A Necessary Reset

It took a little less than a year from the idea stage through launching Hard Stop.

It was an intense year.

In that time, my insights business was growing, my kids were in elementary school, and life was – full. Busy.

And I was doing the best I could to be on LinkedIn regularly, visible, and engaging with my network for both the business and the book.

It was when I was in Brazil for the month a week after the launch of the book that I realized that what I needed more than anything was my own hard stop.??

My family and I took a week to go to the Amazon for the first time. I? was enjoying my time with them yet found my mind still “on” – thinking about the moments we were having through the lens of how I could make it “content”, how I could share about it in the context of living intentionally, how I could make it an interesting story to share with people in my network.? It wasn’t on purpose. I had been on the lookout for examples for the last year to add to the book and my brain was now always making these connections.

• We were fishing for piranhas one day and? I thought “I could write about not knowing the dangers below the surface”, or? - “There’s something about small things having a big bite and isn’t that the case for when we underestimate the ‘small things’?.? “The small things are what become the big things!”? Lots of options for this one.?
• Hiking with an indigenous guide: something about the power of getting out of your comfort zone. Or really allowing yourself to be in the moment, not thinking about anything else.? Or being open for the experience, but always being prepared (as in the front and the back they were carrying machetes)
• Driving 2+ hours into the Amazon to get where we were staying: Enjoying the journey. Bumps along the road. Etc. etc., etc.,...

All these pithy observations were coming at me non-stop and I knew I needed to allow myself to take a mental break. From all of it.?

I talk a lot in Hard Stop about being intentional about how you spend your days; how you spend your days become your weeks, your months, your years, your LIFE — and I knew that I needed to intentionally "own" how I was spending my days while I was away. I needed to shut down for a bit, just enjoy the time with my family, focus energy on those things and regroup, reset after what I can now look back on and realize was a pretty intense year writing and launching my first book while still working full time and mom’ing, and making time for other things in my life.?

So, thank you for continuing to follow the Hard Stop newsletter during my hiatus. I’m back, I’m re-energized, and I’m ready to continue sharing the regular message about priorities, boundaries, and balance as I see it in my life.? And looking forward to re-engaging with you all!?