Hey highly sensitive entrepreneurs, let’s talk visibility.
I’m hosting Safe to Be Seen, a free, three-call workshop October 13-20 for highly sensitive entrepreneurs who want to show up for their business but find themselves hesitating to post, struggling to be consistent, or overthinking after they share.
If visibility feels emotionally harder than it seems like it “should,” this workshop will help you understand what’s getting in the way and explore a more sustainable way forward.
You get to decide what consistency means.
Daily, weekly, monthly, even yearly, depending on the activity.
You can be consistent at any of those intervals.
Consistency is not what a random business coach labels as consistency.
It doesn’t have to mean showing up every day without fail, regardless of the season of life.
Which was part of my demise.
I tried to follow other people’s strategies.
I tried to show up consistently every single day, regardless of the season.
I carried a corporate identity of hard work and overachieving into entrepreneurship. I thought my biggest problem was that I needed to get better at tolerating a way of doing business that ignored my sensitivity.
I naively thought, “I’ll rest once it’s built.” Meanwhile, I pushed through sicknesses, ignored rest, made no excuses, and always showed up.
The words of my seventh-grade library teacher still stick with me: “Is it an excuse, or a reason?” In my mind, everything seemed like an excuse, so I ignored them all.
But adaptation is expensive. Emotionally, physically, mentally. It costs valuable time and energy because recovering from burnout is more than a weekend off with bubble baths.
I Over-Corrected
I clung to the idea of “work smarter, not harder.”
When I noticed myself overworking and pushing towards exhaustion, I protected myself by stopping.
But in trying not to repeat my patterns, I swung the pendulum all the way to the other side.
If I didn’t feel like doing something, I didn’t.
If I felt overwhelmed, I stopped.
When I experienced self-doubt, I stepped away.
When I felt lost, I paused.
I stopped doing things just to keep moving, and I stopped trying everything. I was waiting for certainty before I acted.
I demanded proof. If I was going to do something, I needed reassurance that it would work.
That kind of certainty doesn’t come with entrepreneurship.
There are no guarantees.
So I did very little, and so did my business.
I think I nailed the “don’t work harder” but didn’t quite grasp the “work smarter” part.
I wanted to enjoy building something and enjoy what I’d built.
I wanted to enjoy building something and enjoy what I’d built. I just needed to understand how.
My Pattern
I’d experienced both extremes, and neither worked. I’d been resisting the middle because it’s boring. Slow. Uneventful.
I had taught myself to thrive in hustle and urgency, so aligned action felt painfully slow and not as worthwhile.
Write the essay. Send the email. Make the offer. Notice what happens. Tweak. Repeat.
Boring.
But sustainable.
I needed to give my work enough continuity to learn from it and enough space to keep returning to it.
I noticed my pattern: when I’d gotten impatient and restless from a lack of results, I created chaos in my business.
A new niche. A new offer. Rewrite the website.
These activities took time and energy, only for me to disrupt and change them again soon.
My consistency naturally wavered during all that upheaval. But trying harder to be consistent wouldn’t have solved what was underneath it. I was being impatient with something that needed more time.
Although changing direction gave me a sense of control, it was serving another purpose, too. Hope. It was giving me hope.
The pattern soothed my need to control and be productive, but each change interrupted the time I needed to practice, learn, and improve.
In trying to go faster, I was actually slowing myself down.
In trying to go faster, I was actually slowing myself down.
Dedication with Flexibility
My focus right now is staying with a direction long enough to learn from it. Getting better at messaging. Making small adjustments without deciding the whole business needs to change. Letting progress feel slower than is comfortable.
And learn the art of aligned action. The “work smarter” part of the equation.
Understanding the difference between a “hustle” thought and an “aligned action” thought.
For me, aligned action feels soft. Quiet. Process-oriented. The undercurrent is more curious, “What will I learn?” Results are still important, but not the be-all and end-all.
When I’m in hustle, it feels results oriented. Urgent. Hard. Forced. The undercurrent says, “You must post daily, launch immediately, and make X dollars.” Results are paramount.
I’m getting better at recognizing the difference.
Aligned action still requires consistency, but it’s a different flavour. More manageable, enjoyable, and sustainable.
As a highly sensitive person, I don’t necessarily need different tactics to build my business. I still network, guest on podcasts, reach out to people I don’t know. But I need supportive practices and more space around those things to make them sustainable. I need time to process after interactions and to feel grounded before I show up.
Seasons of Life
I’m currently in a slower season of life.
After just recovering from burnout, I experienced back-to-back traumatic events in 2025. I took some time off, and I’ve been slowly making my way back.
This is a season of building foundations. I still need more rest and recovery than usual.
So consistency looks a little different than it did in 2024. Back then, I committed to finishing things by a certain time and put in extra hours to do it. Next year will likely be different too.
I’m focused on the process and results, yes, but in the forefront is energy maintenance.
My to-do list has similar activities, but they don’t need to be completed by Friday. I chip away and prioritize my health.
And that has to be enough for this season.
I’m practicing letting go of how quickly the results come. I still want my business to grow, and I’m giving myself time to learn what helps it grow at a pace I can sustain.
Consistency, for me, isn’t the same output every week. It’s staying committed to a direction, giving myself time to learn what’s truly working or isn’t, and leaving enough space around the work so I can come back to it.
I knew how to force myself to keep showing up. Now I’m learning how to keep showing up without paying for it with my health.
What about you? What season is your business in? Does it coincide with your season of life?
Want to understand what’s making it hard to show up for your business?
If you hesitate to post, struggle to stay consistent, or overthink after sharing, I’d love to invite you to Safe to Be Seen, my free, three-call workshop for highly sensitive entrepreneurs, October 13–20.
We’ll untangle what’s getting in the way—emotional barriers, high sensitivity, business skill gaps, or needing more feedback—and explore a way forward that you can sustain.
Find out more and register here.
