I almost lost everything when I kicked rocks. It was a devastating lesson to learn. My senses were dulled and my head was spinning as I made the stunning realization that I am going to talk about in this episode. So stay tuned!
Go Ahead and Kick Rocks. It relieves you of having to deal with distractions too often, for no good reason. At least it feels that way.
Sometimes, this is the approach that you must adopt to get things done, especially with loved ones. I know it sounds rude but no matter how you tell them that you must stay on schedule, you must stay in it, you must persevere, it sounds rude to them.
This is my balance developing story:
I fell head over heels in love and almost gave up everything. The only thing I could think of was being with my person. After losing most of my business and possibly wrecking all that I had worked for, I came to a realization.
In coming to my senses, I went totally the opposite extreme of cutting everyone off to get my business back on track. Guess what happened, I ended up giving up my love.
I was still not happy.
This is when I realized that balance is necessary. It took me a while to see that balance was not only beneficial to my revenue but it was beneficial to my loved ones. There is a saying, a man can't live by bread alone. It should have been, "Man can't live by love alone.
I developed a schedule and shared it and did my best to stick to it. It took fortitude to stifled the mental chaos every day. I verified the pros and cons of each action against each benefit. The good habits became second nature. That's when I came up with "create habits and outstanding success, CHAOS!
Back to Kicking Rocks. In learning to balance my life I learned some ways to circumvent the rudeness.
Here are a few:
I printed out my schedule and shared it with my loved one in a sit-down conversation about the benefits that they will reap if I stay on task.
Another suggestion is to create time blocks for your VIP to make them a priority.
Don't forget to celebrate each milestone that you reach, with them because without their support you would be celebrating alone.
Try to work when they are not around, if possible, and take breaks for power naps, quick smooches, and caresses.
In an article that Lisa Evans wrote for the Entrepreneur.com "How to Balance a Growing Business When Your Family Is Growing Too" She quoted Jas Brar, CEO of Entripy Custom Clothing. He said, "during busy times, he would go into the office at 4:30 am and leave by 7 am, just in time for the kids to wake-up. “
If you have that am flexibility lucky you! If you don't, then find it somewhere else in the day. It will take sacrifice and commitment but be sure to balance.
Another suggestion is when cleaning out your email box, send a "just thinking of you" message. This goes a long way in making them feel thought of.
With our current COVID-19 season, stay in touch virtually with the friends and family that live outside of your home.
Here are some tips for balancing your work and off-site family:
Set business hours and stick to them.
Change your voicemail that states your business hours.
Attend virtual family events and reiterate what you are working and the next big thing that they can expect to happen in your business. This way you let them know you are still moving forward and their support is appreciated.
Sometimes our rudeness will come from the deficiencies we allow to creep into our life. Such as not eating regularly, not exercising, and not taking a much-needed power nap.
Don't do that to yourself….have some compassion for yourself so that you can extend your compassion to others. Planning is a great way to keep track of your work, business, family, and self provisions.
I use a spreadsheet that you can find on my website. Called "Daily Schedule."
Just go to Listeninggift.com and download it.
If you need some additional help with how to work a spreadsheet, go to the Resources/How-To Videos for more. If there is something you want to learn, let me know and I will do a video on it.
Back to Kicking Rocks. Kick Rocks does not just apply to keep people from distracting you. Your business can have distractions that distract you.
Learn to prioritize at work.
Take phone calls twice a day. Make phone calls once a day, close to the time that you take phone calls. That way you can take phone calls from those who call you back immediately. Keep a log and update your CRM. For those of you who are late bloomers like me, a CRM is customer relationship management software.
There are hundreds. Here a few that I have used with my clients: Mailchimp, Hubspot, 17 Hats, Aweber, Constant Contacts, Keap, Contactually, Caterease, and Infusionsoft.
I like a cohesive infrastructure so I use HostQDomains.com for my Email marketing (CRM), domain names, and websites, and website hosting.
More balance strategies are to do emails twice a day. No social media until work is done. You know it’s a time suck and it can wait. Stick to your business hours. Nothing is more urgent than your health and well being.
Don't take on more than you can handle and if you do, ask for help from family, friends, or a resource. As a virtual assistant, I take on small tasks as well as large projects. Many of my clients find me through venting to their family, friends, or associates. My business is 100% referral. So ask around. If your finances are strained, barter. Bartering has been around since the pilgrims and Indians.
Let's talk about mental chaos. Is your mind clear, precise, focused, and stress-free? If you said no to any of these it is time to stifle mental chaos. If you are like me, I believe in God. That allows me to release the mental chaos and believe that everything is going to be alright. Use whatever you believe in to let go of what you have no control of. There are all types of mental distractions that people use, such as:
- Journaling
- Meditation
- Mindfulness Breathing
- Tapping
- Chanting
- Clearing your chakras
- Reiki
- Yoga
- Exercising
- Running
- Sports, and
- Taking long drives
If it is something you can control or change, please do it! I know that we hesitate when it is time to change but do it anyway. Most of the time, we wonder why we did it so late.
I'm just saying, go ahead and kick rocks but with a velvet boot.
If you listening this far, I really appreciate you giving me your time and energy.
I hope I added value to your life and there was at least one takeaway.
The next show will air on June 24th.
You can contact me on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram at CoachTerrilynn
Speaking of takeaway, don't forget to go get your listening gift at listeninggift.com. It will certainly help stifle the mental chaos. Until next time…create habits and outstanding success right here on CHAOS.
Listening Gift for Episode 2 - https://bit.ly/3cdov6G
