Knowing When to Power Up and When to Power Down
I'm going to tell it to you straight, my friends: the last few weeks have been rough. Let's blame it on that whole Mercury Retrograde business, okay?
Here's just a taste: I opened the doors to my new e-course and eight hours later was in the throws of a very nasty 10-day cold. I continued to write my course content anyway—mushy, cold medicine brain and all—only to realize I'd need to seriously edit all of it to the point of nearly starting over (note to self: maybe don't write important content while taking cold meds). I've had my internet go down for no reason, our power went out inexplicably and my pups have come down with a stomach bug that has left us all feeling sleep-deprived and frazzled.
Regardless of the cause of all of this turmoil, I actually handled it somewhat well. Now, don't get me wrong: I've snapped at loved ones, whined when "one more thing" went wrong, worked strange hours and have fallen off the wellness wagon to a certain degree.
But—and I promise you, this is a huge improvement—I've been hyper aware of my energy levels in both business and life and have been acting accordingly. When I'm tired, I rest (I'm a terrible napper, but closing my eyes for 20 minutes now and again has been crucial). When I need just five hours of uninterrupted writing time, I ask for help (aka: "honey, please stay home with the dogs—who, no joke, had been experiencing tummy issues every hour—so I can get out of here."). When I need to touch base with friends and mentors, I schedule active meetings (walk in the park, anyone?). When I need to say no to an event or work opportunity that will drain me physically and emotionally, I send my regrets without guilt.
This is HUGE, you guys. I'll be continuing this trend even as Mercury does whatever the heck it's supposed to be doing now (can you tell I only sort of subscribe to this stuff?), because it's working.
Knowing when to power up and when to power down has been a life saver. Listening to my body is making all the difference.
I'm getting better at this—I can feel it.