Fancy a Swim in the Sea? (& Other ways to not get lost)

I've been catching myself from getting lost in other people's schedules, family life responsibilities and power procrastination...I've just returned to Instagram for all the birth related work that I do and scrolling is back on the agenda, apparently! I've also become a pro at ticking off the little to do's rather than facing the big frogs, and over planning in ratio to the action needed.

One of my blindspots is timeframes. I already know this about myself. It's been the same since school. I also know that timeframes are always longer than we usually think, so for me sometimes that's even more exaggerated. Not always but sometimes. I wrote about timeframes recently. If you struggle with this too and missed this article, I recommend that you read it. (link at end of this article)

Here's what do I do when I'm in this "getting lost"?mode when getting lost isn't an option.

For context, for me, what I mean by getting lost is overthinking, procrastinating, little sense of direction of what the next best step is, poor scheduling, which can all be a breading ground for negative self talk, comfort eating, low self-belief and self-worth, doubts about what I'm doing and/or what the business is doing, resulting in not taking action.

Number One

Sometimes as quick fix to get myself out of this funk?I'll do 20 star jumps. Yes, it's a bit weird but it works!! I sometimes get clients to do this during a session if they are feeling anxious and/or overthinking. It helps them to self-regulate and refocus without the brain effort.

This helps in the moment and is a great replacement for impulsively reaching for caffeine. After removing coffee for 10months last year, and then reintroducing it without attachment, the temptation has been slowly creeping back. It seems to distract and energises your brain at the same time, helping you get clarity on what you need to do next without overthinking it.

Number Two

I've also?given myself?permission?to intentionally spend some more time planning?the action that I want to take instead of diving in head first messily and unproductively. Slowing things down and trusting the process to recalibrate...

Life has been pretty mental recently, with lots of visitors, holidays, bank holidays as well as planned and unplanned school strikes on top of the usual chaos of being a pro juggler of many things. It takes some adjustment sometimes to recalibrate and find a rhythm and energy again.

However, it's important to me to ensure that recalibration doesn't edge it's way into procrastination. How that's measured will be different to each individual. For me, it's intentional and I can quite obviously see that after giving myself this time my plans are so tightly mapped out, there is nothing useful that could add more value, and any more I would consider faffing (unimportant and ineffective for non-Brits).

Number Three

On Wednesday mornings I've recently been waking up at 05:30 to get a train to go outside of Lisbon and go swimming in the FREEZING cold sea. When I say freezing I don't think you could even begin to imagine it. Portugal is on the Atlantic Coast, the sea is always cold but that time of morning without the heat of the sunshine, it's freezing. It's also invigorating and makes me feel so alive with a visceral reminder of how powerful nature is! There are huge health benefits associated with cold therapy,?Wim Hof style. Also, when I say swimming it's usually more like floating, although the last sea swim was literally woman versus waves.

An incredibly energising experience and setting the tone for a day of Growth.

(Leading me nicely onto) Number Four

Wednesdays are my Growth days. My calendar is time blocked in the morning for "My Thinking Space" where I can reflect on the week, month, year, life, circumstances, vision and present moment.

Then I'll schedule things that are contributing to my growth, such as writing, journalling, exercise, reading, or participating in a learning platform or community I'm part of such as business coaching, women's health studies, further developing my coaching skills and learnings, or within that context.

Sometimes I will plan to go an exhibition, see a film, usually something cultural. Not to say that some client sessions or opportunities to connect with people don't apply here but I am super selective. It has to contribute to my growth.

The reason this is so important is coming from a highly intensive working all day and night regularly falling asleep at my laptop kind of environment, time ran away with me and I've chosen a different life where I get to tune into what's happening and where I am at. I have created this and want this for myself. It keeps me energised, inspired, interested, present and not burned out.

My main motivators to generating more energy is the discipline and commitment to myself and everyone I interact with for a better, intentional, more connected and supported life.

I've realised that so much of what I do in my life day to day, the way that I create myself and my environment, is actually preparing me for the work that I do with my clients. It's creating the conditions for me to be in a certain state of mind and body to be able to do the work that I do.

To create the space for others to be vulnerable, voice their aspirations, share their fears, all in a really powerful way.

To be fully present with my clients, whether it's coaching, Hypnobirthing or consulting.

To actively listen without personal opinions or judgements.

To lead, encourage, challenge and comfort them.

It also makes me a much better wife, mother and friend!

When I first started this work it actually used to be quite draining. I would literally feel sick after teaching a Hypnobirthing antenatal class or a coaching session. Mostly because I didn't have any boundaries in place for myself and my use of energy physically, mentally and emotionally...I'll talk about boundaries soon and give you some super useful tools around this.

I was very much getting lost in my business but from a different angle.

Now I have a structure and routine in place that allows me to feel only energised by the work that I do...most of the time anyway, we are all human after all.

Even with these things in place, life still happens. Life is messy most of the time.

So if you've been distracted and getting a bit lost, me too!!

Sometimes it's helpful to know we aren't alone and what we see or don't see doesn't usually give the full picture!

I'd love to know...In what ways do you feel energised?

Where do you see your lifestyle choices and your business role affect each other?

What does Getting Lost look like to you?

Do you have cold showers or similar?

Article about Timeframes

#entrepreneurship #reframe #energy #focus #create #business #consciousness #intention