Creating Space and Doing More

Last week I shared where I’m at and what I’m planning to create over the coming months and a lot of people asked me how I plan to do it all.

I get it… it’s a lot. But like I shared, I believe it’s 100% possible for us to do ALL the things we want to do. It does, however, require focus, dedication, and discernment at a level that most people aren’t willing to commit to. We have to be really clear on WHAT WE WANT… and then we have to be willing to take the steps necessary to make it a reality. It’s simple, but not easy.

For me, the first big step has been creating time and space. I’m sharing a bit about how I’m doing that in my business and relationships, as well as why I’m really focusing on my health alongside everything else.

I’m also sharing the first three brands and companies I’ll be giving my time and energy to over the next six months, and how I’ll be tracking that progress.

Click below to start watching!

In the last vlog I shared all of my goals in terms of projects and brands and companies and programs and books and all of the things that I want to create over the coming months and the next year. And one of the most common questions that I was asked after that video is “How are you going to do all of that?”

And I want to talk a little bit about what I’m doing specifically in my business as well as in my relationships and with my health, with my time. Like how I’m creating the time and space to really focus in the ways that I need to in order to make all of that happen.

I spent the last three years, so 2015, 16 and 17 very much in motion. Even though 2017 was a very stagnant year, I took a necessary pause in terms of focusing on in growing my business, I was constantly in motion. I lived a lot of life in those three years. I took a lot of trips, some of them very spontaneous. I was doing a lot of fun things with new friends and old friends and just busy living life and just saying yes to you kind of everything that came my way. And there was a lot of beautiful memories and experiences and relationships that I was really blessed to have in my life over these last three years. And it’s not that I’m gonna stop doing, I’m being more selective about how I spend my time.

I’m really realizing that, the last few years have been so much fun and filled with so much amazing adventure and excitement. There was also a lot of experiences that weren’t necessarily aligned with who I am and who I want to become. I’m with a lot of people that were fun but weren’t the right fit for me. I was getting involved in projects that while exciting and amazing and beautiful weren’t the right fit for where I want to go professionally, what I want to create in the world and were more supportive of other people in their businesses.

What I’ve really, really been doing as a first step to create everything that I want is to create a lot of space and a lot of time.

One of the big things that I’m doing is bringing on a new account manager which was a really hard, really emotional decision to make because I have someone on my team who I adore who’s been with me for many, many years. And at the same time I was really recognizing that in order to grow I needed to bring in somebody who could help me get out of the way. Ultimately in the design business and the agency I have become the roadblock.

I really, really needed to bring someone in who could help me get out of the way, who could help manage certain things that felt like only I was able to manage who was able to help bring on team, manage team, get projects done, make our clients happy. Also so that we’re able to bring in more of the clients and projects that we really want to be doing. And so wanting to focus on that level of work meant bringing in somebody that could really assist me in doing that. So there’s that piece.

There’s also personal relationships. I have been getting very discerning about who I do and do not spend my time with. And that has also been a challenging, emotional, difficult process to go through because I’ve been letting go of some relationships that are near and dear to my heart for so many reasons but that no longer felt aligned. Were no longer a space in which I feel like I can show up fully.

I wrote a blog post about this last week and I talked about how, yes, sometimes there are relationships that we negotiate. We have conversations about what needs to change, what we need. And then there are certain relationships that we just let go of. I had to really start trusting myself around. Does this feel good to me? Does this feel aligned anymore? Is this supportive? Are there request that I need to make in order to make it more aligned and more supportive. It just time to really appreciate what was there and what was good and to start to what comes next which doesn’t always mean that everyone will come with us.

So that has been a difficult process but it has freed up tremendous amount of time and energy. I’ve been leaving communities and groups. I’m really cleaning up all of those energy leaks and clearing the space so that I can focus on what’s important to me. I’ve been saying no to a lot of things. Saying no to a lot of social things. No to a lot of business things. Again being really discerning about what does and does not deserve my time or where is and is not a good place for me to put my energy, as well as what feels good and what doesn’t. Really be that simple though it is really, again, challenging and emotional to let some of those relationships go.

