The Dance of Hustle and Flow
This week a little bit of my fiercely loving truth-teller essence may come out. Because sometimes I yield the sword of truth. Many of you; my beloveds wear many masks and play many roles, most of you are mothers, wives and entrepreneurs. Most of you love the work you do. All of you on an intellectual level understand the importance of taking some self-renewal time. In fact, all of your social media feeds are, I am sure filled with programs and posts that talk about just that. Many of us even share that wisdom.
And Yet So Few of You Do It.
Even if only for fifteen minutes a day. And I am curious why not? 15 minutes a day of quieting the mind and creating some spaciousness does in fact give you more energy, gets you out of your head and opens you up to more creative ideas for your business and your life, I know you have heard this, I know deep down you know this, and YET because you haven't tried it perhaps you don't believe it. The more time you allow for this the more time you actually receive back, because you receive clarity and spend time on what really matters. Neuroscientists have proven that we have neural-cells in our hearts and our bellies, they can and do give and receive information, and when we take some time to get out of the "doing" mind of the neo-cortex and get out of rapid fire, we can open up our perceptions and ideas to so much, much more. Including what makes our hearts and souls sing, and allows us to get to KNOW OURSELVES, without judgement, just as the observer. And it does not have to be difficult, it does not have to be sitting on a meditation cushion for hours at a time. Our brains are not capable of being creative and coming up with new ideas, ways to be more efficient or flowing in our business when we are constantly "doing" instead of just being. We cannot listen to our spirits, souls and hearts when we are in the "doing".
I bring this up because as much as I love time, focus and structure, I love flow, fluidity, creativity, and my own spirit's desires more.I can't have one without the other, it is the dance of polarity that exists within all of us. Having structure means I can harness my creative energy and be even more powerful, rather than letting it leak out in creative chaos with no focus and never bringing anything into form, however if I become to rigid and too dependent on my "time blocks" I miss out on the joy of life, playtime, creative time, and relationships, I also have no idea what is going on in my spirit or in my heart, what my dreams are, or what really matters to my heart and soul. When I am fluid and open I get so much more of what I enjoy and find pleasure in all of my life, including but not limited to my work. The more I am open and fluid, the more I can Hustle and Flow. And this just cannot happen without some spaciousness and letting go of wearing the completed to-do list as a badge of honor, even if completing it makes you exhausted and miserable.
I bring this up because in this last week, I have seen a lot of women judge themselves for not be able to focus on their business to-do's because the kids are home from school and so they are stressing about not hitting financial goals and others who are great about checking off the to-do list AND taking care of the kids, but are exhausted and barely take the time to eat or sleep, not taking care of their own basic needs, much less doing anything that brings them joy that doesn't involve work, kids, or partners (which is great that they all do), many women have forgotten what brings THEM joy and pleasure, not what brings everyone else joy and pleasure.
I am asking you to stop it. Just stop for a minute and ask yourself what brings you joy, freedom, creativity. And do it. If you don't know then quiet down and keep asking.
It drives me a bit crazy when the time management gurus tell you to work on income producing activities first. How about what brings you joy first and the income will come? Because honestly if the things you do in your business to generate income do not bring you joy, then it might be time to re-think your business. How about when you flow you will hustle? If you are focusing on to-dos and not desires the flow of abundance actually has no where to flow, there is no energy to it, and money is nothing but a flow of energetic exchange.
I wonder, what do you think will happen if you take 15 minutes a day to sit in quiet, just breath, acknowledge the thoughts that come up but do not judge them. If you have been sitting with a question in your mind, put your hand on your heart and ask it, and see what comes up..once you are out of monkey mind.
This is my challenge to you, 15 minutes, that;'s it, I know you have 15 minutes, it means getting off Facebook for a few minutes.Your kids will not suffer, they don't while you are posting on Facebook and Instagram so the certainly won't when they see you taking care of your needs, in fact this is a great lesson for children. I want you to do this every day for a week, and notice if your family or your business suffers, or if you feel just a little more relaxed and open to possibilities, if you feel more joyful and you are actually able to love more. Keep it going, add some time each day if you can, or stop twice a day for fifteen minutes. Do this for 40 days, because that is the number of days for SHIFT to happen, and journal your experiences. Do you come up with new ideas, new solutions, are you more creative in your life, or are you creating more. Do you feel as though you actually have more not less time? Do you want to get really crazy and begin to carve out a 1/2 or a full day for sacred time?
I really do want to hear all about this if you try it, if you think I am absolutely crazy, what you are asking is impossible, and don't know what I am talking about, then hell tell me that too, I have thick skin, but I will still tell you it's possible.Not only is it possible, but its crucial. The lives we are leading as women who over-work and over-give are just not sustainable and at some point things will begin to fall apart, whether that is physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually or in our relationships. This is why I care so much about this and about all of you, because the world needs us to be fully present, shining our lights, and sharing our gifts, and we ALL deserve to live our joyful, fully expressed, fully loving selves.
If you need guidance on methods to quiet down (it is a mis-conception that meditation means you have no thoughts) that resonate for you I am happy to share some practices, just reach out to me. I have almost two decades of tools, techniques and experiences that can guide you towards quiet.