I firmly believe that behind every single business is a brave story, and I’m going to continue sharing mine as we lead up to celebrating one beautiful but incredibly challenging year of business!
You can read part 1 here.
Burnout & the Mess
Depression, anxiety, and panic attacks aren’t new to me. The more fellow creatives I open up to about this, the more I become convinced that this can be such a deep part of many, many artists out there. We often give everything to our work and accept burnout as just a byproduct of success.
Oh but I want so much more for myself. Last spring I had a come to Jesus moment after an especially scary panic attack and said no more. I will not give up my joy and my health and my ability to just live for the sake of being successful. There has to be a way to do this without succumbing to this numbing fear. And the good new? There is.
So What Changed?
I won’t tell you there is one big secret because there’s not. And I’ll be so quick to remind you that this is just my story and my journey alone. But here is what I learned:
- Stop glorifying burnout. You can only serve your people well if you have something left in you to give them. Burnout is not fair to you, your family, OR the people you are serving.
- Realize your thoughts on busy. In order to even begin to choose a path that is not filled with anxiety, comparison, etc. you HAVE to make the conscious choice to not be proud of being so darn busy. Give it up. Right now, today. As the wonderful Jenna Kutcher said, busy is not a badge of honor.
- Identify Significance. Take time to get to know what it is that brings you joy. For me, that’s family dinner on Sunday nights, it’s date nights, it’s knowing I can get my work done and not just hoping everything falls into place, it’s feeling awesome about my body; it’s getting to shoot with people I really love and who inspire me; it’s having enough energy to wake up early and read my bible and journal with my cup of hazelnut coffee in hand; it’s having time to live in community and be blessed by the incredible people around me. Once I sat down and I said “Adelyn, you can’t choose to cut anything until you know what you’re keeping and why”, it all started to become clear. What is most significant to you should drive everything else.
- Time for a battle plan. It’s not enough to just know what matters. You need to create a battle plan to defend these precious things that give you life. I love using my Cultivate What Matters Power Sheets to help me do this. These were a huge game changer for me and I’d love to share more about them so drop your questions below or shoot me an email. This isn’t sponsored, I promise. These just are that amazing. Whether it’s using this resource or you feel confident on your own to identify a clear and meaningful path to your goals, don’t wait. Your time is too precious to not be living fully.
- Health, your success & the immediate impact on how much you make. Your health matters and impacts far more than you think. Would you believe me if I said how you feel affects how much you are going to make this year? By not taking care of yourself, you are losing money. Your health affects your energy and your clarity of mind so it directly impacts the amount of work you get done and how good your work is. And possibly even more importantly, your health (especially for us boss girls) affects your confidence. When we are filled with confidence, people notice. We give ourselves the right to claim authority in our given area and, y’all, authority sells. It makes you money. For me, it gives me the ability to show up to a shoot and have my clients trust me. If I am struggling with my own health and it hurts my confidence, that directly affects the authority I bring to a shoot which does not provide an awesome experience for my customers. But when I am confident and feeling great, I serve my brides and grooms so much better because they know they can trust someone who is brimming with authority and expertise and is comfortable with who I am. And friend, people who are low on confidence don’t dream big and they definitely don’t take big steps to go after what they really want. If you’re feeling stagnant in where you are right now, I want you to take a second and see what you’re doing to take care of your health. You quite literally do not have the time to miss out on that walk or that workout or that time to make your healthy lunch. Don’t believe me? Give it a week of working out, walking, eating well, getting good sleep and see what that does for you. Trust me, a week is all it’s going to take to see that difference in your business.
- Just say it out loud. Vocalizing your dreams and your goals is powerful. I am going to talk about this more in the future so I won’t go too much in depth with this right now. But don’t be afraid to share those really big ideas with someone. When we vocalize and publicize what we are going after, it’s a big enabler. So tell your husband, share it on your stories, email me, whatever it is, get it out there and see what happens.
Choose More & Miss Less
Success is not equivalent to loss. It shouldn’t be. But we need to actively work on redefining it for ourselves. Your life – the people in it, your family, your goals, they are too precious to treat as an afterthought. And if we are not actively cultivating a lifestyle that is honoring to our priorities, then we’re missing it all. And I don’t about you, but I want more for myself than stress, anxiety, comparison, and months characterized by missing out.
So, sweet friend, choose more. You’re so worth it.
