Learn Everything by Doing Nothing: Inspired by a summer of learning by (not) doing

Every year in mid-June when my children’s school wraps, I imagine how productive I will be with a different routine, and every single summer I have felt frustrated and frazzled, wishing I had more time…until this year. I (finally) figured out the “secret” to knowing everything, and it is quite simple: sometimes we need to do nothing. I’ll be honest; I did slightly more than nothing, but a whole lot less than everything I had originally set out to accomplish this summer. 

I admit that I occasionally jump on the “Take Massive Action” bandwagon, even though that concept without proper direction goes against the grain for me. Let me be clear: we MUST take action, and sometimes that action will be “massive”. I believe that we are misguided in our interpretation of massive action, and as a result, we deplete our good energy while spinning our wheels, sadly not making progress on what matters most (and for the entrepreneur in particular, what boosts the bank account.) On that note, I will share with you how I learned “everything” from “doing nothing” this summer.

I did close to nothing for almost three months, and I learned a lot. I am grateful I listened to my intuitive sense and let go of the frustrating and unrealistic expectations I had been setting each year, making summer rather disappointing. This year in addition to letting go of unrelenting expectations, I thoroughly enjoyed a more relaxed summer pace with my children AND continued to grow my business in a smart, un-rushed manner. Interestingly, I managed this without barreling forward or being overly busy. 

Sometimes I forget the following, but when I DO remember, the results are magical. In order to learn by (not) doing, let’s consider the following process: slow down to speed up, zoom out and then take inspired action.

Slow down to speed up. Identify your objectives and WHY they are important to you. Before charging ahead, pause and reflect to gain clarity about what you want and why you want it. I made a decision many years ago that I would spend time with my children while they are young and actually want to spend time with me. That proves challenging any time of year, especially in the summer, when childcare and camps are costly and sometimes difficult to find. This year when my children and I discussed what they wanted most out of camps and daytime programs, they shared that they preferred to have a “chill” summer, where, when they were at camp, they wanted to learn something that would enhance their lives. 

I am able to work mostly from home, and my offspring are old enough to entertain themselves for a few hours at a time, so I am generally able to accommodate this. However, despite being happy to allow for a “chill” summer for my peeps, I confess that I panicked at the thought of them being home so much. I worried how I’d get everything done with them asking for food, shuttle service or access to my computer and phone in regular intervals. Then I remembered to ask myself what I want most, and how that fits the bigger picture.

I want to make a living that provides a comfortable lifestyle, so I leaned back, took some deep breaths and reminded myself of why I designed my career around my life instead of life around career. This has taken some sacrifice, late nights and bullet sweating, yet I continually come back to this: I want to serve people in developing their life and career in a way that honors their highest desires, and the best way I can authentically provide that service is by doing the same for myself. 

Remembering my clear objectives and WHY - to help people to take control of their time, energy and success - helped me get back on track and maintain perspective. I believe that we all deserve the opportunity to feel successful and enjoy the fruits of our labor. We can have ‘it all’ without buying-in to the idea that we need to give something up in order to achieve. Why not have it all? (Being realistic, but a stretch, of course. I do not have access to fairy dust or unicorns.)

When getting clear on your objectives and WHY, ask yourself: 

• What do I want to achieve? 
• Why is this important to me? 
• What impact will achieving this outcome have on other areas of my life? 
• Specifically, what benefits will I gain? 

(Note that it is perfectly acceptable to be a little “selfish” here; the clearer you get, the more energy and time you free up to share with others.)

Zoom out. Once you are clear about your objectives and WHY, look at your one year plan from the 10,000-foot perspective. When I realized that coordinating summer camps and daytime activities for my children meant rarely having more than a few hours a day to work without interruption, I looked at my whole life and business picture rather than focusing on not having time to get work done in the summer. Here’s what I learned: when I’m hyper-focused and clear about what really needs to be done, I am more productive. I sort of already knew this, but couldn’t see past the panic of “not having enough time” in that moment. Boy, am I glad it passed!

In a wonderfully thoughtful article in The Economist about why people are so busy, I learned that the “problem” of not having enough time relates primarily to living in the wealthy first world, and some of this “problem” is a matter of how we allocate our time according to our skewed perception of this valuable, non-renewable resource (this is grossly over-simplified; I highly recommend that you read the article). What can we do about this dearth of time? For starters, slow down, get dreamy once in a while to get a clear picture of what we want, and why we want it. 

