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Too early to take score but not to check-in

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Step-by-step For anyone who read my post last week about changing things up – I thought I’d add a little update on my progress – it’s Day 10 of my ’21 days of change’ and I’m feeling pretty good about my decision to shake it up! Is it difficult sometimes to keep going, of course, do I want to roll over and go back to bed when the alarm goes off at least an hour earlier than it used to, sure… it’s not always easy to make changes stick and that’s why it’s called CHANGE! If it were easy, everyone would do it!

So, why am I doing all this? What this experience does for me is it sends a message loud and clear to my subconscious mind – that business as usual is not what I want – that I’m really ready for some new things to show up in my life and in my business and I’m ready to change whatever it takes, to make space for those things. The most significant impact so far, seems to be getting back into meditation. As someone who has meditated for years prior to creating my family, this is such a relief and a joy! I am already noticing the benefits of quietness and spaciousness in my mind again – woo hoo! I am also feeling better in my body with healthy eating and this week will be adding exercise a couple of times a week into my routine, right now – I can’t wait! I’ll keep you posted on how I feel a few days after! lol!

The most challenging thing for me as a night-owl, has been establishing a consistent time to go to bed… I know I should, I know I feel better when I get more sleep and still it’s been a challenge. I’m sticking with it and trying some new ideas to shift this pattern and looking forward to being better rested.

So, I’ve covered the why – in case you’re interested, the how for me is of course, all about SYSTEMS! How does eating better relate to a system, or meditating? If you want to set up new pathways for doing new things, you have to make them easy to do – or they won’t happen. I learned from Thomas Leonard years ago, that if you want to make a change, you have to set yourself up for success – what does this mean? If you want to meditate and you have a meditation cushion that is buried in the back of the closet – if you have to dig through the closet to get to it, before you use it – the chances of you actually using it – are slim to none. However if when you make the decision to meditate every morning, you have cleared a spot for your cushion and have it ready to go and set your alarm earlier and you have spent some time perhaps, listing the benefits of meditation in your life, so you can recall WHY you want to do it – you are much more likely to meditate… Setting yourself up for success. So, of course, I have a meditation spot, likewise, I have a food plan, it’s really hard to eat healthily if you have no healthy food in the house and have to go shopping when you’re hungry! Yikes! One of the other changes I wanted to add, was a gratitude/appreciation practice, yes – I have a new notebook on my desk and am listing 10 things that are working, or that I’m grateful for in my business. Not always easy, but feels great when you get 10! So my systematic support is in place…

So where in your business could you set yourself up for success? What system or plan could you put in place, to help you have more ease in accomplishing the things you know would make a difference?

The cure for overwhelm?

