Lately, I’ve been craving simplicity like never before. The delight in trying a new recipe and enjoying it outside together with my family and no flies. The joy of that first cup of hot coffee before anyone else has woken up for the day, and getting creative work done. The peace after crawling into my new linen sheets (fancy) at the end of the day and opening up the pages of a book to put my nose into before bed. 

Simple. Living.

But in order for life to feel simple and free to have those meals, coffees, and books, I know that my business must follow. If it doesn’t, my mind will be muddled with “what ifs” while I try to enjoy those blips of ease. 

I was recently chatting with a friend at soccer practice about this exact principle. She had ideas. She had a lot of enthusiasm. She even had experience. What she didn’t have was the evergreen framework to tame the chaos in her mind and get her back on track. 

And her confusion made sense. Things are evolving quickly these days. New technology. New tools. New time-sucks to distract us away from what matters like those simple moments. 

Through that conversation, I started to realize something important — when do we lean into what’s known and foundational, and when do we shift to what’s fresh and inspiring? How do we balance the desire for new with old? How do we avoid shiny object syndrome and imposter syndrome by chasing tactics too quickly, without losing steam and relevancy?

What I came up with is, well, simple. We need both. And, we need the two layers to keep us consistently moving forward even if we don’t have consistent, well, anything these days with all the new kids on the block arriving on scene. 

As I thought through it some more, here’s what I realized — there’s a place for evergreen, foundational principles to guide us in business, and there’s a need for evolution. 

There Are Lifelong, Evergreen Principles That’ll Never Stop Existing

There are some things AI just can’t solve for (at least not yet, but we’re not going there in this post because yeesh!). Things like having the emotional intelligence to know that when someone is welling up with tears it’s probably not the right time to swipe their snack from their sticky hands (kids). Things like being able to blend together personal and professional worlds in a way that shows just how much these two areas of our life overlap and just how wrong our grandparents were way back in the day. 

AI is great and all, but it’s not going to change some fundamental ways of approaching life, no matter how we choose to show up for it.

There are evergreen principles that every entrepreneur must follow. Call it a framework. Call it a roadmap. Call it whatever you want. These principles are there to help you make better decisions for yourself and your family. They’re there to keep you sane when life feels anything but calm. They’re there to guide you along your journey, even when you’re unsure of where you’re heading. 

Evergreen principles are like the headlamps on your truck, showing you the next steps to take even when the rest of the picture feels dark and uncertain. 

Having this set of principles in business is critical. They’re what keep you on course as you pursue those big, audacious goals of yours. Without having some sort of beacon to keep you on your path, you’ll inevitably do three things:

1. Give up because uncertainty is terrifying and even more uncertainty is downright discouraging. Can this really happen for you?! Absolutely, but it probably won’t feel that way unless you have some way to keep those swirly, twirly thoughts more organized.
2. Go way off course because at some point in the overwhelm and confusion, you won’t know which way is up, which goals are worth pursuing, and whether this whole idea was a dream that didn’t need to be pursued.
3. Go backwards. This is the worst thing to have happened (I know because I’ve been there). Rather than continually making that incremental progress, you’ll start to slip backward because you won’t know what progress even looks like. You’ll start taking shots in the dark, hoping something catches so you can get back on your feet again.

The evergreen principles to making sound business decisions (the kind your grandparents would be proud of), and keeping on track with your goals are what I teach inside the Roadpreneur School. They’re not waivering anytime soon. They’re there to help you navigate all of the unknowns and changes headed your way. 

Evolution in Business is Inevitable

It always surprises me when I hear people seem shocked at pivots made in business, as if we’re never supposed to shift, ebb, flow, change, adapt, or grow with the times. Quite the opposite, actually. If we’re not making those upgrades to our business, we’ll stay in one place forever while the rest of the world evolves. 

I recently found out that I’m older than Google. It’s hard to think back to a day when we didn’t have answers in the palm of our hands on smartphones, weren’t able to track our spouses on their way home from work so we didn’t have to bug them about when they’d finally be home, or speak to a device that would give us reminders about all sorts of things — when to reorder the groceries, when to take the bread out of the oven, when to go pick up the kids. 

Evolution is happening at a breakneck pace these days. More than ever, the way we interact with the world around us is shifting, and as entrepreneurs, we must shift alongside it. 

Over the past year, I’ve become the queen of shifting (for better or for worse). I’ve tested new platforms. I’ve tested and promptly shut down business models. The only thing I’ve found that’s worked to answer this evolution? One community. One evergreen course that gets consistent upgrades. And a handful of supplementary offers to go alongside it. 

As you’re navigating through your business and your fresh ideas, think through these two areas:

1. What will be evergreen in your business? What’s the thing that people will need no matter how many bots and AI come our way? What’s that human-to-human connection you can offer to keep yourself sane and your customers progressing while earning money? For me it’s Roadpreneur School. For you, it may be something else, like a membership or product. 
2. What’s something that you can evolve? Maybe it’s how you reach your people. Maybe it’s the platforms you use. Maybe it’s simplifying the processes in your business by evolving how you use technology. Whatever it is, think through what will make the most sense for you and your customers as you continuously gut-check how you’re showing up in the world. For me it’s the quick win workshops and planner that’ll be available to you soon.

Things can really be this simple. No more shiny object syndrome. Your feet are firmly planted in the evergreen approach, and your business is still designed to evolve alongside the times. It’s the best of both worlds, sure, but it’s also the best way to stay relevant…

… because relevancy is harder to come by than you might realize, and it’s THE thing that will keep you competitive while you hit the road and live the simple life.