Get my best tips and insights on productivity, confidence, balance, and connection ... learned from 15 years of successfully working from home. Long-term WFH is a CHOICE, a lifestyle, a CULTURE. And I believe that if you're going to do something, you should do it right. But you don't have to do it alone. Activate your free subscription to The Tenacious WFH Entrepreneur newsletter so that you get your weekly dose of grit and grace to keep you going by entering your email address below.
🍇 Your business results aren’t a report card
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Now You Know More Than You Did Before Hey Reader, I think harvest has a way of settling arguments. For months, a vineyard can be studied, tested, watched, and discussed. Everyone can make their best predictions about what a particular block will produce. Then the grapes come in. And now you know. Not whether the season was officially a "Success" or "Failure." You simply have information you didn’t have before. Our businesses give us that information, too. The problem is that when you're both CEO and employee, it's awfully easy to turn business results into personal judgments. An offer doesn't sell as expected: I failed. A project takes longer than planned: I'm terrible at managing my time. Revenue is lower than you'd hoped: I should have worked harder. But those self-judgment conclusions skip an important leadership step — turning the data into information you can learn from. Evaluation asks: What happened? Judgment asks: What does this say about me? One gives you information you can use. The other gives you a verdict. And CEO You needs information far more than she needs verdicts. So instead of asking whether your results were good enough, try asking the leadership question. Leadership asks: What are my results trying to teach me? That might mean looking at numbers — revenue, profit, sales, inquiries, conversions, project hours. But don't stop there. Also ask what producing those numbers required from you. Did the profitable project require three late nights every week? Did the boundary you were nervous about turn out to be no big deal? Did something you expected to be difficult become surprisingly easy? Did you finish most days with enough of yourself left for the rest of your life? That's valuable data, too. In this week's article, Now You Know: What Your Business Results Are Trying to Teach You, I'm digging deeper into how to evaluate your business without turning the process into a performance review of you. There's one piece of information I especially want you to notice: What surprised you? Maybe something performed much better than expected. Maybe something you were sure would work...didn't. Maybe a commitment required far more energy than you anticipated. Maybe you discovered you actually like work you weren't sure you'd enjoy. Surprise shows us where expectation and reality didn't match. And the gap between what you expected and what actually happened is often where the leadership lesson lives. That lesson doesn't automatically tell you what to do next. One disappointing launch doesn't mean never again. One fantastic month doesn't mean do this forever. It simply means you know something now that you didn't know before. And that's worth harvesting. Your Action Step this WeekGive yourself 20 quiet minutes this week and ask: 1. What produced? 2. What surprised me? 3. What did this season teach me? Don't grade the answers. Get curious about them. Because before CEO You decides what's next, she deserves a chance to learn from what just happened. 💛 Insider & VIP CornerIf you're ready to take that reflection deeper, August’s CEO Harvest Report walks you through a fuller review of what produced, what surprised you, where you invested well, what needs pruning, and what you want to carry into the next season. It is available to Tenacious WFH Entrepreneur Insiders and VIPs, along with the growing Mini Power Tool archive. Premium subscriptions start at just $5.83/month. 💎 Upgrade your experience here. The grapes came in, friend. Now you know more than you did before. And that counts as part of the harvest, too.
As always, I'd love to know what you think of this week's newsletter. Post your thoughts on social and tag me (@coachmichelepeterson), or simply reply to this email! Thank you. I appreciate you! xoxo, Now for more good stuff ... Upgrade Your Experience ...Tenacious WFH Insiders get access to monthly Mini Power Tool downloadables like this month's CEO Harvest Report, an exclusive audio version of the weekly newsletter and blog via the private podcast Insiders Only Tenacious WFH Entrepreneur Audio Experience that you can listen to on your favorite podcast platform ... and more! Get all the details here. UPGRADE TO INSIDER or VIP STATUS TODAY! Interesting Reads ...
Win WFH Tip of the WeekWFH Tip: To WIN working from home, enjoy the perks! Embracing the unique flexibility of working from home — like taking a midday walk, having lunch in your own kitchen, or working in your favorite cozy space — keeps you refreshed and motivated. When you actively enjoy these daily advantages, you make working from home more than just a location choice ... you turn it into a truly rewarding lifestyle. Grit & Grace Affirmation of the WeekI am capable. I am a leader. I go after what I want. Say it. Believe it. Be it. From the book Badass Affirmations by Becca Anderson I hope you enjoyed this week's newsletter. Thank you for linking arms and being part of my working from home tribe! I'll be back next week with more tips, inspiration, and other fun stuff to empower your WFH success. Until then, have a beautiful week! xoxo, P.S. It's my goal to inspire you and remind you of your greatness as we navigate WFH life together. If you loved this week's newsletter, please feel free to forward it to your friends! And just one more thing ...
August 27, 2026 | Coach Michele Peterson
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Coach Michele Peterson
Get my best tips and insights on productivity, confidence, balance, and connection ... learned from 15 years of successfully working from home. Long-term WFH is a CHOICE, a lifestyle, a CULTURE. And I believe that if you're going to do something, you should do it right. But you don't have to do it alone. Activate your free subscription to The Tenacious WFH Entrepreneur newsletter so that you get your weekly dose of grit and grace to keep you going by entering your email address below.
Your Best Resources Need a Better Assignment Hey Reader, There are only so many hours in the day when your brain is doing its best work. Only so much creative energy. Only so much emotional bandwidth. Only so many people, projects, opportunities, and ideas you can care deeply about at the same time. We know this. And yet, as entrepreneurs, we can behave as though the goal is to somehow manufacture enough of ourselves for everything. Maybe if we get more organized. Find the right app. Wake up...
Would Your Best Employee Want to Work for You? Hey Reader, Imagine you’ve hired the best employee you’ve ever had. She’s smart. Dependable. Creative. Resourceful. Clients trust her. She knows the business inside and out. Frankly, you’d be in trouble if she left. Now let’s examine her working conditions. Lunch? Sometimes — although eating at the kitchen counter while answering email apparently counts. Vacation? Absolutely! As long as she keeps an eye on her inbox. Working hours? Very flexible....
It's Harvest and The Vineyard Isn’t Panicking Hey Reader, This time of year, harvest has its own infrastructure at our house. There’s a laundry hamper in the garage for crush-pad clothes stiff with sweat, grape juice, and pomace. My winemaker husband keeps extra clothes in his car — including multiple pairs of socks — because after enough harvests, you learn what the season can ask of you. It all looks very active once the grape trucks start arriving. But here’s the thing: The harvest didn’t...