Why Lack of Clarity Is Costing Your Business Growth (and How to Solve it Fast as a CEO) - EP # 237

Stuck, Overthinking, or Spinning? How Clarity Helps Business Owners Move Faster

Are you caught in a cycle of overthinking, indecision, or second-guessing every move in your business? You’re not alone. In today’s episode, Maggie Perotin dives deep into why so many service-based business owners feel stuck—and reveals the clarity strategies that help CEOs move forward with confidence and speed.

Inside this episode:

• The real reasons business owners lose clarity (and how it silently stalls your growth)
• How too many options and endless “shoulds” lead to overwhelm, wasted time, and lost momentum
• The exact questions to ask yourself to break free from analysis paralysis and get back on track
• Maggie’s proven “decision filter” method for making faster, smarter choices—without the guilt or second-guessing
• Real-life examples of how clarity transformed her clients’ results (and how it can do the same for you)
• Simple, actionable steps to regain focus, prioritize what matters, and finally make progress—no matter how busy or overwhelmed you feel

If you’re tired of spinning your wheels and ready to lead your business like a true CEO, this episode is your roadmap to clarity, action, and real growth.

Ready to move from stuck to unstoppable? Tune in now and discover the clarity edge your business needs.

Transcript

[00:00:00] We live in the world of unlimited choices and opportunities and options are available to us at the tip of the finger, especially with the ai with Google, where knowledge is not a problem. The knowledge of the world is at our fingerprints. But then with that, the options are. Endless. And because of that, what I'm seeing is people are getting less and less clear on many things.

Business owners get stuck or undecided for weeks on end. They're not sure of the direction they wanna take, or they're switching directions too often, which slows down their growth. Because of those abundance of options and with that lack of clarity. So in today's diamond topic Podcast 237, [00:01:00] I do wanna talk about clarity and how having clarity allows you to move faster in your business and therefore create faster progress and growth.

So let's get started.

So do you often find yourself thinking like, oh, should I do this today, or that, or having, super long to-do list where you are spending a lot of time and energy bouncing between items on that list and not being sure where to start or picking something, doing things throughout the day only. To figure out at the end of the day that maybe they weren't the right things, that they haven't moved you forward or you are having some opportunities or.

Or you are having a dilemma on what to focus on your business because multiple things [00:02:00] require your attention, but you have limited time and that uncertainty really overwhelms you. And instead of, fixing one thing at a time or working through the projects you have, you actually, your brain resorts to.

Not choosing, not deciding, and you being stuck and just, reacting to the day-to-day needs of your business. Or even when you realize that, hey, maybe I need to upgrade my skills as a CEO, as a service provider in the area that, I help my clients. And then you find yourself endlessly doing research and not being sure what type of courses, what type of help you need to take,

either you don't get help at all, or it takes you way too long to decide were you losing opportunity of growth and doing things better for months as you're deciding.

I see that in my [00:03:00] clients, but the thing with my clients is that when I meet with them and coach them weekly, I help them get clear on whatever it is that they need to get clear to simplify their business, to simplify their life and get them to. Make decisions, act on it and create progress. And when that happens, week after week after week, this is a key big reason of.

Why they get the results they get when they coach with me, but I also see it in my life and my business. I'm actually very good. In being very clear on what is it that I want, what goals am I going after, what's important to me? And therefore, I created internal decision making filters that.

Don't allow me, or that really eliminate me being stuck in a decision or me wasting too much time and energy [00:04:00] bouncing between options. I can make decisions like this on multiple different things in my business, in my life because I have clarity on the most important areas that they turn into a decision filter.

What do you need clarity on in your business in macro and micro level to move faster, to not waste energy on, thinking, analyzing, going back and forth, giving overwhelmed, giving up, waiting months or weeks to make a decision so then you can move forward.

So the first couple of things you want to be very clear on. Are your mission of your business? Who are we helping at the macro level? How are we making the world a better place? And also in the micro level at who is my ideal client? What are their [00:05:00] challenges. The clearer you are on those things, the easier it will be for you to make decisions about marketing. Not only the strategy, but also the actions you do about the type of services you offer, the pricing of those services. Which markets you want to keep or new markets to enter into? What to drop, what to continue.

You also want to know the values. What are the values in my business? So how do we behave, how do our clients experiences, which then will improve the customer experience. It will also be easier for you to decide which opportunities are better for your business than others.

