summer break

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When in doubt, simplify.

I work for myself. I work from home. When people learn this about me, it generally conjures up images of me working in pajamas interspersed with full days of playing hooky at the beach… like all the time.

The reality is that working for myself is nothing like that.

First of all, I work in yoga pants, not pajamas. Thank you very much. And I haven’t been to the beach in ages. Building your own business is work. Stressing about where your next client will come from. Worrying about doing everything yourself and wondering if you have what it takes. Being both the lazy employee who watches more TV than gets work done AND the irritated manager who doesn’t know how to deal with said employee, can be crazy-making.

But does all that have to mean it’s no fun?

I got to thinking recently, I left a good-paying corporate job to do something I love, so why is it that I don’t seem to be loving what I’m doing all that much and I don’t seem to have time to play hooky. Like ever. And I feel lost (always). And like I’m constantly playing catch-up.

So after a lot of introspection and playing 20 questions with myself, I’ve clarified what’s happening: I’m trying to do too much & “keep up with” the people/ideas/ways of doing things I think I need to keep up with.

Which is just silly.

What do you need to put on hold in order to create space, find clarity, and move forward?

I get to enjoy this crazy life I’m living. So I’m letting go of a bunch of things that are holding me back and making me feel stuck. Like the shoulds (I should be posting consistently. I should be building my newsletter list. I should always be marketing. Etc). And the need-tos (I need to finish working through Book Yourself Solid Illustrated before I finish writing my new homepage. I need to create the perfect header before I start writing guest posts. I need to have more followers before I can teach a course. I need to play by the rules).

I’m letting go of the old (not-so-helpful) stories I’ve been telling myself like: “I’m not good at marketing”, “I need someone else to help me figure out my business”, “I don’t know what I’m doing”, and “I’m not *there* yet so I can’t ______”.

Making things complicated is a way of procrastinating. Overanalyzing is another. Hiding out and telling myself stories of defeat before I’ve even taken action is yet another way I keep myself from what I want: success.

I don’t need to be perfect & I don’t need my house, courses, marketing, whatever to be perfect. I just need to start.

Embrace the learning that comes through taking action.

I have made a decision to stop blogging for a couple of months (which after my limited posts recently probably isn’t a surprise, but I wanted to be upfront about it). I will start posting here again August 1.

This is all so that I can spend time simplifying my online world, getting crystal clear on what it is I want to be doing with my precious time, and focusing most of my energy on one thing: building my business.

I’ve been listening to my urges more closely. Following my intuition. It is leading me to get out of the house more, invite people into my home (for informal learning/coaching meet ups – more info coming soon), and just start teaching something (new course to be launched soon – stay tuned).

In the meantime, follow me on Facebook and sign up for my newsletter to be the first to know about new courses, local meet ups, and life changing messages.

Until August 1, here’s your homework

Think about this question: How are you keeping yourself away from what you want most in life? Share your answer in the comments or join the discussion on Facebook.

Happy Summer!

Photo Credit:Julien Haler via Flickr

4 Replies to “summer break”

  1. How are you keeping yourself away from what you want most in life?

    I love this questions – and I was thinking about it this morning. How I keep myself away from what I want most in life, is by not going to that place of vulnerability enough. I need to stretch and embrace challenges more often. And when I do and even if I “fail” I will have learned something and be that much closer to what I really want!

    1. Great point Kathy. The only way to get what you want is by moving forward (stretching & embracing those challenges) which means sometimes you’ll stumble. But as you said, that’s where you will learn and ultimately be much closer to what you really want.

  2. this is a great question. i’m a daily meditator, an oil portrait/landscape painter, a zen student, a raw vegan. what i continually remind myself is that it’s not the content that matters. it’s the how. there is not right or wrong decision, choice, way. being present to anything, letting go in the moment, being fully attentive to whatEVEr we’re doing… is bliss. if we’re always focused on the past and the future we will suffer. this presence and goals are not, by the way, mutually exclusive :-) however, it’s ok to let life live us, lead us and organically morph those goals into dreams we might never have imagined ourselves. Lesson (for me included) Just show up. And watch the magic happen.
    Much love,
    Juliane

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