I can honestly say that having so much of my self-care and organization built into habits has made doing more so much easier. There’s so much of my life that is on auto-pilot at this point that I’m able to really use my brain when it’s needed and let the rest fall into it’s designed place in my life.��

Disclaimer �� just because this is right for me doesn’t mean it’s right for you. I built these habits over years! Adding one in a year for the most part. So don’t go trying to do them all at once.

What habits do you have that make your life easier?

If you haven’t already �� I encourage you to go back and read the introduction post where I talk about the importance of finding our rhythm with these two things and why I think productivity should exist as an entry point to more pleasure.��

In these individual pieces I want to tackle what can prevent our productivity and tips for allowing our time we create through more productivity to be pleasurable.��

What gets in the way of productivity for the enneagram type one?��

What gets in the way of a type ones pleasure? ��

So now that we have a sense of what would allow us the space and time to experience more pleasure let’s talk about the top roadblocks to type one allowing that pleasure to happen!��

The trouble that I have with the conversation around productivity is that it’s not as easy as right or wrong. Like we SHOULD be productive or we shouldn’t focus on productivity at all. It’s both/and.��

While I hope that you aren’t measuring your worth by productivity the reality is that most of us have things we have to do either for a job or our household. Things that just need to get done and in my opinion the more productive we can be AKA the more we can get done in the shorter amount of time the more time we have for pleasure.��

The idea for this series came out of a conversation I had with my husband. We were talking about how often people ask me about being a seven because I am so seemingly organized and productive. And through our discussion I came the realization that for me productivity is a priority because the sooner I get things done the sooner I can do whatever I want. The sooner I am free.��

At the same time I have had to learn that I can’t schedule in my pleasure like a task on my to do list. I have tried countless times in my life to preemptively rest in preparation for a busy period or to stuff all of my self-care activities into my morning routine so that I don’t have to think about it again for the rest of the day.��

This doesn’t work because rest isn’t something you can store up and use later. We need to rest daily and pleasure isn’t felt to it’s depths when it’s being shoved into a timeline. It’s best experienced when you can be fully present with the desire to experience the pleasure and then the actual experience that brings you the pleasure. In fact, I’d argue that pleasure isn’t even pleasure if you aren’t fully present with it. It’s just a thing you’re doing.��

So, as I seek to consistently find my rhythm with pleasure and production both of which I believe are non-negotiable necessities for our daily life I want to bring you along with me.��

I believe our enneagram types have so much to tell us about how we limit our pleasure and how we struggle with productivity.��

I’ll be tackling each type Tuesday and Thursday for the next few weeks starting with type one this Thursday!��

Join me on Instagram to talk more about this concept. How do you feel about seeing productivity as a means to more pleasure?��

It’s not shocking that that was the work I did for so long based on how much I stay in relationship to rest and understanding rest and permission to rest as a practice. But, it has continued to be something I work with because the messages we receive about rest from our society are so prevalent. They’re everywhere and the reason is because our society is built on the idea that we are reliant on workers. If people get quote on quote lazy �� capitalism collapses.��

It’s my suspicion that this worked back in the day because housing prices and income were proportional.��

Did you know that the median cost of housing today is $375k ? If we were being paid the same ratio to housing cost as they were being paid in the 70s the median cost of housing today would be $184k. So yeah �� in the 70s I can see why so many people weren’t trying to make dramatic changes because society was working for so many. Well, for white men specifically. Let’s be honest.��

But here we are now with houses outside of most people’s price range that are being sold in a matter of days with cash buyers swooping in and paying well above asking. It’s unreal.��

So of course resting is scary because we’re seeing everywhere that we have to keep going. There isn’t enough to go around and the rich will eat us alive if we aren’t careful.��

—��

Not be doomsdayish just trying to express the very real pressure that many of us are carrying around on a daily basis whether we agree on the cause of that pressure I think we can all agree that the pressure is there.��

