3 valuable lessons learned

Recently, I took some time to take a good hard look at my business, the plans I have, and the strategy I have in place.

Over the last few months, since my mom's health declined and her subsequent death in May, my number one focus has not been my business.  I was beating myself up about it, asking questions like "why haven't you been posting on social media"; "how can you expect to fill a program that you haven't promoted in the last four months"; and "girl, you need to get a handle on all of this".  

I decided to take a side step and used some time to focus on getting to the root cause of what was stopping me and how I was going to create a plan to get me through this brick wall spot in my business.

In doing my side step, I discovered a distinct parallel between business and life and decided that sometimes course correction is needed and sometimes you just need to apply grace and gratitude.
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During my deep dive into finding out where my stumbling blocks were, I came across this post I had made on FB 5 years ago.

I was like "OMG, you have felt this where before and you made it through Pamela.  Now let's apply those same steps to this situation."  So here's what I found out --- some valuable learning lessons --- and I'm sharing them with you in hopes that you find them to be as helpful as I did if you ever find yourself in a place of being stuck and not sure how to move on.

​Looking back over the last 5 years, life has had its share of twists and turns.  I'm not always as graceful as I'd like to be with maneuvering through them.  And you know what?  That's okay.  When I notice myself getting a bit messy, that's when I need to stop and take a breath and do a quick check-in to see where the "mess" stems from.

This year, my mess simply wasn't acknowledging that traveling back and forth from South Carolina and Connecticut to spend time with my mom and then all the activities that stem around a death including allowing myself time to grieve over my loss, would take time.  Bottom line:  Giving myself grace for life's twists and turns and taking all the time I need to deal with them.

Lesson One Learned:  Give yourself space to check-in with yourself, see what you need, and make sure you give into the need for self-care.  Add a time block to your calendar for daily check-ins and stay flexible.  If you need to rearrange your plans, don't be derailed.

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When I remember that, I can learn to enjoy life's twists and turns and adjust my schedule accordingly.  Just look at the picture above --- that's me and hubby John enjoying our 20th anniversary get-away on Chincoteague Island in 2017.  What you don't see is that I didn't have very good boundaries in place back then and I allowed my business to creep into this trip.  Not the most genius move when you're on your second honeymoon.

Lesson Two Learned:  Put personal and professional boundaries  in place.  Add personal time directly into your business schedule, prior to anything else, and ensure it will happen by adding a time block to your calendar.  

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I have to admit that I've had my share of "big things" happen in the last 5 years and I'm convinced that you need to "stop and smell the roses" every single day.

1. --> Celebrated turning 50
2. --> Celebrated 20th wedding anniversary
3. --> Moved from Connecticut to South Carolina
4. --> Hubby had to get another heart surgery
5. --> Accepted a full-time role as Director of Operations for a NY-based marketing & branding company
6. --> Celebrated turning 55
7. --> Mourning the loss of my sweet mom

Those are the highlights of the big things and there were many smaller things in between where I paused and prioritized.

I've learned that I don't need to be everything to everyone all the time.  I will handle what I can when I need to.

Lesson Three Learned:  Build in the time you need to focus on each part of life -- good & bad; happy & sad.  Express what you need and dance like no one is watching.  You don't need to make an excuse for wanting to focus on what you need or feel in the moment.  Just be you and do the best you can with what you have and where you are.

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Business can be tough.  It's often competitive, challenging, ​and unpredictable.  Yet business isn't your life.  It's a part of your life.  The part of your life that you want and you need but it isn't everything.  There is no way to ensure good balance at all times; however, you can ensure that you put into place all the helpful tools and resources to help you get through your own brick wall encounters.

If you want to talk more about your business plans, hopes, and dreams, and wishing you had a roadmap to help get you there, I'd love to jump on a call with you.