Especially when the noise is this loud.

And I want to go deeper here because I think what's actually wobbling for people right now goes so much further than just who to invest in or who to trust in the online space.

It's bigger than that.

It's the is my message actually landing question. The should I launch this offer or is it wrong question. The am I building the right thing question. The should I pivot question. The is any of this actually working question.

And those are heavy things to carry. Especially when you're carrying them alone. Especially when everything around you feels loud and uncertain and everyone else appears to have it all figured out.

And there’s something here that I think is really important to mention, something I don’t think enough people are saying honestly. In fact I think some are telling us it is not true…it’s just that we are not doing it right.

But the reality is it is tough out there right now. Really tough. Buying decisions are taking longer. People are more cautious with their money and their trust. Things that used to work relatively easily are requiring more consistency, more patience and more resilience than they did before. You are not imagining it. You are not failing. It is just genuinely harder right now.

And here’s where it gets interesting.

When things get hard the natural response is to reach outward. For the next strategy. The next mentor. The new offer. The rebrand. The pivot. Something that fixes the hard thing. And the online space is very good at offering you the next thing at exactly the moment you're most vulnerable to reaching for it.

And I do it too. When things feel uncertain I find myself looking outward for the answer. Wondering if this person has it. Or that programme. Or this new direction everyone seems to be talking about.

But every single time I've done that without first getting clear on what I actually want and what my business actually needs I've ended up more confused not less. More scattered not more focused. Because more input on top of unclear foundations doesn't bring clarity. It just adds more noise to an already noisy situation.

But what actually helps. What actually cuts through all of it. Is getting really honest about what you actually want.

Not what looks impressive. Not what everyone else is doing. Not what the noise is telling you that you should want. What do you genuinely want your business to look like. What does your dream life actually feel like. What are you actually building and why.

Because when you get clear on that. Really clear. Not surface level clear but properly honest with yourself clear. The bigger questions start to answer themselves. The message question gets easier because you know exactly who you're talking to and why. The offer question gets easier because you know what problem you're genuinely here to solve. The pivot question gets easier because you know what you're actually building towards and whether this new direction takes you closer to it or further away.

And your values. They're the filter you run everything through once you have that clarity. They tell you whether the path you're considering actually fits the person you want to be and the business you want to build. That's where my own values are doing so much work for me right now. 

Just because you can doesn't mean you should. It's not where I start. But it stops me going in the wrong direction when the noise gets loud.

And from working with business owners at every level I know that when people get that clarity. When they stop reaching outward and get really honest about what they actually want. Everything shifts. The noise quietens. The decisions get easier. The right things start to fall into place. And the money follows. Not because they found a better strategy. But because they're finally fully invested in the right thing rather than half invested in everything.

That's the transformation the crow is pointing to. Not a new strategy. Not a new direction. A new level of clarity about what you're actually building and why.

And that clarity was always inside you. It's just been a bit hard to hear lately.

I looked out of the window again this morning and the crow was still there. Sitting on that thin branch. Watching.

And I've stopped feeling unsettled by it. Because I think I understand what it's trying to tell me now.

Not that something bad is coming. Not that I need to be afraid of what's shifting. But that transformation is already happening. That new beginnings are already on their way. That the in between I'm sitting in right now isn't a problem to be solved. It's a process to be trusted.

And maybe that's true for you too. Maybe the discomfort you're feeling right now. The uncertainty, the noise, the not quite knowing who to trust or what to do next. Maybe that's not a sign that something is wrong. Maybe it's a sign that something is changing. And change, even the good kind, always feels uncomfortable before it feels exciting.

You don't have to have it all figured out today. You don't have to know exactly what the transformation looks like or when it's going to land. You just have to keep listening. To yourself. To your instincts. To the quiet voice underneath all the noise that already knows what you need.

The crow knows. And I think somewhere underneath everything so do you.

So here's your action for this week. And I want it to be a gentle one because I think gentle is what's needed right now.

Find 10 minutes. Just 10. Somewhere quiet where the noise can't reach you. And sit with this one question.

What do I actually need right now.

Not what should I do. Not what is everyone else doing. Not what looks like the right move from the outside. What do I actually need. For this business. At this moment. In this season.

Write down whatever comes up. Don't edit it. Don't judge it. Don't immediately start working out if it's logical or affordable or what everyone else will think. Just write it down.

Because the answer is already there. It's just waiting for you to get quiet enough to hear it.

The crow will keep showing up until the message lands. Make sure you're listening.

Thank you for listening, I’ll see you next time!