Add in a global pandemic, diet culture telling us that we aren’t OK to like ourselves as we are and we should always be watching what we eat, the way we put all of the responsibility of saving the planet on individuals rather than on the corporations that are producing far and away more waste than individuals alone but some of us still have the crippling anxiety that we are going to put the wrong kind of plastic in the recycling bin, interpersonal relationships, learning how to be social again after socially isolating for years, tensions around how we are supposed to respond to mask wearing without clear and trustworthy guidance, fear of people not getting vaccinated, some of you experience fear of getting vaccinated yourselves, feeling as though we have to make these decisions on our own and somehow they’ve been politicized, trying to stay socially and politically aware while also managing our mental health, being afraid of aging, being afraid of the police,�� fear of losing control over our own bodies, and now self-care and mental health have been commodified to the point of becoming another thing on our to do list that we can fail at rather than systems and tools we have in place in order to nourish our mind, body and souls.��

When we lay it all out there it’s really easy to see why we are tired. and that’s not even all of it is it? Many of us are experiencing grief on a personal and global level. We’re managing complex family dynamics and patriarchal systems that make it difficult for women to even have a day that feels like their own. DO you know how many women I’ve talked to who cried in my face because I told them to ask for an hour a week that could be their own. ONE HOUR A WEEK! That’s nothing.��

I don’t say all of this to bum you out. I swear. But I do say this as my way of empathizing with the fact that we are asking more and more of ourselves and this sense that we should always be doing �� we get it honestly. It comes from everywhere. The job market, the housing market, the supermarket, social media, commercials, department stores. It’s everywhere �� you are not safe to rest. Every moment that you are resting is a moment of progress lost. Whether that progress is financial, physical, emotional or relational. The underlying message of ‘this is a slippery slope�� is very real and extremely depressing.��

So, of course we are tired and of course we are afraid of the potential consequences of rest. But, we deserve rest anyway.��

So how do we reconcile the messaging with the very real need for rest?��

—��

I think we get a little rebellious. Depending on your enneagram type this will be more enticing for some of you than for others. I personally love a little rebel moment �� especially if no-one gets hurt.��

Start questioning why we have these expectations in the first place and give yourself a season of playing rebel. Shoot a big middle finger up to the forces telling you that you aren’t doing enough and say, “I’ll show you not doing enough�� and sit your butt down.��

Here are 3 small ways that I’m playing with this rebellious energy in my own life.��

This is something that I came to with my therapist as I talked about reading your body keeps the score and how disconnected I still feel from my body. I know I talked about it on the podcast before about how I often ignore my bodies signals on purpose to be more productive. Instead I’ve been trying to check in more and giving my body exactly what she wants. Which for a week or so was a lot of naps. I’ve never really been a napper but when I started listening to my body more I started napping more which was terrifying for me. I had so many weird internal messages about the kind of people who took naps and what that meant. But, I just kept letting it happen and trusting the process and after several days of needing naps I’m back into my normal routine without as much rest needed. But, man was my body tired there for a minute and that’s OK!��

Because the messages of unrest and productivity and self-fixing are so prevalent everywhere that we look I’ve started scheduling in one sometimes two days a week to be unplugged from almost everything. Now, here’s what I’ve been doing you will likely have your own needs and boundaries that are different from mine but these are mine:��

I turn my phone off Saturday night ( sometimes friday night ) and don’t turn it back on until Monday morning. Now, I do have an iPad that I can get iMessages from which makes me available to almost everyone who would need to text me but doesn’t make me available at the moment they send a message. I really love YouTube or watching movies on the weekends so I don’t restrict myself from those but I do try to keep them to the minimum not because I think it’s bad not to but because I feel better when I do. I experience more joy. So, I may watch a movie in the morning and then put my iPad away for a few hours. Having this time to only be bale to listen to music or to be in the silence is so unheard of in our day to day lives that it is life giving to me. So life giving that I’m tempted to not even turn my phone back on Monday morning even though I know that I must.��

Because messaging is so important and social media algorithms are smart we need to train our algorithms to give us what we want. Take a few minutes each week to unfollow accounts that exhaust you and to like, share and subscribe to accounts that make you feel enriched. You are feeding your mind every time you open your phone. What are you feeding it? And I don’t mean this is a legalistic be the best version of yourself kind of way �� more so I mean �� how does this make you feel and do you want to feel that way? Does it encourage rest or is it encouraging toxic thoughts about how much you SHOULD be doing?��

