From chaos and stress to strategic simplicity and calm

Her first sentence: 'Gerdi, I'm so tired. I work 60 hours a week, but I don't feel like I'm progressing.'

When I asked what she wanted to release, there was silence. Because that was exactly the problem. She knew what she wanted to add, but not what she could eliminate.

This is the paradox of growth. Everyone says they want to grow because we seek renewal, deepening and enrichment. We often focus on new content and knowledge, but knowledge alone is not going to cut it in a competitive market. Certainly not as long as you stick to your current position, routines and standards, because nothing will change.

But real growth does not require adding more. It requires strategic elimination. Growth requires space. Growth requires guts. Growth requires letting go. And that's exciting. Because growing means leaving your safe place behind. The place where you know what you have, but where at the same time you remain small. Too small.

Why you get stuck in the AND-EN trap

I speak weekly to leaders and experienced professionals who are stuck with one leg in the old. They claim to be choosing the AND-AND. But in practice, they experience NO-NO. They work themselves to death, achieve just-not-results and lack the freedom and fulfillment they actually seek. And as successful as they are seen from the outside, they feel so unsatisfied and restless on the inside.

'Yes, I really want to become the strategic leader, but to be on the safe side I will continue to do some operational tasks myself.'

Then what happens? You prolong your own rat race. And as long as you hold on to the old, no one will take you seriously in your new position. Not your team members, not your strategic collaboration partners, not your customers.

The moment I had to redefine my definition of success

I recognize it. For years I, too, chose the AND-AND-AND. A multi-human, always busy, always building. It gave energy, but also noise and whooping turmoil. Because as I grew, I kept myself small and missed what really made me grow successfully from within. 

I had to redefine my definition of success. I had to change and let go of what no longer served me, in order to move forward again without noise. Even though I had invested a lot of time, energy ánd a lot of money in it.

As long as you don't let go, you don't move forward, you stay stuck in a waiting room. Frustrated and under/overexcited waiting and "hoping" for better times, waiting for others, waiting for clients, waiting for recognition, waiting for freedom. 

And the truth is: no one is waiting for you there right now.

Another definition of 'more'

There is a moment in every growth phase when you realize that more is not always better. More clients, more projects, more collaborations and more ideas seem appealing at first glance. Yet it is often precisely this "more" that leads to chaos, fragmentation and loss of power.

The entrepreneurs, professionals and leaders I work with have often built impressive results. They have proven that they have vision, perseverance and expertise. But that is precisely where the pitfall arises: their agendas become overcrowded, their energy fragmented, their strategy diffuse. They miss the challenge, recognition and satisfaction and lose too much time and energy on matters (and people) that do not 'matter' anymore. They have grown and outgrown their current position and in that new position the need for new perspectives for development and growth. Without the rat race but from peace, space and freedom as a result.

Because what got you to this point is not going to get you any further. Growth to the next stage doesn't require adding more, it requires eliminate more.

Leadership and the art of elimination

Leadership is often thought of as showing vision, inspiring and giving direction. But the highest form of leadership is having the courage to eliminate. To say "no" to anything that distracts you from your core mission, no matter how attractive or profitable it may seem in the short term.

In my work with women leaders, I see again and again how difficult this is. They are loyal, responsible and ambitious. Strong drive to perform and show that they are doing well, be appreciated for what they contribute. They want to take advantage of opportunities, help people and make the most of their potential. But the reality is that your energy, time and capital are finite.

Any "yes" you express without a strategic filter is a "no" to your larger vision.

Why you say yes to too much

There are three recurring reasons why the (multi-)talented women entrepreneurs and leaders structurally pick up too much:

The fear of missing opportunities. The thought that this opportunity might be THE chance makes you say "yes" when your system is actually screaming "no.

The need for affirmation. A full schedule feels important. New projects give a buzz. But status and busyness are not a strategy.

The lack of a clear filter. Without clear criteria, it's hard to determine which opportunities really contribute to your mission and which ones just keep you busy.

This pattern inevitably leads to energy leaks. You work hard, but your results are not as great as they could be. You feel tension between your ambitions and your reality.

The lesson my coach taught me

I was given the one-liner by my coach: doing nothing gets everything done. And that one has stayed with me. Because I did it too and it frustrated me more and more that nobody saw it. Partly because with regularity, a few months later, others took it as their success and merit and did get the appreciation. 

My coach taught me to be less quick to say "yes" and to sit on my hands and not solve or clear it for someone else.

Because I have also come to realize that. Because I see through it faster, am ahead of the curve and act quickly accordingly, others didn't always get the opportunity to do it either. 

Focus on what matters to you and say "yes" only to those things and people that serve you and bring you closer to your goals. Selfish? Absolutely, but I also think that's healthy. After all, your time and energy are precious and you own that to use it meaningfully and with dignity and let others handle it. 

Your life, your boundaries, you guard and determine how far you want to go.

Focus as a lever for growth

Growth comes not from working harder, but from selection. By being more selective with who and what you do in your life and work. By focusing your energy on the 20% that produces 80% of results. By systematically eliminating all ballast, time and energy guzzlers that don't get you closer to your strategic goals.

What you give your energy to, grows. It sounds simple, but it takes discipline, vision and leadership to apply this principle consistently.

In my own experience, this process is often painful. In recent years I had to make choices that affected not only my business, but also my identity. Ending collaborations, deleting offerings and services that were (n)ever successful, letting go of projects in which I had invested a lot. Each time it felt like I was giving up a part of myself.

And yet behind each elimination emerged space. Space for deepening, for scalable growth, for strategic simplicity. Space to focus my energy on those valuable clients, programs and systems that truly make impact and difference.