How will we know if we have achieved our objectives if we don’t know what they are, and how can we better allocate our precious resources if we do not know where to send them?

Once we have clarity we can now ask:

• What needs to happen so that I feel completely happy and satisfied with my results one year from today? 
• What actions am I willing to take to achieve this objective? 
• What roadblocks do I regularly encounter? 
• What actions am I willing to take to work around roadblocks?

You may notice the word “actions” making an appearance. Yes, now that we are clear and know what barriers we might encounter and how to work around them, it’s time to take action. I call this taking Inspired Action Steps. Take the one year view, see where you want to go, and work your solution and action steps backward from there. Stretch yourself, and stay realistic. What steps can you take every day to get 1% closer to your objective? Did you know that leaning back, observing and listening to your intuitive sense is considered taking action? Likewise, calling procrastination and self-sabotage “intuition” is also taking action, although that action will not help you reach your objectives. You have been warned. 

Once you are clear, the steps to take will become increasingly obvious, continually feeding the waterwheel of success and abundance (notice, there is nothing about trudging ahead and pushing against resistance or fighting any kind of fight.)

Take Inspired Action. A Lifehack article about taking massive action reminded me that taking action the smart way can boost motivation. Smart action is the inspirational thread to motivation. Sometimes we lack motivation, and then we feel inadequate and flawed, which can cause us to stall or not begin at all. Some super humans are possessed with excellent self-starting, seemingly flawless, highly-disciplined action-taking abilities. The rest of us mere mortals can hack their abilities by learning to tap our inspiration to fuel motivation. What better way to take action than by being smart about it? Remember to be realistic, but stretch yourself. We mortals are funny; if a task seems too hard we most probably will not get started, and if it seems too easy, we will likely put it off until we are under major pressure to finish. To bypass this potential roadblock, we can challenge ourselves, achieve, raise the bar, and challenge, achieve and raise the bar again - what I like to call the waterwheel of success and abundance, fueled by inspiration.

Try one or any combination of the following to help you take inspired daily action:

• Ask yourself: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now? 
• Choose 3 action steps you will complete by a certain time each day (master the mundane). 
• Daydream, journal or doodle daily for 10-30 minutes. 
• Create the feeling of joy and excitement before starting your day. 
• Acknowledge and celebrate your accomplishments at the end of each day.

With clarity and vision, we quiet the noise and hustle and bustle we have conditioned ourselves to believe is productivity. Once we are able to do this, we too will appear to have super human strengths and abilities. If every day you tap into your WHY and remember what is most important to you, even the most boring or tedious tasks can take on new meaning, and your productivity will soar. I invite you to do yourself a favor and give this a try. Do nothing. Get quiet. Get clear. Get inspired. Get more done.

If you would like to learn more about taking inspired action, schedule your free one hour strategy session.

Read the articles that inspired and informed this post:

Why is Everyone So Busy? The Economist (http://www.economist.com/news/christmas-specials/21636612-time-poverty-problem-partly-perception-and-partly-distribution-why )

How to Take Smart and Massive Action in 6 Simple Steps. Lifehack (http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/how-to-take-smart-and-massive-action-in-6-simple-steps.html )

Listen to Olivia Gamber interview me about Mastering Your Mindset and taking Inspired Action. (http://occupationalolivia.com/mastering-your-mindset/#more-425 )

I Believe I Can Fly! Or...Not

It is said that our beliefs and thoughts shape our experience. If this is true, and I believe it is, then I pose this question: 

Do your thoughts and beliefs about success, your abilities and what is really possible help or impede your progress toward your goals and dreams?

Before you answer that, I will break it down by asking another question. Have you ever examined your belief system? I am not talking about your moral, spiritual or religious beliefs necessarily, but what you believe to be true ABOUT YOU. In one of my sessions with my coach, I was a little shocked, and slightly amused (more like horrified), at what I actually believed to be true. When I heard the words pass my lips, I was completely dumbfounded. 

How could I, a self-aware, positive-Polly coach have such skewed beliefs? 

Well, I learned that I held these beliefs because I had never slowed down long enough to even know they existed. However, something interesting happened; once I spoke the words and thoughts out with my coach, I realized that they were pure garbage, but had been swimming around in my mind, taking up valuable space, for years. No wonder I felt like I was struggling, even when I wasn’t.

So let’s circle-back to the original question, and I will break it down even more, by asking more questions, because, well, I’m a coach and that’s what I do. This process of slowing down - gaining insight and clarity - works like magic in helping clear the pathway toward faster, more abundant, and exquisite fulfillment. So stay with me, and grab a pen and paper (or electronic device if you’re fancy).

