[00:00:00] Sometimes life and work get to the point where you might ask yourself, okay, is it time to throw in the towel? In this episode, I'm going to share my perspectives and how I've been dealing with this personally. So buckle up. This is a real and raw episode.
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[00:00:47] This last month was a big month for us over here and we launched two programs. And life has just also been a lot personally. A lot goes into launching the bookkeeping biz workshops, especially now that we only launched twice a year, we've created a lot of moving pieces. And while a lot of it is rinse and repeat admittedly, we might be, over-complicating a few things.
[00:01:11] We prepped for launches months in advance. There is a lot to be set up on the backend. And we're always adding those little things in to try to make things. A better experience for our students and easier for us the next time and it's no secret to you that I also run a bookkeeping firm. I've had a lot of back and forth with myself about my ultimate vision for both companies. And I needed to create more space to take a step back and figure things out because I was feeling like throwing in the towel on literally everything. So, if you've ever felt like this, about your business, I want to share with you. How I've taken myself through these feelings and what things look like on the other side.
[00:01:53] So number one. And this is exactly what I did is take a hiatus, take a hiatus from whatever you feel like is taking up a lot of space in your life that might not be necessary. And for me, I immediately knew that I needed to create more space and to silence the noise.
[00:02:12] And my coach described the feeling as being touched out. So as a mom, you get that. Feeling by the end of a day, when you have lots of kids that are touching you all day long, you feel touched out. And this is how I was starting to feel in my businesses. I felt touched out. And the easiest quickest win for this was to take a hiatus from social media. So if you follow me on any of the socials you'll know, especially if you try to direct message me on Instagram or Facebook, you probably got an auto response that said, Hey, we're taking a much needed hiatus from social And. So I immediately, as soon as I knew this, as soon as I felt this in my bones, that I just needed more space and I, needed to take this hiatus, I deleted all of the social media apps for my phone right away. I didn't talk to anybody about it first. I didn't explain to anyone or get their input. I just knew inside of my body that I needed to do this. And it is incredible how much time this had freed me up and my energy.
[00:03:16] And number two. I'm also now highly aware of how often I reach for my phone and open it up either to scroll, to check out emotionally or mentally or just to waste time. Not, I don't do it to waste time, but just how much time it, I was wasting rather than intentionally going in to post and get out.
[00:03:36] Now when I do, when I go reach for my phone, during my hiatus, I would pause and think, oh, I have nothing to check. I can only check my email so many times. And honestly, I don't care about what's going on in my email either. So it caused me to really get real with myself at how much time I was spending on my phone.
[00:03:58] So my number two recommendation, if you're feeling like throwing in the towel, number one is to take a hiatus from whatever the thing is that is taking a lot of your time and energy that might not be helpful. And my number two recommendation is to start focusing on your personal relationships and healing yourself in that space that you are creating now.
[00:04:21] And what that allowed for me is not having social media on my phone is I have more time with my kids being present. So I'm actually sitting there engaging with them, playing on. A game or reading books to them instead of being like, sort of there and sort of present. And it's. Enabled me to take more time to connect with my teenager as well. So if you have older kids, I have an older child and younger kids, so I can relate to any of you who have children in any age the teenagers and the preteens are, it's just as important to be able to be present with them and take time connecting with them. So that allowed me to do those things. And with your partners and your spouses. Just not even having the pull or of your attention on your phone or your social media.
[00:05:19] The number three thing is to brain dump. Everything that is weighing on you. Whether it's a to-do list. If it's your frustrations. If it's the goals that you're trying to reach, just brain dump, anything that's coming to your mind to get it out. We get really stuck in our thoughts in our head. When we just ruminate on things and think about them and think about them and think about them. And they have nowhere to go because we're not able to action them for whatever reason. So I want you to brain dump everything that has been weighing on you.
[00:05:53] Uh, number four. Block your calendar and cancel any meetings that aren't necessary for at least two weeks. So I got really ruthless and I asked my team to help me protect my energy. So basically we started denying any podcast, interview requests. Whether on our podcast or, for me to go on theirs, I basically, it just forwarded things to Mariah. If they came straight to me or if they went to her in the first place. She just knew to tell them Serena's not taking any extra interviews or whatever it is that they're requesting of my time. She's not taking anything until the new year. So check back with me then, and then it puts the ball back in their court to do the follow-up later that year. If you know, you don't even want to do anything in the future with them, just say, we're not taking anything at this time.
[00:06:45] So I did that for two weeks. I had myself and my team protecting the s*** out of my time. Protect that precious energy that you're working to replenish. It's just like when we advise our clients to. change a habit. The first thing I always recommend is stop the bleeding. So how can you stop the bleeding? Well, don't take any extra meetings. Don't take on anything, extra going forward. Same with raising prices. If you want to raise your prices, raise your prices on anything going forward. Stop the bleeding. And I recommend this to my clients too. If they're overspending, if they are using their personal account for a bunch of business stuff, stop the bleeding by blocking that debit card or that credit card.