The no filter: which options will you sacrifice for that one best opportunity

A powerful tool here is what I call the 'no' filter. A simple but strategic framework that allows you to test and eliminate thousands of options, leaving you with only what truly contributes.

The "no" filter consists of three questions:

1. Does this contribute directly to my long-term vision? If the answer is no, let it go.
2. Does this increase my energy or cost me energy? Anything that structurally leaks energy is a block to sustainable growth.
3. Is this my highest value? There are many things you can do, but what is the one contribution that only you can make at this level?

With this filter, saying no becomes not a loss, but a strategic choice for simplicity, direction and freedom. And it will yield so much more in your new definition of success. 

Detecting energy leaks: from unconscious burden to conscious strategy

Many established leaders and entrepreneurs operate with tremendous energy loss without realizing it. Consider:

• Meetings or calls with no clear agenda or outcome.
• Customers who don't suit you, but whom you continue to serve anyway.
• Projects that once made sense, but now mostly consume time, energy and money.
• Patterns in your personal life as in your business that undermine your health, relationships and the essence of your life.

A key component in my Integral Growth Systems™ is that we visualize these time, energy and money leaks. We put all activities, relationships and structures next to your strategic goals and your current standard. Often it then becomes painfully clear how much ballast is playing along and you are senselessly losing time, energy and money. 

Strategically choose and invest with your time, energy and money to lead, change/innovate and grow. This requires letting go, distancing and eliminating. Once you see this holistically as a whole, you can easily say no, choose and eliminate. 

Does peace, space and focus come back and from there growth emerges integral on a personal, business and financial level. And now with the satisfaction AND appreciation. 

The difference between short-term and long-term strategy

A common misconception is that focus and elimination cost you short-term sales or opportunities. The opposite is true. Precisely by making conscious choices, your impact and profits grow exponentially.

I see this time and again with the clients I guide in Scale to Freedom 1:1 as a long-term strategic partner. Because true transformation is not a quick-fix and requires a long-term vision and approach. 

In the beginning, the changes, choices and eliminations feel heavy: changing/strengthening your position, scrapping an offering, saying goodbye to clients you've outgrown and/or "too" demanding of you instead of delivering, ending a partnership. 

But after a few months, they experience the power of simplicity. They regain their peace, space and energy. Their business runs more consistently. And they have the space to seize strategic opportunities that were previously invisible. 

This is not superficial time management, but systemic future-fit leadership.

Scale to Freedom: from chaos to strategic simplicity

Scale to Freedom is my premium 1:1 journey of at least six months in which we future-fit your life and your business. We work to eliminate everything holding you back, build scalable structures, processes and team expansion. And create a business model that systematically combines freedom and growth.

A life-first business that facilitates your life on your terms in good health, prosperity and freedom.

This is not casual coaching, but a strategic collaboration that touches your entire system: personal, business and financial.

Integral growth in three areas:

• Personal: more peace, direction and satisfaction
• Business: scalable growth, innovation and leadership
• Financial: healthy profits, smart investments and freedom

What balls are you finally dropping?

It's tempting to keep running and keeping all the balls in the air. After all, things are going "well"....toch? But if you are honest, you know this is not sustainable.

If you keep saying "yes" to everything, you will inevitably get stuck. In your energy, in your profitability and in your impact. Your company may grow, but you shrink. And that's not leadership; that's survival.

The power of no is the power of strategy. It is having the courage to sacrifice thousands of options for the one opportunity that truly moves you forward. It is living, leading and legacy at the highest level from depth, enrichment and fulfillment.

What balls are you dropping? Where are you still saying 'yes' too much and are you now going to say 'no' to? For what it is really costing you, is it worth it to you?

Your moment of choice

If you feel this is your next step, I invite you to explore together how you move from chaos and too much stress/unrest to strategic simplicity.

Scale to Freedom is for women who are already successful, but are ready for their next evolution. Women who no longer want to wait, but want to lead at a strategic level. Who no longer want to do, but only focus on what matters, what contributes to the bigger picture and is meaningful. Not wanting to survive anymore, but wanting to live.

Because you built a business. Now you get to build a life, from leadership and legacy.

Do you want to make this transformation? Go to www.gerdihulsink.nl/strategiesessie To schedule your strategic exploration. In this conversation, we explore together where you are now and how elimination and focus can be your key to freedom.

One Life. Lead it. Live it.

Enjoy. Stay healthy and fit. Have a good time. Now and in the future.

Warm regards,
Gerdi

Your healthy growth, success and freedom. My mission.

P.S. The power of no is not a luxury. It is the foundation of strategic leadership. And your time to claim it from strength and inner freedom is now.

When you want to achieve your "more. The movement for change, deepening and enrichment

In my premium route Scale to Freedom we work intensively together for six months on your complete transformation integral. We reset, redesign and rebuild your business and life. This is not superficial coaching, but a deep strategic partnership in which you learn to steer from peace, direction and vision.

In addition, for visionary women who want to build their legacy, there is ELLLE: Elite Life, Leadership & Legacy Empowerment. This is not just another business networking club, but a high quality and high value partnership with women who are willing to invest in their position, their legacy and the future of women's leadership.

This is a new phase and movement in your life where it is no longer just about being successful, but also living fulfilled and enriched from the inside out. And no longer being led and lived the other way around. Creating a change that is needed now and for the new women leaders and next generations.

ELLLE: Elite Life, Leadership & Legacy Empowerment

ELLLE is not a network, but a movement. ELLLE is a systemic change that reaches beyond and enriches. A collaboration with women who use their knowledge, influence and ability to redefine the standard of leadership.

• For established women leaders and entrepreneurs.
• For visionaries and forerunners who want to increase their impact.
• For women who want to consciously shape their legacy.

ELLLE requires guts, commitment and a willingness to invest. It is for women who bring movement, not wait and see.