The original question: Do your thoughts and beliefs about success, your abilities and what is really possible help or impede your progress toward your goals and dreams? 

Now becomes 3 questions: 

1. What are 3 beliefs you hold about success (yours, that of others, and success in general)? 
2. What are 3 beliefs you hold about your abilities? (skills, strengths, habits, potential/limitations)
3. What are 3 beliefs you hold about what is really possible? (can you really fly? Is it really possible to meet your financial and career goals?)

Without self-judgment (we do enough of that already, don’t you think?) go back and look at your answers. Next to each answer, write whether each of those beliefs is Helpful (H) or Impeding (I) in your progress toward your goals and dreams. This is where it can get tricky for the typical high-achiever…DO NOT JUDGE or try to “fix” this. Just observe. Get curious. If you start to feel anxious, upset or frustrated, say my favorite word in any language, “Hmmmmmmm.” This will pause you long enough to stop the monkey dance in your brain, and will give you a moment to breathe, stop what you are doing and just observe. If you must, ask yourself, “I wonder….what is the exact opposite belief? How does that feel?” and then move on.

Will there be work to be done after you have examined your beliefs and perhaps encounter some that do not serve you in reaching your highest aspirations? Likely, yes. Here’s the deal, though: by raising your awareness, you are taking your power into your own hands rather than leaving your power in the hands of your ego (the “voice of reason” in your head trying to keep you “safe” by holding you back from really reaching your highest self - your genius).

Once you have taken some time to examine your beliefs and get curious about them, you will be better equipped to dis-create/crush/annihilate what no longer serves you and replace with upgraded, healthier, more successful thoughts and beliefs. Once there, you now you can update your story and write your new vision of success. Go you!

I wish you the best of success as you sort out your belief systems and choose to replace impeding beliefs with helpful beliefs, one at a time.

Blessings. Gratitude. Love. 

Ease for the Entrepreneur

If you are an entrepreneur…you are busy. Too busy to spend months or years trying to figure out how to take back or maintain your life (not to mention your sanity) while you build and continue to expand your business. 

You have launched or are almost ready to launch your business, and you are feeling scared. And excited. And nervous. And hopeful. And wondering HOW to get it all done without working every waking hour of your life.

You feel good about who you are and what you do. You are confident in your strengths and abilities. You don’t want to sign up for a business school program, let alone pay for one. You simply want to understand how to have the most fulfilling and wonderful life and career possible. 

You want to get clear on what you really want, and you want to learn from other professionals who have taken the GIGANTIC LEAP OF FAITH to become entrepreneurs. You want a plan to get you to that seemingly elusive place of happiness and exquisite fulfillment. No fuss, no muss.

But.....HOW do you do it? What works? What doesn’t work?

Wouldn’t it be great if there were a way to STOP WORKING SO HARD?

You will be happy to know that I have designed a system to help you take back your time, energy, success…and sanity!

I have designed a simple system to help you get control of your time, energy and ultimate success so you are prepared to build your business with the right mindset in as little as 6 months. This is a MINDSET opportunity, not a business or marketing program (your business and marketing plan are on you and your tribe of trusted advisors, or we can talk and I can refer you to some amazing experts.)

Read the interview below to learn more about Ease for the Entrepreneur...

Q: How long have you been doing what you do and how did you start working with Entrepreneurs?

I have been an executive coach since mid-2010. I joke that I became a coach “kicking and screaming” after leaving the corporate and consulting world and being home with babies for 6 years. When I was ready to rebuild my career, I was re-thinking consulting since I had traveled extensively, with short notice, for long periods at a time - a lifestyle not fitting for my family and young children.

Trusted friends and colleagues continually encouraged me to become a coach, and I reluctantly worked with a coach to learn about career options and moving forward. After working with the wonderful Jodi Nicholson of Success Coach Institute, I became a Certified Professional Success Coach (CPSC).

Q: Who are your clients exactly?

Over time, I discovered that I absolutely love working with entrepreneurs, and so have honed my skills in this niche of amazing, inspirational people. In my one-on-one coaching practice, I work with established entrepreneurs who are on the brink of massive expansion in their businesses. Many of these incredible people are preparing to launch their grander vision, which takes a tremendous amount of faith, courage and serious gumption and tenacity.

