When I realized I hadn’t published a blog post all week, it dawned on me that maybe I really have had too much on my plate lately!
I also realized — once again — that just like our clients, I’m likely to “let things go” physically until I’m out of whack. And I’m wondering if it’s just me?
How well do you take care of yourself? What are the tell-tale signs that you need to do a better job of putting yourself ahead of ‘things’ that need to be done, or other people who need attention?
And how does that affect your business? … because that’s even if you’d rather not think about it that way, if you have a practice where you find your own clients, you have a business 🙂
In my case, the excuse I often make for neglecting myself is that I have so much work to do, I just don’t have time. But in truth, I know that when I’m overwhelmed, my business doesn’t run as smoothly as I want it to, because I didn’t put on my own oxygen mask first!
Luckily, I have a wonderful, supportive mastermind partner, who doesn’t let me get away with too much! A couple of days ago, she got on my case about doing something that would feel guilty — read a book, take a walk, knit — anything that I wouldn’t normally do because “I have so much to do” — but would enjoy to the point of feeling as if I were doing something to take care of myself.
It was a great first step, and yesterday, I was lucky enough to follow it up with a session with my husband, who is also a practitioner Michael. I feel better than I have in two weeks. And I got more done after that lesson, with less stress and a better feeling about the entire world and my place in it, than I’ve been able to do in a long time. And that includes this blog post, which has taken me almost no time to write!
So… how about you? Do you get out of whack like that? Do you have a partner where you live that you exchange sessions with on a regular basis? The older I get, the more I appreciate being married to a fellow practitioner — and I know how lucky I am! Or — maybe you get what you need from preparing to teach.
Leave me a comment and let me know how it works for you!
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photo: www.123rf.com
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2 thoughts on “Are you taking care of yourself?”
My biggest way of not taking care of myself is getting too busy. When I feel like I don’t have time to be creative and do “me” things my stress level builds and builds – even if the “work” I am doing is very satisfying. Someone once advised me that there are two kinds of business activity. #1 Those that specifically generate income, and #2 those that are the work of getting you to the point where you can do #1. She said many people spend too much time in #2. When I have that “too busy” feeling it’s usually because of that. That is one of the reasons I started looking into having an online scheduling calendar. Huge amounts of time are going into the #2 details for giving lessons. My plan is to create more time to breath and be creative.
Andrea,
It’s great that you’ve found a place where you waste time and can automate! The really good thing about automating scheduling is that it saves time for your clients, too. I think we’d be appalled if we had an accurate tally of how much time we waste trying to FIND a time that works for two people!