Explore Your Enthusiasm

I know, you think you would get more done, and feel less overwhelmed, if you were only better at your time management. But that’s not the problem.

Today we're looking at three things that will help more than a new planner.

Apply to join my new program here: https://forms.gle/d5mwsYw1aFqeFCzcA

A listener asked me for some book recommendations so here are my top favorites in memoir, non-ficition, brain science and encouragement.

Find the entire list of books here:

It’s my hope that by talking about what helped me, I can help you feel less overwhelmed, less disconnected from your life and more tapped into what brings you joy.

Let’s just get right into it: Following your enthusiasm, really nerding out is the way to feel like yourself again. If you, like most of us, have had to take on new caregiver roles during the pandemic or this stage of life - maybe it’s kids, a sick spouse, your parents need care. A lot of us are in the stage of life where we just have more caregiver roles than ever. And while that can feel good and fulfilling…sometimes it doesn’t. In some situations it just feels….hard.

It’s back, baby!

In todays episode I share why I had to stop podcasting, how my family TRIPLED and what’s next for the podcast.

Explore Your Enthusiasm was a weekly creative business show for 6 years. We talked marketing, time, goal-setting and profitability in your creative work. And then, pandemic one April, newborn in NICU in July and three more kiddos (under 4yo), in September.

But I’m ready to come back. Listen in to what’s changed and what you can expect next.

Find the new site at TaraSwiger.com (soon!)

Remember when I said the podcast was coming back? That VERY week, I became the mom of three more kids! 
Tune in to hear how my family expanded so quickly and what's next. 

Don’t miss the next episode and all my news, sign up here: http://taraswiger.com/list

Join the Facebook group for recipes and live convos:https://www.facebook.com/groups/essentialenthusiasm/

Follow me on Instagram: http://instagram.com/taraswiger 

Find these shownotes (and 300+ more episodes!) here: http://taraswiger.com/4kids

I have a baby! I stopped selling my main product! Listen in to learn why! 

After publishing an episode every single week for 6 years, the pandemic and life really threw me for a loop and it's been four months since a regular weekly podcast. 

Well, I have good news - the podcast is back to it's normal weekly schedule!

This week we're going to talk about the big changes in my life in my business, why I made the big changes that I did, and what lessons you can learn from my process.

Find the full transcript here: http://taraswiger.com/podcast309

It's time to share my favorite books of March - June. I read 25 books and so many were so good! FInd the full shownotes at TaraSwiger.com/podcast308. 

Today's episode is brought to you by Hank Green and his upcoming book A Brilliantly Foolish Endeavor. Find more at HankGreen.com 

The books I loved:

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

• Support indies
• Buy from Amazon

 

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

I talked more about this book in this reading vlog

• Buy it here.
  
• From Amazon:  

The City We Became by NK Jemisin 

• Support indies
• Buy from Amazon

We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry

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• Buy from Amazon

Queenie by Cadace Carty-Williams

• Support indies
• Buy from Amazon

 

The HIlarious World of Depression by John Moe

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• Buy from Amazon

Courtroom Thrillers I loved: 

• Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
• A Good Marriage by Kimberley McCreight

As I was thinking about if I wanted to record and what, if anything, I wanted to share, I realized that what YOU come here for is help with your business and encouragement in building it. And the best way I can serve you right now is to tell you other awesome business podcasts to listen to, while I continue my podcast hiatus, specifically podcasts by black women. 

Because here’s the thing - we all have implicit (meaning unconscious) biases. These biases affect what we listen to, who we pay attention to, who we trust. 

One of the ways we defeat these biases is to notice them and then work at changing them. And one of the best ways is to pay attention and then purposefully change your feeds. 

Changing your feeds isn’t the ONLY step, you also need to be educating yourself and interrogating your beliefs! 

 Book Recommendations for educating yourself on how to be anti-racist:

• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad (only $2.99 on Kindle!)
• How to be an AntiRacist by Ibram X Kendi

But changing your feed is an important step because, now more than ever, your reality and your beliefs are SHAPED by your feeds. Google and Facebook show you search results and NEWS based on your feeds and activity. 

Your world is being created by the voices you actively choose to listen to. 

Your life is created by your actions, your actions are caused by your thoughts and your thoughts are being shaped by what you see online, especially in spaces YOU and the algorithms have curated.

