If you’re like many other sensitive souls, you would have found the last couple of months to have been quite a roller coaster. So much funky energy triggering us, slowing us down and making us reassess everything. When we’re in the middle of it, it can feel overwhelming and we wonder if we’ll ever to get to the other side. But like all funky spells, they do end and we finally start to feel like ourselves again.
For me, I was called to slow down, reassess my life and business and just spend time with my new puppy Evie! She has brought such love, joy and calm to my life and I’m enjoying every minute with her.
Before Evie I was dancing with burnout and I think burnout may have been winning. Like so many people I was on the hamster wheel of constant launching and serving others, with no real time for me. It doesn’t matter how much you love what you do (and I really love my work) you need balance and you need to have fun and play time in your life. As business owners and entrepreneurs we have the choice to design our life and business our way, but often what happens is we get sucked into doing things that aren’t right for us, we struggle to let go of the clients, products and programs that we’ve outgrown and we simply try and do too much… often for low pay or for free. Especially if we have a big vision and a big heart!
So this is my invitation to you, to take a breath and assess your own business and ask yourself if everything is still working for you! Being in alignment is definitely part of the solution in avoiding burnout…I’ll share my own journey with this, so you have a starting point.
About six weeks back I was exhausted and I knew the pace I was working at just wasn’t sustainable. I was trying to be all things to all people and doing sooooo many launches it was crazy and work was losing it’s joy. I leaned into how I felt about all areas of my business and I asked myself what needed to change, because things definitely weren’t feeling right. I spent the weekend reflecting, journalling and meditating and I completely trusted my feelings and what was emerging. I believe that all emotions tell us something, if we’re prepared to listen and we don’t judge ourselves for what is coming up. A couple of days later I was hit with such clarity… I knew exactly what I needed to do and so I took action straight away. In the past I would have procrastinated due to the fear of how this would all be received and if these choices would impact my income, but in that moment I knew it was right for me. I also trusted that being in total alignment with myself would mean an abundance of perfect clients, opportunities and money, plus I would have more joy in my business and work again.
I’m going to share what I’ve done so far (because it’s still unfolding for me, several weeks later) and I invite you to reflect on these things for your business too:
• I looked at when I wanted to work – for me this meant reducing my evening commitments, so that I would actually get to spend more quality time with my kids. Being a single mum, I’ve done what was necessary to ensure they had everything they needed, but ultimately what they need is my emotional presence. Plus, I was getting tired after 5 years of working evenings, as well as during the day and I knew that this pace wasn’t sustainable. I have every intention of helping and educating others until the day I die (no retirement plans for me – slowing down yes, stopping… never!) so a change was needed.
• I looked at how much I was working with clients and groups and how much of my energy this was taking – I decided to reduce the number of group calls I was committing to each week. Some of these could be combined with other calls and some I didn’t really need to attend. It was time to streamline and prioritise. As I was now choosing to fit everything into a 9 -3pm day, this meant choosing to have less 1-1 slots available. Which takes me to the next point.
• How many people do I want to work with at any one time and do I want short or long term relationships with them – with less 1-1 time free, I had to decide who I really wanted to spend my precious time with. I love working with spiritual women who inspire me. Holding space for them as they do the inner work and holding them accountable for their dreams really excites me, especially when I see their life changing. So with this in mind, I decided that I wanted to work and support people over the long term, not just people who want to try me and my healing modalities out, or have a boost when they’re low. You’re either committed to me, or you aren’t. Sessions here and there (for people outside of my groups and who’ve not worked with me before) just don’t do it for me. There’s all this pressure, as people want to be fixed straight away and that’s just not the way this works.
• What was I offering – I was happy with everything I was offering and delivering, apart from some topics within a new program I was offering. As part of the first run through, I had identified things that I didn’t want to teach people about, I just didn’t feel passionate enough about it and I knew someone else could do it more justice. As the saying goes, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should! I got clear on what I wanted to talk about and enjoyed talking about and then restructured the program, so it brought me joy! I have no doubt this will continue to evolve and I’m loving the second live round already!
• Was I taking on too much responsibility for others and were my boundaries weak – these are classic traits of an empath and the answer was yes! Even though I thought I wasn’t, I could feel the heaviness in my energy at times. The thing is, I can only do so much for others…. the same applies to you and your clients. We can’t make them do the deeper healing, change their habits and behaviours, make them take certain action or even take away their pain. Only they can do that. I needed to let go of wanting everyone to be successful, happy and pain free. I decided it was also time to value myself more and set loving boundaries. I was ready for my time, my expertise and my knowledge to be respected….the trouble is people treat you how you allow them to treat you and so sometimes you have to draw a line in the sand and say – ‘this isn’t acceptable to me’. First step is acknowledging this within you, then taking action.
Realignment is always a journey, because as we grow and evolve, so too does our business. For now, this is where I’ve landed and already I feel lighter and more free. Dancing on the edge of burnout brought everything into my awareness and gave me permission to make changes. Plus I wanted to put my children and new puppy first!
So perhaps use this post, to think about what changes you need to make within your own business. Whether you’re experiencing misalignment or dancing with burnout, you need to take action. This is your business and life and so you get to create the rules.
Your soul knows exactly where it’s heading, so surrender and let it take the driving seat!
Just know that you’re not alone and my support is available if you would like it.
Until next time!
Marie
Helping sensitive souls to embody self-care, self-acceptance and self belief