It will make it much clearer for your employees as long as you train them on. What is it that we pride ourselves. In how do we [00:06:00] treat our customers? Why things are important and how to behave. Also get very clear on what are the personal values that are important to you, and what is it that you're not willing to compromise as you're growing the business, because that allows you to be very clear on your boundaries as a CO, as a business owner.

So for example, when I started my business, I knew that I wanted to have. Certain flexibility of schedule, something that was very hard for me to achieve in my corporate life. And as a mom, I wanna be able to spend time with my family, especially that quality time is what I value, the most with people that are close to me that I love, right?

With that one value being very clear it is easy for me to say no to many opportunities [00:07:00] that come up for me. That might be on the weekends or in the evenings. I'm very selective to what I say yes to. That falls outside. Of the times that I work in, because this is the time for my family, my husband, and even me, right?

So with this split second decision, I can say yes or no for the opportunity because it's rooted in the values that are key for me.

The next thing you wanna be clear on in your business is your vision. Where do you see yourself going in the next three to five years? And from that vision, you derive the goal for the next year for the next. Six to 18 months. And when you are clear on that, then it's much easier to figure out how do I get there?

What do I need to do? What type of strategy do I need to adapt? And from that strategy, what [00:08:00] actions I need to take in order to get where I wanna.

Now within creating a vision, there's a few more things you need to get clear on and decide on, and one of them is why. Do I want that? So what is my reasoning for having that long-term vision and short-term goals? Why is this important to me, to my business? If you have a team, why would that be important to them to go after and buy into your vision and your mission?

Because. Like with any business, going after some lofty goals, pushing yourself to grow never comes our challenges, right? We all encounter challenges even when it's when we go after the things we love and we're passionate about it, and when we don't have a strong why. Our brain will not wanna overcome those [00:09:00] challenges.

It will not wanna solve for them. And even with your team, if they don't understand why we're doing what we're doing and why we're going after that, their brain will not wanna overcome the challenges. So they will be telling you, oh, it's not possible. This is too hard, too much of this, too much of that, right?

So having a strong why and being clear on what that is key.

Then understanding, being clear on why you are committed to it or how, what's your commitment level and what are you willing to do, and what are some boundaries that you are not willing to cross in pursuit of that goal?

Because when you are clear on that, where do I wanna be and where I am, then the next thing you need to be clear on what are the gaps that I have right now in my skillset as a business owner and CEO in my team? If I [00:10:00] have a team or I need a team. Or what are the gaps that I have in my processes or in the parts of my business that are preventing me from getting there?

And when I'm clear on those gaps, I know now as long as I'm committed, I know I'm committed what to do to further.

And I've been thinking about why is it that business owners don't have that clarity? And of course everybody's different. Some people have clarity on one thing, and then they don't have clarity on the other thing, any gap you have in being clear on the most important aspects of your business, macro and micro, is slowing you down.

Know that because without clarity, you cannot make a decision. When there's too many options, and I'm not clear which way I'm going, or why should I choose one option over the other. Your brain shuts down. The research [00:11:00] shows that our brain usually shuts down when it has more than five options. And if you think about the abundance of information and the abundance of options that as entrepreneurs who are considering every day.

It's very easy for our brain to shut down and say, I'm not making decision. This is too overwhelming. And then you spiraling and spinning and ultimately just staying where you are in dealing with the immediate things that don't really grow your business. The first reason. People don't have the clarity that they should is they don't take time to pause and think.

They don't have the CEO Power Hour that I teach my clients to have. It's very hard to get clear on things where you are. Running like a hamster on the treadmill, going from one action to the other, from one fire to the other, from one meeting to the other. Key clarity requires a bit of space. [00:12:00] It requires thinking things through asking yourself certain questions, thinking about the answer.

That's why even Bill Gates would take weeks, sometimes each year going to a remote cottage to think. To get not only a new ideas, but clarity on what he wanted to accomplish on the direction. 'cause you can't get that when you're in your business every day serving clients, answering emails, doing this, picking up that.

So having time to think, having time for you as CCO is clear, is paramount.

The second reason why business owners sometimes here are not clear is. They don't set goals. They don't have a long-term vision. They don't even have a goal for the year that is ahead of them as to what they wanna accomplish.

And if you don't know where you're going, it's [00:13:00] very hard to pick the path. So then almost every day or every week, you are deciding on that path, and that's very draining and it slows you down so much. Okay.

The third reason I see for lack of clarity is. Not having certain skills or foundational knowledge that they need to get clear and make decision. So the best example is really being clear on your ideal clients or on your client's avatars, depending on the services you have in the markets to share.