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I’m sure it can’t just be me, but there seems to be SO much going on at the moment… My inbox is full of information I want to read and don’t possibly have time for, classes I’d love to take, workshops I’d love to attend, livestream options in case I can’t attend but still want the information, free done-for-you-giveaways, multiple eclipses, information on the significance of the eclipses, nutrition myths, GMO dangers every parent should know, healthy recipes I must try and on and on…
Do you ever find yourself feeling a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information available to us these days? Not to mention the myriad of ways the information can be delivered to us, everything has its own beep, buzz, twang, vibrate, image, icon… it’s really quite incredible how much more information we have available and how if we are not careful, how much time we can waste with ‘shiny object syndrome’ these days! Do you find yourself distracting yourself from what’s really important, or are you just dissatisfied at the end of your day with what you accomplished? Does it leave you feeling tired, overwhelmed, exhausted and frustrated that you are actually no further forward than you were this morning?
I either seem to be on all the right lists, for everything I could possibly be interested in at the moment and everyone has something interesting for me, or and I suspect this is it, I’m not focused on exactly what it is that I actually want right now.
I usually end up looking at everything eventually with ‘what’s my part in this?’ and seeing where I can take more personal responsibility for what I have created around me. What do you do when you find yourself overwhelmed? For me right now, it’s about recognizing that this feeling of overwhelm is just information. I can make a choice now about what I choose to do with that information. I can:
1) ignore it and hope it goes away!
2) over-react and lash out at the seeming cause of my overwhelm and perhaps unsubscribe from everything I’ve ever desired to know about, or
3) stop and look around and respond to the situation by turning inward first and deciding where I want to put my focus today and what I want to accomplish… and then for today, not forever, actually focusing my energy and attention there.
Sounds simple enough, right? I find it’s actually the solution…IF you can recognize that’s where you are and THEN make a conscious choice on where to focus. It’s a very simple process, but not always easy to do! The simplest things are often the hardest to practice! We human beings are so complex, sometimes the very thing we are attempting to accomplish is the one thing we find the hardest to actually change… ever know anyone who has fallen off the wagon, binged on a diet, smoked while trying to quit? It’s not that they’re bad people, it’s just that sometimes the same old, same old, familiar territory is easier than going somewhere new, even when we know we should want to, or actually DO want to go there. That’s why we have so many support groups and communities focused on the same thing, it’s so important to get help from people in the same situation, to help us stay the course and to make the changes we say we want to make.
office-meditation
So the question under the question is… who will I be when I’m… not drinking/not over-eating/ not smoking/ not avoiding/not wasting time/not…fill in the blank? For me right now… who will I be when I have a successful business? What will that feel like? How will I be different and is that really what I want? For me, now that I see it, YES! I want that and I will have to make better choices about where I put my attention and I will have to say NO to some things that I enjoy… but it’s for now, not forever and I’m consciously choosing my business.
Where in your life are you feeling overwhelm? Are you avoiding taking actions that you know will cause changes? Where in your life could you really choose to focus and actually achieve change? Who could you be if you did that?
If you’re wasting your time figuring out technology stuff, that you know isn’t the best use of your time or talents and you’re ready to make a new choice… I’d love to have a conversation with you about helping take that one off your plate, so you can move forward in the other areas that are calling for your unique attention. If this sounds like it might be something you’d benefit from, fill out my CONTACT PAGE and I’ll contact you to arrange the next steps.

What can you cut back?

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hedge-clipping It was a beautiful day on Sunday and I was finally out working in the yard, I was trying my best to tame a row of 9-10 foot high laurels… they were too big and top-heavy and that caused the bushes to dangerously lean with winter snow and wind. I was trimming them back, shaping, making it neater and then getting a ladder and doing what I could to tame the top… as I was doing this, I was relating this to my business – as I usually do with everything eventually… ;o) I began wondering where or what in my business I could cut back, so that it could have space to breathe and fill-out without the heavy dead weight on top…

One of the places I first thought about was the need to focus my time more on tasks and revenue generating tasks in particular, especially as I will soon be beginning a summer schedule. I’m so lucky that I get to set my own hours for the summer and this is really the first time I am doing this with a business! My daughter will be going to a local summer camp some weeks and I will be freeing up some time so that we can have some family day trips and drum-roll please… an actual vacation – for a whole week! With that in mind, I am revisiting my calendar and commitments and seeing what I can cut out and what I want to remain focused on.

As I followed this train of thought – the thing that came up was – Woohoo! I actually get to trim some of the ‘heaviness’ from my life in general! How? As I have fun activities with family and really enjoy that time away – I’m sure I will be revitalized by that and will bring some of that fresh energy into my business – I mean I am my business, so how can I not? I think the challenge will be in really having clear boundaries between work and play and experimenting with how that feels and how productive I am when I am in the business. Looking forward to finding out!

Stay tuned – I certainly don’t have it all figured out yet… teehee. 🙂

Does the idea of taking imperfect action freak you out?

