Most people think hitting £100K months means bigger teams, longer hours, and hustling harder. 

But what if the real growth lies in something slower, softer, and smarter? 

In this episode, I’m sharing five powerful Japanese principles that have shaped the way I scale businesses – for myself and my clients. 

From imperfect action to the magic of micro habits, this one’s a mindset shift you won’t want to miss.

Highlights:

(00:50) Why hustle isn’t the answer to scaling

(03:11) Wabi sabi: imperfect action grows your business

(06:23) The 15-minute habit that doubled revenue

(09:48) Stop comparing, start scaling your way

(13:12) Ikigai and selling from true alignment

(17:27) Let go to grow: the CEO mindset shift

Connect with Dawn:

This podcast is in association with @HerPowerCommunity – The #1 Female Founders Global Community where connections flourish & growth is intentional.

Transcription:

Dawn McGruer
Hey, it’s Dawn McGruer, the business growth coach.

And welcome to Dawn of a New Era, the podcast where we talk all things health, wealth and happiness, and where founders share the good and bad and ugly of being an entrepreneur.

Dawn McGruer
Welcome to episode 162 of Dawn of a New Era with myself, Dawn McGruer, the business growth coach. And in today’s episode, we’re going to be looking at what Japanese wisdom teaches us about scaling to 100k months and beyond.

So, most people think scaling a business is all about hustle, high performance routines and stacking strategies.

But what if the secret of sustainable 100k months actually lies in ancient Japanese wisdom, principles that are designed for beauty, balance and radical growth from the inside out?

Well, today I’m sharing the surprising truths I’ve learned from Japanese philosophy and how they’ve transformed not just my business, but my clients as well. Well, many who are actually scaling to 500k plus quarters using these exact mindset shifts. So, section one, let’s look at Wabi Sabi.

And this is all about embracing imperfection to grow faster. So this is the pursuit of perfection, which is the enemy of momentum.

Well, Wabi Sabi reminds us to see beauty in the incomplete, the imperfect, and the evolving.

So when we combine this with neuroscience, we know that perfectionism activates the fear center of the brain, the amygdala, keeping us in freeze mode. So progress, even messy action, actually activates dopamine, building confidence and resilience.

So where are you waiting to be ready when you just need to be real and actually take action? So this is your signal, your reminder that whatever you’re procrastinating on, get started. Imperfect action always moves us forward.

And we will learn as we evolve and we grow. And even if we fail, we’ve definitely seen some great learnings. And it’s often when I’ve had my most epic fails that I’ve had the biggest growth.

So don’t be frightened to get started now. Section 2. Kaizen. This is all about microhabits that create massive growth.

And this is something that even when I think back 20, 25 years, has been part of my daily balance and growth. And Kaizen is the art of continu improvement. Scaling to 100k months isn’t about these giant leaps that we see on social media.

It’s about micro mastery. And when we think about dream life, my method, the R, which is all about resilience through Kaizen.

This is really, really important because I honestly would say that every time I’ve scaled businesses mine My clients, it’s always through these micro actions because they build and boost momentum massively. And what we see is these micro actions are actually the foundation to the acceleration of growth.

And they build such a solid consistency behind driving our businesses forward and our own personal development. So when we look at neuroscience and we combine these angles, think about habit loops.

Now habit loops strengthen neural pathways so small consistent actions literally rewire your brain for high performance, discipline and consistency. And these are the traits that every seven figure CEO needs.

So an example here is that one of my clients implemented just a 15 minute CEO daily debrief. And the result, double revenue in 60 days.

And this is honestly how important this whole habit creation is in business, because it follows on from the wabi sabi, the embracing imperfection, to grow faster. And then we’re combining these microhabits that create this massive growth.

So when we think about business, we need to get out of the weeds and stop just thinking about specific action plans and to do lists and really think about what is the momentum behind our growth, what is moving it forward. And often we can get rid of 80% of tasks. They’re just churn.

