So often, as women we’re trained to be compliant and say YES to everything, and do everything, even if we don’t want to do it.
Just yesterday, another coach asked me if she could use something of mine in her training. I wasn’t particularly keen, but I said “yes” without thinking… if only I could listen to my own advice!
Fast-forward a few hours, and I emailed her back and said I didn’t want to go ahead with the training.
If only I’d listened to my gut, and said NO from the start.
START DOING THE THINGS YOU LOVE
So often we get caught up saying YES TO EVERYTHING that we get sidetracked from our goals and our mission.
I’m pottering about in the pool on holiday with my little one and this bee comes diving into the water. He’s bobbing about and stuck. I scoop him and a big swish of water onto the side of the pool, and he’s flailing around to try and recover.
After drying out, his wings are out of whack, and he’s definitely feeling a little waterlogged. “Beeeee, buzzzzz” says my son excitedly.
I know that the bee is on his last legs, and probably won’t last the day. This poor little flapping bee was doing his thing, working hard and trying to make honey, and suddenly the nose-dive sent everything off-course. His sweet purpose was no more.
As I’m swimming, I can’t stop thinking about the bee. What if I don’t fulfill my purpose, the thing that I’m here to do? I don’t want to die without doing what I love.
ARE YOU FULFILING YOUR MISSION?
We all have a purpose, a mission, a thing we feel compelled to do. Sometimes we’re taken off course by being in a job that doesn’t fulfil us, or work that pays the bills that doesn’t reward us.
Are there ways to free up your time to concentrate on the work you love? What’s your reason for working and plugging away at your business? What’s your why?
For me, I realised that I’ve been spending too much time juggling four businesses, and not enough time on the thing that lights me up and fulfils me. For me that’s coaching women to help them impact the world. And while I love my property and Airbnb businesses and I’m so grateful for the flexibility it afforded me while I was on maternity leave, it’s something that I sort of fell into but it’s not something that I’m passionate about.
So I realized from swimming with the bee that I’m better served to outsource the stuff that I don’t love (the spreadsheets and the accounting). Perhaps you feel the same way trying to juggle work and family and a business.
What can you let go of? What no longer serves you?
How can you stop the juggle and focus on what’s important to you?
WHAT CAN YOU SAY NO TO?
- What can you STOP DOING to start doing what you love?
- What can you do to free yourself from the things that no longer serve you?
- What you can do to free up your schedule, and do what you love instead?
- If you didn’t have to do the things that you don’t enjoy doing. You don’t have to dread Monday’s, think about what would you do INSTEAD?
