I’ve taken the last 11 days off. When you work for yourself this can feel very scary and, frankly, uncomfortable. There are no vacation days except the ones you choose. I completely acknowledge how liberating that choice is, and I am extremely grateful for this work.
I’ve been in business for myself for over six years now. The first couple was when I was also finishing my Ph.D., and I was a life and academic coach. I had an office and everything. Not really the business I have today. It was really really hard the first few years, and the only way I stayed in business was because Stacy had a full-time job. Now I’m able to support myself, and that feels very good. And Stacy works with me now!!!
I remember the day I was at a breaking point and said to the Universe, “Okay, I will give this 9 more months. I will give it my all but if it still isn’t working, I quit.” Turns out I was doing the wrong thing. I wasn’t being me. Within a couple of weeks I started my first #enchantyoureveryday program and 108 days later #sagepriestesstraining was born. That was back in 2014. Life has changed so much. #willingtoliveinmagic I worked thousands and thousands of hours and, truthfully, it kind of bugged me when people would tell me to rest. I really like working.
Well, now I do rest. A lot more. I take WAY better care of myself these days after burning out a couple of times. At first, I didn’t know where my limits were and it took a couple of crashes to learn them.
Burnout is not fun, and now I actually teach on how to work with and avoid it. I’ve learned that I’m no help to anyone if I don’t take care of myself. I’ve also learned that avoiding burnout is more than just self-care. Recovering from burnout is also about being unapologetically me and bringing as much joy as possible into my life and work.
Today we came out and just sat by the ocean. Friends came over in the morning. I cleaned and did the laundry. The most exciting thing that happened was the cats got out and wouldn’t come back in. This kind of stuff fills my cup, and now I’m totally excited and ready to teach and mentor next week! Ebb and flow. Ebb and flow.