You are allowed to just be. You are safe to just be.��

��

��I wanted to go through each enneagram type and give you the number one thing I saw as the cause of burnout for each type in the years I spent coaching!��

1 �� Getting�� caught up in the details. Also having higher standards for yourself than those who are judging your work.��

// set deadlines for when you call it complete and check in with people who may not know how much work you are putting in and give them a chance to tell you to cool it.��

2 �� Believing that you have to earn your place in people’s lives. This is exhausting.��

// focus instead on loving yourself well so that you aren’t seeking other people to fill that love cup up and everyone in your life can be a bonus instead of the solution to your need to feel loved.��

3 �� Comparison. Fear of being left behind.��

// focus instead on how you want to feel in your life and use that as your metric for success.��

4 �� Not knowing your worth.��

// with entrepreneurs this causes you to undercharge and overwork just to make enough money to pay the bills. As a person in the world it also makes you feel like you have to work twice as hard to receive half of the benefits. Whether that’s in your relationships, your work life or even as a parent. The belief that you’re not enough as you are can leave you feeling as though you have to compensate which puts more work onto you just receiving what could be yours without any effort.��

5 �� Input without export.��

// this is such an intense one �� you take in so much information on whatever it is that you are studying whether that’s race relations, the economy, the best way to write a novel and when action isn’t taken on that information it’s like it clogs up your gears and creates frustration. Me with the enneagram��

6 �� Loyalty or fear of letting people down .

// I’ve had casual conversations with sixes in Ubers and on planes about how they are the only one at the company who seems to care about everything that could go wrong. They’re exhausted, under appreciated and overworked and I ask if they think they’re going to quit they say they don’t want to let anyone down or don’t want to lose their health insurance. i recently heard a therapist talk about how when we’re constantly complaining about something �� something in that relationship needs to change. Venting feels good in the moment but it doesn’t solve the problem. To solve the problem we need to set boundaries or shift the relationship in some way.��

7 �� FOMO��

// this was always mine. I would get opportunities that I wasn’t even excited about and I’d say yes because I was scared that if I skipped it then I’d miss out on something. What if everyone else was going to be there or it was the one opportunity that would really sky rocket my career? What if it seems like it’s not a good fit but then when I get there it turns out to be the best thing that’s ever happened to me? How do I know unless I do it all? I have had to learn to say ‘no�� to so many more things than I want to simply because it’s not an enthusiastic full body yes. And the truth is that sevens aren’t typically afraid to cancel commitments so not only would I find myself on the edge of burnout from over commitments but I’d also have to cancel a lot more things than I’d like to. It’s much easier to simply say ‘no thanks�� the first time.��

8 �� Putting out fires.��

// Eights are protective. They’re also reactive. This can lead them to feeling as though they have to be everywhere taking care of everything and everyone all the time. They also aren’t great at acknowledging their limitations so it can feel like weakness to ask for help. All of this is a really sweet recipe to burnout. In fact, more than any other type I’ve had 8s tell me that they didn’t know they were burnt out or going too hard until after they had some sort of physical ailment come into play. Practice regular body checks to get in tune with what you feel and the toll that things take on you before your body has to yell.��

9 �� Not saying, “no”��

// One of my pet peeves is the term lazy that gets applied to nines because nines are actually often very busy because they do not know how to say ‘no�� they spend so much of their energy trying to keep the peace and not create rifts that they are often living with more stress and overwhelm then we even realize. Spouses who aren’t speaking up about what’s not working for them. Employees who are taking on more than they can handle for fear of saying ‘no�� Friends who are trying to be there for everyone all at once and mediated conflict at the same time. It’s exhausting just to be a nine in my opinion. I don’t know how they do it. Your prevention for burnout nines is to start saying, ‘let me think about that and get back to you.�� This will give you time to make the right decision for yourself �� maybe even talk it out with a friend and honestly analyze your capacity at the moment.��

Have you heard of a fixed vs. a growth mindset?

This concept is�� Based on the research of Carol Dweck.��

Who Studied students �� she sought to understand why some students seemed to bounce back from failure while others were devastated.