[00:07:28] And then try not to fill it with more to do, but allow that time to rest, read a novel. Allow yourself to be bored. Give yourself that think time. So for me, I downloaded a book by, someone that is local to me in Prescott, Arizona. She runs a coffee cart and I chit chat with her almost every morning that I go over and get coffee from her. And, she was telling me that she writes novels and it's my favorite kind of novel. It's a young adult fantasy fiction. Um, And so she has a trilogy that she's working on. The first book is released. She's about 60 to 70% through the second book. And so I downloaded her first book. It is amazing by the way, I will link it in the show notes. If you're into mermaids and, fantasy fiction for young adults. You will love it. And so I downloaded that novel and instead of reaching for my phone, two. To scroll.
[00:08:25] I've now been reading things that I enjoy and. I'm not reading business books. That's the other thing is I have plenty of ideas. I have plenty of things swirling around in my head, around my business. The last thing I need is more business ideas. So if you're feeling that as well, pick up whatever type of book you prefer to read. Maybe when you were a teenager or a child and do that, or pick up a craft that you've been letting go and just allow yourself that time and space to rest your brain.
[00:08:58] And number five. After everything has silenced and you're in full detox mode. Spend time thinking about your actual vision, what will it take to get there? what are you willing to sacrifice? Now here you can either journal on this or just allow yourself the time to, think on it for. Days at a time. go take a walk and let yourself truly think about it. And. Map out the scenarios. So if I sacrifice this, like how will I feel at the end of it? Is it worth it? What will it take to get there? How can I get there? Asking yourself the deep questions.
[00:09:43] And the number six. Listen to inspiring content. If you're really in a rut. And this one isn't really required and honestly tread lightly here because you could just be adding to the noise. If you turn on a podcast and it really isn't serving you or adding value to you, it is okay to mark it as played and delete it. You do not have to binge every piece of content that someone puts out there. If you are a loyal follower, I know I've fallen into this trap of feeling like, oh my gosh, I'm so behind on podcasts, I used to listen to this religiously. I used to listen to everything that this person put But if that content that you are listening to, if you turn that podcast on one day and you're like, this is not what I need to hear. you know, it's not helping me in this moment, you can mark it as played and delete it. It's the same with like giving yourself permission to start a book. And if you really don't enjoy the book, just closing it and not picking it up again. And finding something else to listen to, or to read and stop listening to things that aren't in alignment for you. It is okay to unsubscribe and unfollow podcasts or people online That are not in alignment for where you're trying to go. That don't hold the same values as you, or if it just feels like a lot of noise right now, it is okay to just unsubscribe.
[00:11:06] And number seven. Reflect. Reflect on. How did you get into this mess? Have you been over committing? I know that was a big one for me. I am my own worst enemy here. I have over committed. I've said yes to too many things, because I was afraid of missing the opportunity. And if you're resenting something, what are you resenting exactly? And what got you here? If you're resenting, needing to show up to all of these calls, what got you there? Over-committing? Saying yes to too many things?
[00:11:40] And now what needs to change, what needs to change right now in this moment and what needs to change going forward? And how can you implement that? These are some questions that you will just have to do the reflection on and make those decisions. I hope that. This episode has helped you in some way. And I wish that I could.
[00:12:03] At the beginning of the episode, I said, and what it's like to be on the other side of it. I wish I could actually say that I'm on the other side of this and I've, I've gotten through it and made all the hard decisions. But the reality is this is a constant. Thing for a lot of us and we have to. Just take it. Step-by-step what is the next right move that I can make? Whether it's deleting your social media, whether it's just blocking off your calendar.
[00:12:32] There may not be. An overnight thing that happens that fixes everything. You may just have to start putting different habits in place. And so that's where I'm at right now. I am not technically on the other side of this, I am still in it. I am still working on guarding my calendar. I am still working on keeping my boundaries with social media. I'm still working on.
[00:12:56] Remaining present for my children. I'm still working on all of this. So take heart. If you are in this and you feel like there is no other side yet. I think it's really about. Creating the habits that are going to serve you in the future. And doing what you need to do today. even if it's a little thing. to take care of yourself. So, I'm here for you. Shoot me a DM. If this podcast resonated with you. Uh, reply back to the email that you got to listen to this podcast and, you're not alone. Alrighty. I will talk to you guys next week. We have some really great guests, uh, scheduled for the rest of this year. So make sure that you're subscribed.
[00:13:43] Unless this podcast is not in alignment for where you're at. That is. Okay. I'm okay with use unsubscribing. You have my permission. Not that you need it. But yeah, we do have some really great, guests slated for the rest of this year. I know that, November, December is usually a slower time for some of us. We kind of reflect back and reflect, reflect forward? I don't know if that's a thing project forward? On what we want the next year to look like. So I'm going to be bringing some valuable guests on to help you with some of that planning. Through the end of the year. And I hope that you are here for it. And I'll talk to you soon.
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