Welcome back to my June series – Places I've Learned.
This week’s place I’ve learned from? Myself
You probably have noticed you're getting this email a couple day later than I usually send them out. The reason for that is because I have been busy. I do my best to batch and automate these, but I missed one. That takes me to my first lesson I've learned from myself.
1.) I'm allowed to take breaks. Unless I have a hard deadline on something, it's ok to take breaks and give myself space.
I've done the hustle and push culture and it leads to burnout and big drops. When I began to recognize actual hard deadlines and trying to keep up with the Jone's is, I started to do better.
So unless there's a hard deadline (aka on fire), it can wait.
2.) MY values, boundaries, and goals. These three go together for me. MY values, boundaries, and goals are different from everyone else's, and that's ok.
When I became clear, understood, and knew what those three things are, it has helped me make better decisions with the type of people I want to work with and the jobs I take. It also has helped me develop my own vetting process when I'm in the early stages of possibly taking a job or a client.
3.) Having a calendar/planner I actually use. I LOVE my paper Passion Planner. I've been using them since 2019. They help me track both my personal and professional lives. I'm able to see what my weeks look like. It helps me prep and pace myself.
I do use Google Calendar for my online appointments. However, as soon as one pops on there, I write it down in my Passion Planner.
If you've ever met me in the wild, you will see my Passion Planner in gripped close to my chest. That way I'm ready to make plans.
You don't have to be like me and live with your planner like that. I've just found it eases my anxiety to know what my "plan" or future plans are.
4.) Know what I do, and what I don't know. No one has all the answers. Be confident with what you do know. If there's something you don't know and want to know more about, then go learn about it.
5.) Don't forget to look back once in a while to remind yourself how far you've come. I'm guilty of this. I'm looking ahead of myself so much, I forget to look back and see how far I've come in the past year, 5, 10, even 20 years.
I'm doing things I didn't know I could do! Owning and running my own business was not on my bucket list of life, but here I am seven years later.
Look at what you've done and celebrate yourself. If you're not happy with that then take control of your future. Take it one step at a time. It won't ever be easy, but for me it's been worth it.