So let’s get your feeds full of brilliant black business women. 

Side Hustle Pro by Nicaila Mathews Okome

Nicaila interviews black women entrepreneurs who have scaled their side hustles into full-time entrepreneurship. Lately she’s been doing a “rewind” episodes where she shares the steps in her own business journey. I think y’all will like  episode 199 where she shares how to start a side hustle and her own journey and episode  195, where she talks to a jewelry designer who hustled for 10 years before turning it into a full-time business. 

 

Pimp your brilliance with Monique Malcom

Lessons on finances, business, creating a plan to turn your creative passion into a business. Monique is real about her struggles and the feel of the show is more casual, like this one. I think you’ll like episode 83: 5 ways to find focus while social distancing and episode 78: 6 systems for your creative business.

 

Support is sexy with Elayne Fluker

Elayne does interviews with a variety of women entrepreneurs, including Etsy sellers, authors  and psychologists and doctors. There is a great episode from May 1 on dealing with stress during coronavirus, where Elayne speaks with a therapist. I think listeners of this podcast will really want to tune in to episode 725 on how to build a million dollar Etsy business. 

 

Journey to Launch with Jamila Soufrant

This is a financial focused podcast that has interviews with many entrepreneurs and regular folks who have paid off their debt. I think you’ll like episode 129 on quitting your dayjob to follow your creative passion.

 

Be School withTaylor Elyse

Taylor is an embodiment coach and the focus of her show is on mindset and confidence and flow. Be School is a combination of interviews and mini-lessons, similar to the ones I teach here. Her episodes always encourage me. She posts new episodes TWICE a week, so if you’re desperate for new episodes, list in! I think you’ll love episode 304: Imposter Syndrome.

Now, these are just the business shows I like, and I don’t even really listen to business podcasts! Lemme know your fave podcasts by black women  over on Instagram I’m @TaraSwiger 

I’m extending my unplanned podcast break into a full summer sabbatical. I will go back to weekly episodes of Explore Your Enthusiasm the first week of August! Until then, you can find new bookish videos on YouTube.

Find the shownotes and more episodes at http://taraswiger.com/podcast307 

What if you are just not getting things done? What if you just can NOT get things done? Before you start beating yourself up, ask yourself: is this just a season of my life?

I recorded this episode over a year ago, when I was a brand-new mom, but it's so appropriate for what we're ALL going through right now - a completely new season in our life and business. 

 

Find the shownotes with the full transcript here: http://taraswiger.com/podcast306

How do you find joy and enthusiasm for anything when everything is turned upside down? That’s what I’ve been thinking about this past week. 

As you know if you’ve been listening for a while, my fundamental business belief, what shapes everything I do and how I work with makers and designers, is that your business will thrive and YOU will feel best about it when you follow your enthusiasm. What do I mean by enthusiasm? I like the definition:  intense or eager enjoyment or interest.

You can follow your enthusiasm IN your business, by working on projects you love, letting go of expectations about what you “should” do, working with the kind of clients that you prefer. You can follow your enthusiasm outside of your business by allowing yourself to work on non-business projects and filling up your enthusiasm well with things that seem completely unrelated (for me lately it’s reading, and making bookish videos, which you can find on YouTube. Other times it’s been quilting or knitting). 

But with everything uncertain and stressful and all the change...how do we find any enthusiasm? 

I don’t know about your coronovirus situation, but mine is full of...obligation and responsibility.
Basically, we’re all having to do a lot of things we don’t want to do, or that we’re not prepared to do, or that are just hard. 

On top of that, you have your business - maybe it is doing just fine, maybe it has lost some of it’s sales channels, maybe you’ve lost all your working hours, when you would work on it. 

So does the idea of enthusiasm and joy really have a place in our current situation?

In my experience, yes. 

Not because things aren’t hard or we’re going to pretend everything is great. But because now, more than ever, you need to take care of your best business resource, and your family’s most important resource - your wellbeing. A key ingredient to your mental and emotional wellbeing is doing things that are just fun. That you get excited about, that brings you joy, or just interests you. 

 

But how do you tap into that enthusiasm?

Fine all of the suggestions here: http://taraswiger.com/podcast305

We will bounce back.