🔍 It’s summer’s debt collector.

Hello and Welcome to Behind the Friction, Reader!

Every Friday, I pull back the curtain on something I’ve noticed while working on my own business… hoping it helps you see yours a little differently too.

Looking for a previous issue? They are all available to read on my website.

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I’ve been trying to write this email for a while now.

Not because I didn’t know what I wanted to say.

Because I keep hearing things like…

“Can I get… ?”

“Where is…?”

“Can you help us move this stuff from outside to the basement?”

😂

Apparently Hubby has decided it’s time to start putting summer away.

Which, if you know my husband, is completely unsurprising.

The man likes to be ahead of EVERYTHING.

Meanwhile, I’m sitting here thinking…

IT’S STILL AUGUST!

But he’s not wrong.

Summer is winding down.

Hubby goes back to work next week for school prep.
Fiston goes back the week after.

And whether you have a school calendar running your household or not, there’s something about September that feels like a reset.

New routines.
More structure.
Back to normal.

And, for those of us running businesses…
​Okay. NOW we’re going to get serious.

Back to regular work hours.
Back to consistency.
Back to that product we were going to finish.

That list we were going to grow.
That launch we were going to do.
That money we were going to make.
That project we were absolutely, positively going to get done this summer.

​

Did you catch what just happened there? 👀

There’s a difference between deciding what we want to do this fall…
and using September to make up for everything we didn’t do this summer.

And I think that’s where some sneaky friction creeps in.

Back in May or June, summer looked HUGE.

We made plans accordingly.

Then Actual Summer happened…

Kids home.
Vacations.
Family.
Different schedules.
Beautiful days we didn’t want to spend behind a computer.
Random interruptions.

Maybe someone asked you to help move half the backyard into the basement while you were trying to write your newsletter.

You know.

Hypothetically. 😂

And yet, somehow, the plans we made before any of that happened survive.

By late August, they can start looking suspiciously like this:

And suddenly September is standing at the door ready to collect.

​

Here’s the friction:
​We mistake unfinished for still owed.

Just because something didn’t happen the way you planned this summer doesn’t automatically mean you owe it to yourself this fall.

But there’s another part I almost missed.

Sometimes…
​the thing itself still belongs.

Maybe you still want the product.
Maybe the offer still matters.
Maybe the project is absolutely worth continuing.

What no longer belongs might be the old version of how it was supposed to happen.

The deadline.
The scale.
The launch plan.
The number you attached to it.
The timeline.
The conditions you originally decided would mean:
​I WON.

That’s different.

​

And I have a very real example sitting in front of me right now.

Earlier this summer, I pictured launching Behind the Biz, my new 90-day guided business redesign experience, with a small founding group.

That was the plan.

Summer cohort.
Several creators.
Off we go!

Except…
That didn’t happen.

I could very easily carry that unfinished goal into September and turn it into:
​Okay Stephie, now you need to make up for lost time.

Get the cohort filled.
Push harder.
Catch up.

Make the original plan happen, only later.

Except yesterday…
​my first Behind the Biz client officially joined. ❤️

One person.

Not the little cohort I pictured.
Not on the timeline I originally planned.

But here’s the thing: It’s moving!

And now I get to work with one real person.
Watch where she gets stuck.
See what she actually needs.
Learn from the experience.
​Make Behind the Biz better because of it.

Why would I ignore what’s actually happening because Summer Stephie once decided winning was supposed to look different?

So here’s what I’m firing before September:

🔥 My summer Behind the Biz cohort.

Not Behind the Biz.
Not the goal.
Not my desire to work with more creators this way.

I’m firing the idea that I still owe myself the summer version of how it was supposed to happen.

I don’t.

And suddenly that imaginary invoice looks a whole lot lighter.

So before you start building your September plan around everything you didn’t accomplish this summer…

Check the charges first.
​😂

Maybe there’s something on there you genuinely still want.

Keep it.

Maybe something doesn’t matter anymore.

Fire it.

And maybe the thing still matters…
but the old timeline, scale, strategy or definition of success attached to it doesn’t.

Fire that instead.

Because September doesn’t need to become the month where you pay off everything Summer You thought she’d accomplish.

It gets to have its own conditions for winning.

​

Your turn.

Before you add something else to September…

What’s ONE thing you’re officially NOT carrying with you?

A project?
A deadline?
A number?
An expectation?
An old version of how something was supposed to happen?

Hit reply and tell me what you’re firing. 🔥

No severance package required!

Best summer wishes Stephie

P.S. If you’re looking at your imaginary invoice thinking, “Okay Stephie, but I genuinely don’t know what still deserves my attention…” don’t add figure that out to your September list too. 😆

Hit reply and tell me where you’re stuck. I’ll let you know if I see a way I can help.

​

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NOTE: I’m moving things around in the backend to make room for a new project. Can you help me spot “bad experiences” regarding my site, your members’ area, communications, or whatever? I would really appreciate your help with this! It will make it so much easier for me to fix and improve everything that needs attention. Thank you!

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Disclosure: From time to time, I will include links in the emails that would include promotions for my own products or affiliate products, meaning I get paid when you buy the product. However, I only ever mention products I love and would recommend whether I was being compensated or not. Always use due diligence when buying anything and remember, what works for me may not always work for you!

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