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As a recovering perfectionist, I was quietly shocked at the concept of ‘taking imperfect action’ and having it discussed and actually recommended as a strategy to a room full of entrepreneurs… And we’re not talking about forgetting to use a spell-checker here!
Imperfect is the new black
I have always tried to have it all together and thought that that was synonymous with being professional, being good at your job, being reliable, building your reputation, etc. To have a room full of people discussing that it’s not only OK to take imperfect action, but as an entrepreneur in this day and age, it’s encouraged and expected, that you are producing content and trying out new ways of being and doing it with full visibility to your tribe/community. That trying something new and launching before all the kinks are worked out and all the concerns are known and addressed, was not only fine, but innovative and inevitable. On the flip-side of course, is also the question, are you hiding behind perfectionism and using it as an excuse, to not move forward? Are you still tweaking and fussing with that program, or report, or e-book, to avoid getting it out in the world and having it maybe not be received well, or just flat-out terrified of the judgements and opinions of others?

The idea of the imperfect action to me, was both shocking and liberating… Shocking that it was finally being, not only discussed, but encouraged. Liberating of course, what a relief! What if I could take a leaf from that book and be OK with trying out new ideas, re-doing my programs or offerings, taking surveys and asking for feedback, on a regular basis? Would my tribe not only be OK with that, would they participate and engage with me? Well, I guess I am asking you and time will tell. :0)

I will be asking you for feedback from time to time and I would love to ask you to take a survey sometimes… After all, it would be great to be able to write to you addressing your questions or concerns, rather than guessing what might be of interest? And best of all, the interaction would be great!

So, where in your business might you have been hiding in perfectionism? What imperfect action can you take in your business today, if you knew it would be OK? What if you knew that your tribe don’t expect you to be perfect and in fact love to know that you are a real human being and make mistakes, just like they do. That in fact your sharing your mistakes, as well as your successes, lets them know that it’s OK for them to be human too?

Renewal

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Yes, Spring is finally here and it’s that time of year to purge and let go and make space for something new… do you feel that pull? Do you feel that natural optimism that comes with the cycle of regrowth and renewal, like getting ready to welcome back dear old friends? 🙂

I was certainly feeling like that this morning looking around my office, piles of paper behind me and under the desk, out of sight…mostly! I think it’s time for a re-do in many areas of my life… not a complete do-over – way too stressful, but definitely time to look around and see what’s been working for me and what hasn’t and re-evaluate from where I am now.

I’m sure you’ve experienced it, clearing clutter in our physical world, creates more space in our heads… less distractions and incomplete projects calling for attention… allows you to be more present and more focused on what needs to be done NOW. I for one will be making time today to invest in some clutter-busting and re-evaluation…

I am one of those people that once I put something in place, I tend to check it off and then put it out of mind. I really have to remind myself to re-evaluate, it doesn’t come naturally and then the thought of re-doing… is usually draining. ugh. Didn’t I do that already? And I also realize the futility of trying to make a system work that no longer fits. I have to remind myself, I didn’t get it wrong the first time – it’s just an evolving thing and it’s time for an upgrade. Like software – right? 🙂

The place that is calling for attention right now, is my schedule… I feel like I set up an amazing system for myself several months ago and now, it doesn’t quite fit anymore. As I think about what needs to be adjusted in terms of an upgrade – it’s much more positive and exciting and allows my optimism to be present… what needs tweaking? How will this serve me even better in future? I know that I need to honor my family-time more. My daughter will be 3 in a couple of weeks and my time with her is precious. It’s not the time I want to be making grocery lists and catching up with personal email, so I need space in my schedule where those things can live, so I can be present when I am enjoying time with her. This is even more important as the summer approaches and she will be out of school. I will be modifying my schedule so we can spend some time in the park or at the pool and I can be present and not feel guilty about taking time to be with her.

The tweaks are simple enough and the adjustments will support me in having more focused business time, more focused personal time and definitely more fun in my family-time!

nurture seedling
So, I invite you to consider… where could you use the natural energy of the season change to renew something in your life? What needs an upgrade? What seeds will you plant today? What is it that needs a little investment of your time and energy now, that will pay you dividends in the weeks and months to come? Happy Renewal!
PS I would LOVE it if you wanted to add your comments to my post today – what will you be re-evaluating?