What Isn’t Working For You?
These last few months have been eye-opening and soul-stirring for me on many levels. I find myself in transition in almost every area of my life; from our cross-country move to caring for my father in the end stages of a progressive disease AND shifting my business offerings to be more in alignment with my gifts, strengths and passion.
When you are in transition, especially big ones, it is easy to see what isn’t working for you. This, I believe, can be a gift and a very powerful tool to harness to create a schedule and life that is in alignment with your deepest desires.
What Isn’t Working FOR You?
Sit with this question a moment.
Sink into it. Breathe with it.
Bring it into the arms of your Soul.
What isn’t working for you, dear one, and why?
I can see a few things (big and small) that aren’t working for me right now.
The time I go to bed isn’t working for me because I rarely get to talk to my husband.
The time I get up isn’t working for me because I don’t have my sacred alone time before prepping the kids for school.
The morning routine with the kids isn’t working because at least one child gets upset each morning.
The way I do laundry (sporadically) isn’t working for me because I actually need more of a routine to get things accomplished in a timely manner.
The way my schedule is currently set-up isn’t working because I am allowing myself to say Yes to things when I should be saying No.
If we look at what isn’t working for us and ask WHY (there’s the trick!), you will be guided to what does work for you and a solution that works FOR you.
Why isn’t bedtime working right now for us? Because our kids are still wound up from playing and bath time. So why not start bath time earlier so bedtime can be more enjoyable? Done!
Why isn’t our morning routine working right now? Because we spend too much time battling over clothes and feeling comfortable. Solution: Have the girls not only pick out but try on the clothes the night before so we know they feel good and comfortable and are excited to get ready in the morning.
Why is my laundry routine not working? Because I only do it when I pass the hamper(s) that are full. Solution: Choose 2 mornings a week where I put the laundry in before school drop-off. When I return it’s time for the second cycle and I can start my day productive and on schedule! When you work from home it’s hard to not allow the daily household tasks to go unnoticed, but I find for myself, if I can carve out small batches of time to get things done, it pays off in evening hours when I desire to be present with the family.
Why is my own schedule not working for me? Because I am not giving myself a solid chunk of time to do things in a realistic manner. Therefore I am doing things like scheduling appointments or taking others to appointments when I actually planned on writing content for a beloved project. Solution: Block out realistic periods of time for tasks, projects and daily to-do’s. Now that I have this on my calendar I know what to say No to and not feel guilty because I am saying Yes to something that is really important to me. (This is something I help my clients with and we almost always find pockets of time to add more inspired work, self-care routines and other inspiring and productive projects.)
You catch my drift now.
Try this exercise out and let me know what comes up for you.
To take this exercise even further, after you complete the exercise and look at what isn’t working for you, ask yourself if there is someone else more qualified who could do this for you. Delegation is a key to growing your business and to expanding your own time and resources.
To your wildly abundant and soulful life!