More to the point, where I’ve been?
Excellent question and one I needed to answer before I was ready to start releasing new content. I’ve done that – this episode will give you some insight into what I’ve been doing and why I haven’t released a new episode since February.
Take care of yourself
I started this episode with a message about the business mastermind group I’m part of. We meet every Friday morning. This year we’ve decided to change things up a bit and have developed quarterly themes to discuss. During the second quarter of 2022, we talked about self-care.
Eating habits. Time management. Organization. Boundaries. Exercise. Happiness.
All of these topics helped me put into words the reason for my absence for the last five months.
Eating habits: I feel better when I eat better. I’m more alert and have better focus. Eating better is a priority.
Time Management: Going back to a paper calendar has been very helpful in keeping me on track.
Organization: Let’s face it…. this is a work in progress. But using online tools like Trello is helpful.
Boundaries: Between setting boundaries for the time I do client work or work on my business, this discussion helped me see opportunities for reinforcing some boundaries and letting some go. Combine this with time blocking discussed in the Time Management meeting, I am making progress.
Exercise: I’ve set a goal of doing some sort of exercise – walking, golfing, weight lifting, gardening, etc – at least three times a week. Again… a work in progress.
Happiness: We read and discussed the book The Happiness Advantage: How a Positive Brain Fuels Sucess in Work and Life by Shawn Achor. It’s a good book filled with simple strategies to shift your focus from sadness, frustration, defeat, or other negative focus to a positive one. I’ll be talking more about this in a future episode.
Changes to the podcast
As part of the boundary work I’ve been considering, I am going to move from a weekly podcast to a twice-per-month sequence. I hit the 100-episode mark and recognized I was working much harder (meaning time) on the podcast than I had been initially and it was starting to feel like work.
I’ll still be doing a combination of solo and interview shows. But I’m going to focus on delivering on what I strive for with each of my clients: clarity, consistency, and confidence.
Resources Mentioned in this podcast
- 10% Happier I have the paid version of the app. The sleep meditations have been very helpful. And the Healthy Habits challenge is also really good.
- Episode 461: 4 Ways Not To Be Owned by your Sh*t; 10% Happier podcast – great episode that connects with this topic really well
- Time blocking – the linked blog gives a great overview of what it is and how to get started.
- Weekly paper planners – this Amazon link provides a number of examples of the type of calendar I am using to manage my weekly schedule. Also note, that I am an affiliate and will not receive any compensation should you decide to purchase one of these calendars.
- Zentangle – a meditative drawing technique I’ve been doing for several years
- What’d I Miss – my favorite song (or one of my faves) from Hamilton
- The Pursuit of Purpose, Archive part 1
- The Pursuit of Purpose, Archive part 2
