Stop the Spiral - Managing Comparison in a Saturated Industry

Speaker A: Feeling overwhelmed every time you sit down at your desk or pull that pile of papers onto the couch to work on your business, Are you drained of the energy because you hate managing the operational details? You are the visionary, the creator, the heart and soul behind your passion. You thrive on doing what you love, and that's why you started this journey. You're great at envisioning the big picture, but get, uh, bogged down by the nitty gritty can be a drag. Right, here's where I can step in. Imagine having someone who can be that steady voice and steady force in your life, keeping you accountable and aligned with your vision to ensure those big dreams get attained. That's exactly why I'm offering a free operational audit. Let's spend an hour together where I can help you gain crystal clear clarity on the results that you want to achieve in your business and your life. Let's turn your dreams into into plans and your plans into reality. Join me on this journey.

Speaker B: Welcome to the Design youn Wedding Business podcast. The podcast for wedding professionals and creative entrepreneurs ready to build a business that is as intentional as the experiences they create. I'm Jen Taylor, business coach, system strategist, and former luxury wedding planner turned certified operational expert. I help business owners like you get out of the weeds, own your CEO role, and build a business that supports your life, not the other way around. Each episode, we'll dive into strategies, systems, and mindset shifts that bring clarity, momentum, and sustainable success. So grab your favorite beverage, get comfy, and let's design a business that you're excited to wake up to.

Speaker C: Hello and welcome to the Design your Wedding Business podcast. I am Jen Taylor, your host. You open Instagram for just a minute, you're like, uh, I'm just gonna go hop on. And suddenly you're questioning your pricing, your brand, your entire business. If comparison has ever made you feel behind, not enough, or like you need to change everything, this episode is your reset. So let's get back in your lane, grounded and leading your business again. And believe me, this happens to me all the time. So why is comparison so intense in this industry, weddings are highly visible. They're constant exposure to curated perfection. M. You are seeing styled shoots, highlight reels, best case scenarios. What you're not seeing is their profit margins, the stress levels, the client challenges, the team dynamics, the systems that aren't there. You're comparing your full reality to someone else's best 10% M. So what actually happens? You see somebody's posts, you start questioning your branding, your pricing. You tweak Something impulsively, you lose consistency. You feel even more disconnected. Comparison creates reactive decisions, and reactive businesses do not scale. Let me repeat that again. Comparison creates reactive decisions, and reactive businesses do not scale. So what is comparison trying to show you? Uh, let's talk about reframing it. Let's talk about. It's not always negative. It's data. Your mind is bringing in data to show you. Ask yourself, what do you admire about that picture or about that post? Is that picture or post aligned with your business model? Do you want their lifestyle or just the aesthetic? Think about that, reclaiming your lane. Like, okay, now, I've looked at it, I've squirreled, I've jumped to the comparison. I've done all that. So now come back, sit down and journal about this. Define your income goal, your capacity. How many weddings do you want a year? Your lifestyle priorities. I know with clients, they have different lifestyles. They have different. They're in different phases of their life. There are, you know, and they're, they're going to be completely different in what they want. I've got two planners that I'm working with, and I'm looking at both of them going, they're, uh, in different phases of their life. So when I say, you know, when I'm looking at somebody's posts, I'm like, you may be looking at their lifestyle might be different. They may not have little kids at home, they might just have their pups or their cats or, you know, their, their small farm or whatever it is, but their lifestyle is completely different than the planner who has two kids that are in school that are, you know, going to soccer, going to baseball, going to, doing this, doing that. They're in two completely different things. So you're comparing yourself to possibly two different planners that have two different ways of doing things. So the lifestyle priorities are completely different. So define again, reclaiming your lane. Define your income goal, your capacity, how many weddings you want, your lifestyle priorities. Create filters, who you follow. When you consume content. You may want to not consume content one week out of the month, or, you know, two hours a day. Like, you know, I'm on a lot and I need to reduce mine because I'm always thinking about things and seeing things. Oh, I want to try this, I want to try that. I want to do this, and I can't. So replace the scrolling with the creation of something. Build internal validation, create a weekly win tracking. I have a progress report that I do, and I look at it, I'm like, did, uh, you know, this is what I want to get done this month? I'm looking at it all the time and I'm creating my to do list based on what I'm getting done. Have a client feedback folder. I mean, this is where you have those reviews on Wedding Wire or Google or your Facebook page or you have a questionnaire that you send out. Go back and look at those. I wish I wouldn't have gotten rid of my binder of all my old school evaluations because some of those are fun to read. And go, this is great. And your CEO check ins, it's a great way to sit down and kind of reframe where that comparison is coming from. Revenue and growth tracking, you know, it may not be a great revenue month, but you've talked to 20 people. That's going to filter through and you're going to see the revenue come up. You're going to see that you're better than last year at whatever it is. You're going to create your own things to look at, to say, I'm doing good, I'm doing well. I do not need to compare myself to anybody else. I just need to compare it to myself. So confident comes from evidence, not from inspiration. So those CEO check ins, that's when you're looking at your weekly wins. That's when you're down or when you're looking for, you're like, oh, uh, whatever clients pissing you off, whatever you're feeling like, oh my God, I'm not. Go to those, your feedback folder. Go find a review, go find an email from a client that just said, I just appreciate you for being you. And you're like, yes, look at your, you know, sales tracker. You know, maybe compare it to last year and say, I'm doing well. I'm, you know, I'm up. Even if it's up 2%, 1%, you're doing more than you did, uh, last year. So call to action is unfollow or mute five accounts that trigger comparison replace with two that educate or ground you. Write your version of success. It doesn't have to be income related. It could be lifestyle related. It's what you deem success is, could be as many. How many weddings do you want? How many connections do you want to make on a weekly basis from, you know, to other wedding professionals? But write your version of success and that could change every month. Don't let it be sitting there and going, I'm, um, you know, I don't, I don't know. Because internally you do. If you want to chat more and talk about this, we can set up a small business audit to talk about your business to help you with this part of your business, because I know it is a huge issue for a lot of us. Everybody have a great day and I'll talk to you later.

Speaker B: If today's episode sparked an idea or gave you a nudge you needed, I'd love to hear about it. DM me on Instagram En Taylor Consulting or leave a review to help more

Speaker C: wedding pros find this show.

Speaker B: And if you're ready for the next level clarity and support, head over to jentaylorconsulting.com to book your free business on it. Until next time, stay focused, stay intentional, and keep designing a business that works for you.

Speaker C: Sam.