Keeping promises to myself
Whew. Y'all, I took most of last week off (and by off I mean I only worked 8 hours a day) and I think I'm more tired this week. How does that work?
Regardless, I am pumped this week (even if I am moving kinda slow). This week I am holding myself accountable for a promise I made when I first started this full-time dance and yoga gig. No burnout allowed!
That's right. I've seen so many people over the years run into burnout or even resentfulness of their passions when they decided to make it a career. It's one reason I hesitated to go full-time for so long. I never want something that brings me so much joy to be a burden. I always want to feel excited, motivated and giving it my all.
Now that it's been two years (woah!), I'm re-evaluating the balance between my "needs" and my "wants". What does that mean?
Well, I'm a list maker, a process creator and a motivated goal crusher. But often I have more ideas than time. Sometimes I end up beating myself up for not doing ALL the things I wanted to do. I found that I was working more and the more I worked, the more ideas I had....the more I had to work. An endless cycle that would surely put me in burnout stage at some point.
I think this happens anytime we are excited and passionate about what we do. We just want to give it everything we've got!
So I started thinking about how can I keep the no burnout promise to myself, but also keep growing and improving what I offer to the community. How can I start checking off all these ideas and to-do lists while still having time to teach, travel, hangout with friends, not have to miss out on opportunities, and still be able to "fill my own cup?" Well...what would I have done in my corporate job?
Hire someone!
That's right! I made a huge decision... I asked for help and help appeared!
Such a great reminder that one person can only do so much. In order to avoid burnout, reach your goals and continue growing...you must be willing to ask for help.
What do you have going on in your life right now that could use some help? Often the expense of finding help offsets the stress of trying to do it all on your own. This week I challenge you to evaluate something that is always a struggle for you. Not because it's hard, but because it's hard to squeeze it in or find the motivation to do it. Then ask yourself...how you can either get help with this task or better yet, completely take it off your plate!
Some of the best decisions I ever made for my sanity involved hiring someone to do the task (side note, I really miss my house cleaners) or better yet, evaluating what you could implement so you never had to do the task again?
You'll be surprised at the renewed focus, excitement, and motivation to do all the other things you WANT to do by just removing the few things that drain your time and energy.
I'm excited for you all to see all these idea lists become reality and I'd love to hear about your delegation successes too!
Have a wonderful week!