My clients are big thinkers. They have HUGE VISIONS. They have a lot of drive. AND…they get easily distracted, feel like almost every opportunity is a great opportunity, and sometimes lack focus and energy. They often find themselves feeling over-worked and frustrated with their progress, no matter their financial success.

Q: What happens if you haven’t yet worked with people in my situation?

As a subject matter expert on clarity, direction and inspired action, I can help you get crystal clear on your vision of success. Once you have established your vision, the action steps will become more and more obvious, and you will write your plan. We understand that THIS is your inspiration, and that…

INSPIRATION + ACTION = MOTIVATION 

Motivation is not inherent. Inspiration is. So we tap-in to your inspiration and get you taking “inspired daily action” - THE BEST motivational tool available.

Q: How are you different from other “Life Coaches”?

I would first say that I’m not your typical Life Coach. I am an Executive Coach who has developed a system to help entrepreneurs stop working so hard. What makes me different is that I approach business and success as I do anything else in life, including projects, relationships, lifestyle management and wellness. I am passionate about helping people find empowerment and harmony in a way that leads them to a feeling of exquisite fulfillment, with the understanding that from this feeling, we can create anything our hearts desire. My approach is holistic, and we examine every area of life, including sleep, exercise, water consumption, thoughts and other habits.

Incorporating my experience and applying the coach skill set, I will help you get very clear on what you really want, and you will write your personal vision of success - also called “updating your story” - which will allow you to take the inspired daily action steps to achieve it.

Q: What type of personality do you work best with and what is expected of me?

My requirements and expectations are very simple: Show up willing and open. With willingness and openness, you can expand your vision, grow into it and manifest your heart’s desire. Truly. The “work” is easier, and feels almost effortless, when you are willing and open.

Q: What type of person is this program NOT going to work for?

A person who is not ready to take full responsibility for his or her success and failures would probably not be ready to do the “work” it takes to create unspeakable success and fulfillment (and, as a side note: I believe that failure is the best launchpad to our highest success). If excuses, procrastination and blaming are your game - and you are not ready or willing to change that - then you will not get the results you desire.

Q: What exactly is Stop Working SO HARD! Ease for the Entrepreneur, and what does it include?

Stop Working SO HARD! Ease for the Entrepreneur is a simple system of daily actions, mindset practices and course corrections that help the entrepreneur get very clear about their real desires. Once this clarity is established, then we start to look at regular roadblocks to success, strategize the work-around methods to getting past those roadblocks (which we could also call “self-sabotage”) and celebrate every success to keep the inspiration and motivation necessary to continue moving forward. This proven methodology incorporates years of study and practice in various schools of thought and their application, condensed into bite-sized chunks.

Q: Does this “Ease for the Entrepreneur thing” really work?

Yes! It will work under very specific conditions: you must be willing and open. Each person decides and commits to the level of desired success. It is that simple.

Q: What results can I expect?

First, show up willing and open. You can expect to leave the webinar with a clear vision of your own success, a method to access your genius (yes, YOU have genius; we all do!) and simple ways to stay motivated, even on the toughest days.

Q: How will we work together and what does the program entail?

First, listen to the webinar to learn more about the concepts. As I said, you will leave with a clear idea of your vision of success, ways to break through your own barriers to success, and knowledge of what inspires you, which will help you stay motivated.

During the webinar, I invite you to join one of two mastermind groups for entrepreneurs - one for “Emerging” and one for “Established” Entrepreneurs. If the opportunity resonates with you, then you will apply for the program by email, and we will take it from there.

Q: How long is the Entrepreneur Mastermind program?

Each mastermind group will work in similar, yet different ways:

The Emerging Entrepreneurs (EE1) will meet for 90 minutes, once per month, for 6 months. Email me for details and application if you would like to learn more about upcoming mastermind groups.

The Established Entrepreneurs (EE2) will meet for 2 hours, once per month, for 6 months. Email me for details and application if you would like to learn more about upcoming mastermind groups.

Learn more about Stop Working SO HARD Mastermind Workshops for Entrepreneurs!

Q: What’s the investment?

The webinar is a complimentary introduction to these concepts. YOUR INVESTMENT is your time, energy and undivided attention to the concepts and ideas presented. The more focused and attentive you are, the greater the benefit to you.

Q: OK, I’m ready to do this for myself, but I have a couple of additional questions. Can I call you?

Of course! It would be my pleasure to speak with you and answer any questions you may have. Let’s schedule a time to chat!

I look forward to meeting you and helping you expand and grow!

Blessings. Gratitude. Love.