And that goes beyond the basics of their. Social status, their age, and whether they're female or male or whatever it is, right? Knowing your ideal client, meaning you really understand their life, you really understand what they're struggling with, what they want, what they cannot achieve on their own, and [00:14:00] how your services helped.

How do they make decisions? What's important to them? And really sitting almost in their head, in their daily life to understand where you fit and where you bring value. And if you don't have clarity on that or you don't have a foundational knowledge and skill to get clear on that, then this slows you down because it makes your marketing.

Less effective. And when your marketing is not as effective, you start doubting it yourself. You start doubting what works, what doesn't, and you also can't really determine with the scientific accuracy what the works, what doesn't, because you don't have a skill or knowledge to pinpoint you in the right direction

The clearer you are on what to do, when to do it, how to do it, why to do it, and so on. And the [00:15:00] fifth reason why people are not clear is not prior.

The fourth reason. Why business owners don't have clarity on many things is that they don't have anybody to talk things through, to brainstorm, to bounce ideas. Sometimes, especially with more complex challenges, thinking it through on your own is not enough. Having someone to bounce ideas off, bringing different opinions, different perspectives, opens up your,

knowledge to different areas that you haven't thought about, because as human beings, we all have. Blind spots, whether because there are blind spots because we're emotionally attached to the business, whether because they're blind spots, because we just don't have knowledge in that particular area. So being able to brainstorm things brings more clarity.

[00:16:00] So having board of advisors, having. Fellow successful business owners who are not necessarily always in your industry. Because sometimes when we surround ourselves with people with from only our industry. There is an industry bias, blind spots that happens. So having colleagues from, and peers from other industries can bring you that different perspective.

Having a coach, having a mentor, all of that helps

just make sure that those are the people you can trust. And not only with that, they're gonna keep, information or whatever you discuss confidential, but that they have knowledge and ability to bring a constructive perspective. That's not clouded in one way or the other.

And then the last reason why I see business owners lacking clarity in certain areas is not having a system [00:17:00] where they prioritize. The most important things first, and then dealing with urgent and so on. Most business owners just react to the things that are happening in their business day to day.

Never really creating time for the important projects, for the things that they know will move their business forward. And without the system of prioritization, they're, again, just living day to day reacting to the things which then makes them feel like they're not in control of their schedule, of their businesses.

And. Slows them down tremendously.

The last reason is lack of systems and processes, or even if they have certain systems and processes, very often they're not documented or they're not reviewed.

Sometimes I see people documenting the process, but then the team is not trained [00:18:00] and that process is not enforced.

So there's something on the paper, but then everybody else, the business employees, they're doing something completely different, right?

That lack of clarity of how we do things, why we do those things, and following the most important steps brings slow.

Creates lost opportunities in getting better in, converting potentially more clients, retaining more clients, and getting better as a business, as a brand and service delivery. So like the simplest example is, let's say sales process. If you don't have it mapped out and. Step by step with reasoning of why we do those things.

And then nobody goes back to assess, let's say, whether you are the one. And then it's never looked at and never. The sales conversations with [00:19:00] potential clients are never assessed against the process, then you never know where maybe things could have been improved, where maybe, a lost opportunity could have been saved.

If we follow the step or if that step was different.

So having documented processes and simple system brings a lot of clarity, especially once you have employees as to what they're supposed to do, what's important and what's not important, and how to get better, right? How to perform well as an employee.

I know that one of the huge benefits that the clients who start working with me have very quickly in their business is clarity. Very quickly, I walk them through the process, whether it's a three step process in diamond effect group, or whether it's a three pillars of scaling for my one-on-one clients.

On the most important things they need to [00:20:00] be clear of as CEOs in order to then be able to make quick decisions and take quick actions in their business to start creating progress. That's where the weekly coaching is so powerful.

Lack of clarity directly translates in your business, slowing down or in your team maybe doing things that are not the best for your business

The clearer you are in all aspects of your business and you're able to communicate that to your team, the clearer they are, and when you are clear. You make faster decisions, you are more focused, you move faster, so you create more progress, more growth, and your life becomes way easier.

So my challenge for you today is to think about what is slowing me down? Where am I lacking clarity in [00:21:00] my business that. Prevents me from making fast decisions, right? Where is it that I haven't decided that I'm maybe in analysis paralysis mode, and what do I need to get clear on in order to move out of it?

Have a fantastic week, and check in with Diamond Effect Podcast episode next Friday. Bye.