If my cup is empty I end up helping no-one.
This is a lesson I had to learn the hard way. Almost losing my business in 2018 due to burnout was so hard. And the fix wasn’t a silver bullet, quick fix, or miracle.
No, it was me doing the inner and outer work.
12 months ago the world changed dramatically, lockdown hit and everything had to shift. While this was hard, it was actually the answer to one of my dreams. No more work travel. I remember waking up at 4 am on a Monday, in the pitch dark. Sneaking downstairs to not wake Jay. I would get dressed on the lounge, grab my bag packed for the week and start the 4 hour drive to Cambridge. All of this just to steal 1 extra night of cuddling in bed with my husband.
So why is this a lesson now?
As humans, we are creatures of habit. At first the disruption meant I had loads of time. Then slowly I sunk into a new routine. Which then, without my realising, started to pull in some bad habits. I arrived at the third week in March completely exhausted and I had no excuse of traveling!
So I examined my life, my business, my calendar, my priorities and realised a HUGE error. I was letting boundaries slip. I was filling time. And it was costing me more than it was worth.
Let’s talk boundaries a second.
We should all have healthy boundaries in place, with our work, clients, friends, family, and ourselves. Because boundaries protect our energy. They protect our creativity, passion, and ability to show up.
So when I overstep my boundaries, it’s really important to me that I correct this quickly.
So let’s look at how I knew…
For me, a classic sign is a start working longer and longer each day. Sitting at my laptop earlier and leaving later. I start resenting everyone else in the house for not “working as hard”. This is a really old belief that creeps in when I go too far down the old habit.
I start to compromise on my health, not eating well enough, not drinking enough water. And definitely not exercise or moving enough.
Aren’t I supposed to be good at this stuff?
Well, I am, but just because you are good at something doesn’t mean you never get it wrong. It just means you realise and correct it quicker than you used to.
Before I set good boundaries, I never knew and was just slightly annoyed all the time. Then once set, I broke them more than I stuck to them at first. But I kept coming back to them. Then it shifted to sticking to them more than I didn’t. And finally I now only get out of sync on a rare occasion and get back on quickly. But March was one of those occasions.
Let me tell you why March. There are some good excuses I can dish up like my masters is coming to wrap so I have lots to close off, the business is being rebranded, I am in the process of hiring team members! But actually, none of that is true. Because I know that I can do all of those things and still be kind to myself. I literally teach people how!! So what had gone wrong?
It was me. My mindset. I had spilled back into having to do everything right now. And a lot of people are feeling this as the days get longer. Like we should be doing more. But instead, we need to ensure our focus is clear!
So how do we focus?
I like to book out a block of time in my calendar. Make sure my emails are off, social media is closed and my phone is away. This means I can just truly focus without distraction. Then I always revisit the Power Plan areas! Why am I in business, Who do I want to serve, What do I want to offer, How do I want to offer it. Because these are always the cornerstones to any decisions I make in my business.
Then we jump into the actually quarterly planning.
I like to do this in an easy structure – breaking it down to monthly, weekly, and daily targets. So for quarter two it would look like this:
Monthly Goals: One core focus for each month
- April – Rebranding business
- May – Launch and sell next cohort of Blueprint to Business Program
- June – Open up Strategy Intensive sessions again
We then take each month and break it down to weekly focus, one core focus for each week
April W/C:
- 5th – Build a new comms plan for the relaunch
- 12th – Build out the new website for the relaunch
- 19th – Build new templates for all social media and online platforms in the new branding
- 26th – Launch new brand if Trademark has completed (best cases) or plan the push back.
Then I would work on a weekly basis to break down my weekly task into daily actions. I use my Bullet Journal for this as it keeps everything in one place.
Ok but what about BALANCE!
I hear you! This doesn’t sound like an overly balanced approach, so far I have just spoken about work! But the one really great thing is that this method will stop you from creating a list with 100 actions for each day. Meaning you have more time to fit into your life! So as an example, when I am being really good, I will wake up with the sun and have 2 clear hours for me in the morning, this is to drink tea, do yoga, go for a run, listen to a book, meditate, dance, literally do anything I want to start my day on my terms.
So the plan I use is blocking out my morning routine. And then asking myself the question each day, how can I include fun in my day. For instance, as I type this blog I’m listening to the “Empowering Women” playlist on Spotify and dancing in my chair.
And then this week we have planned a beach picnic on Friday to unplug and have a little fun in the sun!
If you want more on planning come and join my regular mailing list – I have 3 top journal prompts to share with you on Thursday each week – this week is on planning!
But to leave you here, I want to ask you, how do you fill up your cup each day, week, and month!