Another thing that I’m really focused on is my health. So my health has been something that has really been hit hard over the last three years, with my loss, with the trauma, with the relationships that I was in. I had fatigue which really flatlined me. I stopped swallowing for nine days which was terrifying and exhausting and took many, many, many months to really come back from. My stress and anxiety was through the roof and I would have panic attack. And then my back and my hips got really, really out of whack.

My body is very responsive, very vocal when it comes to where I’m stifling myself, where I’m shutting myself down, when I am doing things that aren’t right for me or I have relationships that aren’t healthy, my body makes it very clear what it does and does not like. And I’ve gotten to a place where I’m not in pain and I have energy again and I feel good in my body with the exception that I’ve gained weight from all of this. I’m not as flexible, I’m not as strong, I don’t have as much endurance as I used to.

And it’s not just about a vanity thing, it’s not just about how do I look or how do I fit into my clothes. Do I have the energy? Is my health in a place to support me creating everything that I want to create. Because it is gonna take a lot of energy. It is gonna require a lot of stamina. Making sure that I’m sleeping well and I’m eating really healthy foods and I’m cutting out things that don’t work for my body. So really looking at my health.

I joined an awesome gym that I love going to. And I’ve been making a point to work out several times a week and checking out classes and going to their smoothie bar and swimming in the pool and just myself back in that world of movement which makes me very, very happy, it brings my energy up. My body feels so much better when I get to move and I love feeling strong and just stable.

The last piece that I’ve been really focused on is how do I organize and approach all of these projects? And I’m going to be building a very big, very colorful project planning board to kind of help visualize both for myself but also for sharing on the vlog I’m focused on right now. What are the projects I’m focused on? What are the tasks that I am working on? Who’s involved in it? What is the progress of it?

Because again I want to use this as an opportunity to show people that it’s possible to do everything that you want to do if you are willing to claim what it is that you desire and what it is that you really want and get really, really clear about what that looks like and what that means. If you’re willing to take action and taking action requires this level of focus.

So again creating the space, really being discerning about how I spend my time, where I put my energy, focusing on my health and the things that make me physically feel good so that I’m able to do all this. And the right support to my business so that my company can grow which also creates more time and space and energy and income for me to do all of these other things I want to do.

What I’ve decided in terms of projects is to kind of focus in phases. Right now I’m very focused on getting the design business, stabilized, bringing in the right types of clients for the projects that we really love doing which is brand and marketing strategy as well as website design, development and copywriting. So updating the website, hiring the new account manager and putting some marketing pieces in place to start bringing in those right people.

The second thing that I’m really focused on is Call of the Void. So I want to launch the journey mapping program likely in August. And I’ll be kind of bringing you behind the scenes as I create that content, as I do the marketing. So you can kind of see what I’m doing and why I’m doing it and why it’s so important. And then releasing the unravel book in November. I would like that to come out on my birthday which is November 9th, so that is another goal.

And then the third piece is the institute, which I will, I promise to share more about very soon. But getting that platform up so that I can really start the conversation around. What is the institute is about? Which again is all about innovating in the life purpose development space in a really, really big, really fun, really terrifying and exciting way. From there, there are other projects that might pop up in between, but that’s kind of my focus and kind of the timeline for things to have everything up and running. And so I will bring you behind the scenes as I build out that system for tracking. I think it’s gonna be really fun and it’s something that I’ll do when I get back from Italy.

So that’s my update for this week. I am looking forward to taking guys to Italy with me. The sun is starting to go down, so it’s getting darker and I’m gonna let you guys go and I will catch you next week in another video!

How can you start creating more time and space in your own life or work? Where are you expending energy on things that aren’t really aligned with what you want to create? What relationships are taking a toll on you and no longer fit with who you want to become? What do you need to prioritize in terms of your health or self-care to do everything you desire?