I’ve had new clients come to me privately exhausted and disillusioned after working with other mentors who have pushed them to the brink of a breakdown.
‘Meet your big goal faster’ was their motto, and whenever the clients suggested slowing down or showed signs of weariness (or even illness), they were accused of being uncommitted.
They thought doing more and more was the answer. Or marketing harder and harder was the answer. And on top of that, doing it FASTER.
These aren’t the answers. They are a lie of the entrepreneurial ego.
Yes there will be periods where you kick things up, stretch a bit, put up the money, go all out, give it your all. There will be times you may need to show you’re the best, or be in front.
But *doing* more that *costs* you more to *get* you more?
Not sustainable.
Success that brings with it any mental, emotional, financial, or physical exhaustion cannot be sustained long term without serious consequences.
As I’ve worked personally with hundreds of women entrepreneurs over the last 15 years, I’ve noticed we have periods of contraction, of ebb and flow, just like we have with our female cycles.
It’s not uncommon to feel you should go all out at times, to ride a wave of opportunity, but then it’s important to hear any call to rest.
Honor your cycles when you feel it’s time to pull back, or take time to make a decision (or make space for the answer to arrive). Or to create fresh new things in your life.
It doesn’t mean you have to cease your income.
One of my clients who has been generating 7+ figures for years has implemented a personal sabbatical. Hers won’t be 100%– she’s not able to walk away from her business for months at a time. However she’s figured out how for most everything to run itself without her… minus her client work. For her situation, this is giving her *nearly two weeks of solitary time every month*. Two weeks! And her much needed space to create new. She’s giddy with excitement as it’s just begun.
Another client of mine last year, after suffering a recent heartbreaking loss in her family, came to our next call feeling she should plan her next million-dollar launch. I could hear the pushing in her voice, it wasn’t something she wanted to do, it was what she thought she *should* do. So I flipped it on its head. “What if you *don’t* work at all for the next three months?” She started sobbing with relief. I continued: “What if… forget the “how” right now… but what if there was a way to bring in just the money you need at this time to give you a creative sabbatical you desperately require?”
After a few deep breaths, and 30 minutes more of conversation, we’d worked it out. She wasn’t going to double her business during this time, but she’d get her bills paid and sustain her family. And I insisted we take a break from coaching.
A few weeks later I received a letter of gratitude, along with a photo of her and her family sailing the Mediterranean Sea. She looked happy and peaceful. And not in a hurry.
Creation requires space. Time. For some of us, solitude and quiet.
There are weeks I’m on fire, unstoppable, and driven to perform. There are times I push myself to finish something that I started that I know is critical to my mission and my great work. But there are many weeks I pace things and rest more, while fulfilling important obligations and declining those that aren’t essential.
If this is a new concept for you, and you can’t see how to get off the gravy-train-crazy-train, I suggest you start with just one day off a week. For some clients I have to start with them taking off a Saturday or Sunday. (“And on the seventh day, she rested.” I tell them.) From there, look at how you can build in more time and space. And see what happens. I have a feeling, it will be magical.
This is just one of the topics we’ll be diving into at my upcoming Creative Strategy Workshop in Phoenix, AZ on April 10+11. It’s time for something different. Come unravel your formulas and unlock your genius. See if this is a fit for you at www.creativestrategyworkshop.us.
Xo