We can write to do lists every single day, but I guarantee you, 20% of that list are the things that actually move the needle in your business. Now section three, Obatari. This is about about stop comparing and start scaling.

So Obatari teaches us that no flower blooms the same and that’s a good thing. So cherry, plum, peach and apricot all blossom in their own season. So we think about this in business. Remember, comparison delays success.

So you’re trying to run someone else’s playbook when your dream life requires your own strategy. So think about this from a neuroscience point of view.

Comparison triggers shame and imposter syndrome, reducing motivation and increasing cortisol levels.

Whereas clarity and congruence actually reduce this internal noise and create a psychological safety for growth, which is a real positive because it gives us this unshakable belief that allows us to follow our dreams and gain great, great success. Now section four is about ikage.

Now this is often the principle in Japanese wisdom that most people are familiar with or have at least heard at some point in their life. And this is about aligning passion and profit. So ikage is actually your reason for being.

So when your offers or your model and message align with what you love and what the world needs, then sales become inevitable. So when I think about dream life and my methodology, this is where the D stands for design your purpose.

And this is so important because when we’re doing something that absolutely feels aligned to our true beliefs and purpose, the reason we were put on this planet, then everything changes. Now let’s look at the neuroscience angle here. Because purpose activates the brain’s reward system.

So when you work in alignment, your brain produces more serotonin and dopamine, which boosts performance and decision making. So you can start to see how these shifts can have a huge, huge impact on what you’re doing at a daily level.

So imagine you start to put these in place and you see how things change over 7 days, 14 days, 28 days. And this can create a massive ripple effect across the growth in your own personal life and business.

Now, last but not least, Section 5 mono know the power of presence in business. So this principle teaches us to be deeply aware of the impermanence of everything.

So your clients, your team, seasons, they all change and so must you.

And this is often the hardest because when I speak to clients and sometimes their teams or members of their teams decide that they want to move on or do different things, it’s really hard that they take it personally. And we’ve all been there. But you have to allow the evolution.

So your CEO lesson here is that to be present in your current phase and actually learn from it, then extract the lessons and then to let go. When it’s time to evolve, it’s easy to hold on to things that are not serving us. And I’ve done it, you’ve done it, we’ve all been there.

And I think the thing is, is that when we are prepared to let go and allow things to move, then everything starts to look differently. We have to be able to look at the bigger picture.

So being actually present now, the M in my Dream Life methodology is all about mindful awareness of the present and actually looking at why things are changing and considering it actually a good thing, a positive.

So Japanese wisdom reminds us that you don’t scale by doing more, you scale by becoming more of who you’re actually here to be, you know, and these ancient principles combined with modern neuroscience and scale available strategy, are actually what makes my Dream Life methodology so powerful and why 100% of my clients make more money than ever before.

So if you’re a founder already at 15 30k months and you’re ready to scale to 100k months and beyond without the burnout or second guessing, then just DM me the word dream life and I’ll share how we can map that out to a next level. If you would like a copy of my dream life Ultimate Guide. Please just drop me a message on your favorite socials.

Just message me the word guide and I’ll get this to you. There’s 55 pages. Yes, 55 pages.

Actually digging deeper into these principles and we break down some of the things that come up for us, the success barriers and how to actually address them. So it’s got lots of microhabits in there, it’s got lots of tips about how to scale your business to 100k and beyond months.

So I hope you enjoyed the podcast.

Dawn McGruer
And do me a favor.

Dawn McGruer
If you enjoyed it, please head on over and just give me a quick rate and review on your favorite podcast player. Thank you.

Dawn McGruer
Thanks for listening to Dawn of a New Era, the podcast brought to you in association with the Her Power Community.

This initiative was founded by myself and it’s all about empowering female founders to recognize their limitless potential and pursue their ambitions with confidence. Now there is less than 1.8% that goes into investing in female founded businesses and we are here to make positive change.

So come and support us on Instagram at Her Power Community and for find.

Dawn McGruer
Out more about what we’re doing to.

Dawn McGruer
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