Oh boy! Am I going here?

You betcha doll face!

This has been a hard lesson to learn. But it's a lesson I needed to learn. Over the last year, I've noticed that when I'm not taking care of me, my body and my soul, that a couple different things usually end up happening:

1. I end up getting sick, like straight up coughing until I almost puke sick (sexy, right?)
2. I end up having a major attitude and no one wants to be around me. Hell, I don't even want to be around me.
3. I get “resentful” because I'd be mad that I didn't feel/take care of me how I should. When in reality, the resentment should be at myself, because I'm the one who controls my time and my life and I can't really blame me not taking time for me on anyone else.

How did I lose my time before?

Doing too much without setting boundaries.  On top of being an empath, I'm a personality type Projector which means my energy can only sustain me (and holding energy for others) for so long before I crash. Before my energy is depleted. When my energy is depleted, I'm a hot mess.

When I was trying to be EVERYTHING to everyone, it just didn't work. I had to make peace that my sacred weekends and downtime were a part of my business strategy.

How could I expect to serve my clients when I was on the verge of burnout? Mmm… food for thought.

I'm sharing some things that have helped me over the last 2 years get really aligned with what and how I can show up and serve without over-exerting myself.

Tips On Choosing You & Slow Down

Set Boundaries

I used to be horrible at this. I'd be responding to clients who wrote me after 5pm and I'd put my family “on hold” just to reply to an email. Because waiting until morning made me feel like a bad service provider. Um… I'm a fucking business owner. My business doesn't run 24-7 and unless it's a medical emergency NOTHING is so important that I put myself or my family on the back-burner.

I let go of a LOT of needy clients. I found that they ran their business how I used to run mine and we just weren't aligned anymore.  Fortunately, 93.2% of my current clients are Rockstars and don't really overstep and aren't super concerned with immediate responses.

One thing that helped is that in my contract that clients signed with me, I put it that “office hours” are 9 – 3 M – F and that I do my best to respond within 24 business hours.  Most people see that and respect that. That's not to say that if the kids are occupied I won't respond. But my priority is my family, so making sure that we have clear guidelines from the get-go is what's important to me.

Creating Day And/Or Night Time Routine

This has changed how I live my life sooo much. Before I created a routine, the first thing I'd do when I would wake up is check my email  and then immediately go on Facebook. Oh wait… you've done that too? No judgments, just know that I've been there and it did not help my productivity.

Instead of going to do the “infamous Facebook scroll,” as soon as I wake up, I have one of two ways I wake up and my routine always ends the same way.

1. I wake up before the kids (between 5:30 – 6am) and I meditate, write what I'm grateful for, I do EFT (tapping) and then I get the kids up and ready for school. Once I get them off to school, I either go to the gym, take the dog for a long walk or I do yoga or pilates.
2. I wake up with the kids and get them ready for school. Then I do my whole morning routine after I drop them off for school.

On the weekends when they are home, I'm a bit more lenient with my morning routine, but I do my best to get in at least the meditation, tapping + gratitude. When they are home with me, I usually get in the exercise because my kids are allergic to sitting still 😉

By eliminating hopping into my email (I actually removed email from my phone) or on Facebook, I allowed myself to choose my own mood and create the energy that I want to go into the day with. It allowed me to choose me.

Meditate

Oh yes, I’m going there again girlfriend (or boyfriend, I’m an equal opportunity opinion giver).  Chad has told me when he sees a noticeable difference in my personality, my responses and how I react when I meditate. I feel like getting present for me, myself and knowing that I am aligned with my true purpose each day changes how I will communicate with people.  And on the days I don’t meditate and/or workout I find that I am a bit more snappy.

Brain Dump

I love doing this. Each week I start off by doing a big brain dump. I either write it down while I'm in the living room hanging with the family or if I get some alone time, then I'll open a Google Doc and just brain dump EVERYTHING. I'm not talking just about biz stuff either. I mean everything that pops into my head I write down.

Once I do that, then I separate them into my top 3 money generating activities, my top 3 family priorities and my top 3 client priorities and then I focus on that when I start my week.

Putting in to perspective what is most important to me allows me to take a step back and remember while there will always be something important and something that NEEDS to get done, but I'm in control of where my time and especially, my energy goes.

These are just a few things I do. I find that I need to reevaluate as I receive more clients and work to make sure that taking care of myself is a priority or I could end up not getting any work done at all because I would be so drained from everything. I want you to recognize if you are going down that road too.

What are some things that you do to put yourself first in life and business? How do you avoid the burnout that I am going through with getting sick and pushing too hard right now?  Please share your tips below!