Dweck learned that the students who believed they could get smarter over time were more likely to bounce back after failure than those who believed that they were as smart as they’d ever be.��

So, the theory is that people tend to fall into one camp or the other �� either we believe that people are capable of growth and change or we think we are given a certain amount of talent and skills and we just have to work with what we’ve got.��

And I know there are some of you out there thinking, “I know that we can improve�� while also struggling to show yourself that’s true when the moment of your personal failure arises.��

Those with a growth mindset are more likely to succeed as they believe they can improve so they put in the work to get better while those with a fixed mindset may give up at the first sign of adversity.��

Meaning �� there’s a clear goal here �� to possess a growth mindset.��

What’s fun is that neuroscience backs up the fact that we are in fact malleable. We can build new neuropathways when we change our behavior to match the growth we want to do!!!��

This is HUGE. We are not as talented, as kind, as qualified or as smart as we ever will be. We can continue to improve over time.

This study is really helpful for us as adults as we start doing any kind of lifestyle changes because failure is inevitable. We need to prepare for the reality that failure is going to happen.

The question isn’t about whether or not we will fail �� instead it’s how will I respond to failure once it inevitably arises?��

Do I believe that I can improve or do I believe that I am already as good as I’ll ever be?

So, we know what a fixed mindset is �� we know that we want to have a growth mindset. We also know that developing a growth mindset is possible �� so where do we start?��

Simple. We treat input as data not diagnosis.��

When something doesn’t work. When we try to set a boundary and it’s not received well, when we launch a product and it doesn’t sell, when we try to date and it doesn’t work out �� we take in the information �� we note what didn’t work and we make a plan for moving forward differently.��

When we have a fixed mindset and those things happen we think to ourselves, “I’m not good in relationships.�� “I’m not a good business owner…”��

Whatever it is that you believe about yourself will be what you achieve.

Just keep showing up.��

____��

I wanted to talk about what having a fixed mindset around personal growth can look like by enneagram type. So often, people complain to me about others using the enneagram to validate their behaviors. Meaning we find our enneagram type and say, “well I do that because I’m a seven�� instead of exploring if that behavior is serving you or not.��

That is a fixed mindset. The idea that we are who we are and that is who we will always be. The trouble with that is that’s not the intended use of the enneagram. The intended use is to show you that it’s not who you have to be. You get to choose who you are in any given moment by how you show up.��

In my book that’s coming out in October ( the enneagram letters available fro pre-order now ) I define our enneagram type as pressure. The expectation we carry for who we have to be in order to be accepted, safe or loved. Do we have to be perfect, easy to get along with, strong, happy and so on. So if we think about this is terms of today’s conversation �� a fixed mindset says that we have to constantly carry that pressure and a growth mindset says that we can work toward putting that pressure down.��

SO �� let’s talk about each enneagram type and what that can look like.��

1 �� pressure to be perfect and morally above reproach��

// a fixed mindset says that they have to be hyper vigilant to the details of life so that nothing falls through the cracks. It says that they have to be the adult in the room and make sure things don’t get out of hand.��

// a growth mindset says that they can release control and allow things to be excellent without having to make them flawless. It says that sometimes they can leave things undone that have low stakes. It let’s them play hooky and allows them the space for someone else to be in charge of the execution even if it won’t be done the way they’d like for it to be.��

2 �� pressure to be likable and loved.��

// a fixed mindset says that they are loved for what they do and if they stop doing those things the people in their life will leave. It says that they have to be constantly overworked and exhausted to show how much love they deserve. It keeps them in ignorance of their own wants and needs because looking at them means they are selfish.��

// a growth mindset says that they are safe to say ‘no�� and people will still want to be in relationship to them. It says that the people who would leave because they start to set boundaries are not very good friends anyway. A growth mindset says that while boundaries are scary right now they get easier the more you do them so we need to start practicing.��

3 �� pressure to be successful or appear successful.��

// a fixed mindset says that we need to keep up our very expensive lifestyle so that no-one thinks we are failing even if it means burning ourselves out in the process. It tells us that we are loved for what we do and how much we accomplish so we can’t rest or we may become repulsive to the people around us.��

// a growth mindset says that we can set goals based on how we want to feel in our life not for how our life will appear to others. It defines success by how we experience our life not by what metrics we are meeting. A growth mindset tells us that people aren’t our competition but instead can be great collaborators as we seek to do more of what we love. It also allows time for us to rest because we are so much more than what we do �� we are living breathing beings that deserve nourishment. That need nourishment in order to thrive.��

4 �� pressure to be significant

// a fixed mindset says that we are as talented as we will ever be the first time we try something new. That we are either immediately great or we are destined to be average. Just another artist in a sea of monotony. It tells us that we need someone to come in and take care of things for us in order to do anything we want to do. That we aren’t strong enough to do it on our own.��

// a growth mindset says that we get great by pushing through the season of being average. That we keep practicing and use each mistake as information for how we’d like to be better in our next attempt. It reminds us that we are the rescuer. That the one we’ve been waiting for is here and has always been here �� we just need to trust that we can handle it.��

5 �� pressure to be informed and maintain our privacy��

// a fixed mindset says that if we give people a little bit of ourselves they will consume us so we must hide our emotions and our needs to avoid being overtaken. It tells us that we are as abundant as we will ever be so we need to preserve our resources and limit financial and energetic risks to avoid depletion. It tells us that our needs are overwhelming to other people so we have to take care of ourselves and minimize our needs so we never have to ask for help. It tells us that we will never be informed enough to speak as an expert on a topic that we’ve spent years researching.��

// a growth mindset recognizes that we may have some relationships that overwhelm us but that we can communicate our needs clearly and effectively to avoid confusion. Letting them know what we are available for while also maintaining an appropriate amount of boundaries. It allows us to see opportunities for replenishing our energy and our resources instead of only preserving what we currently have. It shows us opportunities to share our knowledge while also feeling safe to say when we don’t know something. It recognizes that there is always more to learn and that doesn’t have to keep you from sharing what you know.��

6 �� pressure to be prepared and loyal.��

// a fixed mindset says that knowing someone your entire life or for a lot of years means you need to forgive and forget over and over again no matter how the relationship feels to you. It says that you need to stay in the safety zone even if you find yourself constantly complaining about how much you don’t like it.��

// a growth mindset tells you that you deserve love and respect in all of your relationships and are allowed to grow and change as a person even if that pulls you away from people you’ve been close to your entire life. It tells you that you can take a leap of faith and if it doesn’t work out that that is also OK. It reminds you that risks and big beautiful life aren’t just for those comfortable with risk it’s for everyone willing to take the chance no matter how scared they may be.��

7 �� pressure to be happy and fulfilled.��

// a fixed mindset tells us that we should keep our negative emotions to ourselves because noone wants to be around a bummer. It tells us that we should be grateful for what we have and that our sadness or anger is a symptom of not being positive enough. A fixed mindset tells us that if something doesn’t feel good in a moment that it’s time to move onto something that will feel better. It tells us that choosing something means limiting our options and therefore preventing us from being fully alive.��

// a growth mindset invites us to share the fullness of our humanity as a path toward deeper connection. It invites us to get comfortable with our heart center so that we can give and receive the fullness of love. It reminds us that it’s normal to be sad or angry and sometimes circumstances warrant that response. It allows us space to let the feelings come and go so we can recognize that we will not be stuck there forever. It allows us the resilience to stay even when things don’t make us feel good because we recognize that everything good is something worth fighting for that will inevitable bring up some kind of negative emotion and if we leave every time we feel bad we will leave before things get great.��

8 �� pressure to be strong��

// a fixed mindset tells us that we need to be constantly on guard because people will use our vulnerability against us. It tells us that the weak get eaten alive and only the strong survive. It tells us that we are responsible for the well being of our family and the most vulnerable among us. It tells us that we have to fight for our needs to be met. It tells us that rest is for the weak and we have to push forward even when we are tired.��

// a growth mindset allows us the space to open up to reveal the truth beneath our blunt honesty �� the vulnerable part of us that we try to protect with strength. It allows us to get our needs met through vulnerability and not force. It reminds us that it is safe to allow others to care for you and it’s not infantilizing to be nurtured by others. It opens you up to listening to the signals that your body is sending you about when it’s tired, hungry, scared or bored and gives you the opportunity to care for it instead of using it as a machine to achieve your goals.��

9 �� pressure to be easy to get along with��

// a fixed mindset says that you don’t know what who you are or what you want. It tells you that you don’t know how to do the things you’re interested or even where to start. It tells you that others have strong opinions and you’re easy going so you can just go with what they want. It tells you that being vocal about your opinions and ideology will push people away. It tells you that the comfort of others is more important than your happiness or safety.��

// a growth mindset invites you to take the steps to get to know who you are and what you want. It empowers you to seek out the information you need to do the things you want to do. It reminds you that speaking up takes practice and you’ll get better every time you try. It allows you to let people leave if they don’t like the truth of who you are so that you can actively seek relationships that validate and accept you in your fullness. It prioritizes your safety and happiness and knows that you don’t have to hurt others to have what you want in life. Both can happen at the same time.��

1. Give yourself less time.��

A task will take the time given to it. That means, if you give yourself 3 hours to write a blog post, you will get that blog post written in 3 hours. If you give yourself 30 minutes to write a blog post, you will get that blog post written in 30 minutes. You will take as much time as you're given to finish a given task. That's why I RARELY recommend a 5 day work week and an 8-hour work day to entrepreneurs.��

In fact, I think you're more likely to get MORE done if you have a 4-hour workday and a 4 day work week. Put the pressure on yourself to knock out your tasks in a smaller window and you will find yourself suddenly focused and engaged in a way that you just aren't when you feel like you have all the time in the world.

2. Stop trying to do things in the 'right' way.��

There are a lot of people teaching the 'right' way to structure your day and work week. The problem is that we are all different. We all have different hang ups and ways of being that prevent us from showing up as our best selves. You can't expect yourself to have the same productivity habits as someone with a completely different personality than you.��

A common example of this is the recommendation to wake up and get to work at 5am. For some, that is pure magic. For others, that's a recipe for shame and doubt and insecurity. You try to wake up at 5 and you fail. You try to work during your sleepiest hours and you fail. You try to stay focused when all you want is to go back to sleep and you fail.��

Giving all of your mental energy away to shame and self-doubt is definitely not going to help you get your work into the world.��

That's not fair to yourself or to your work.��

Figure out what works for YOU. What works for a single mom won't work for a traveling entrepreneur. Accept your personality and your circumstances and work along WITH them!��

3. Cut your to-do list in half.

Yep! You need to be expecting SO MUCH less from yourself than you are currently expecting. I know you, I know that you are staring down the barrel of a to-do list so long that you feel like you will never get to sleep. Take that to-do list out of your life and write out 3 things that HAVE to get done today. Just do those things and see how much better you feel. How much more energy do you now have to tackle a few of the things that didn't make the cut today?��

Lower your expectations and ride that momentum wave all the way to a highly productive work week!��

��

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So, I want to go ahead and give you a heads up. Here are the three Business Tools that truly have changed my life and my business for the better!��

1.

Dubsado is a client management system that houses all of my information for 1:1 coaching clients and incubators. This allows me to send questionnaires, contracts, canned emails, and invoices easily and sometimes automatically. It also allows me to see when clients have read emails and how far along we are in their invoicing process. I also use this system to upload and house their meeting notes.��

You can get 20% off of your first month with Dubsado by using the code: SARAJANE

2.

I use acuity to schedule all of my meetings. It's amazing for coaches and photographers or other professions that require a lot of 1:1 time. You can block off your schedule on certain days and times and the calendar will only let your clients book during the times that you want to be available. This eliminates the annoying back and forth for finding a good time for both of you. It also allows you to be more in control of your schedule so that you can stop accidentally overbooking yourself!

3.

Oh my gosh, Kajabi is what I've been missing my entire life. I had no idea what I was looking for until I found it. Kajabi is perfect for passive income! You can create your courses and your membership site right in Kajabi. Also, you can use Kajabi for your newsletter and your sales funnel! I was in need of an upgrade from my newsletter service and my course hosting. Kajabi made both of those so simple and really unleveled what I was able to do. Beyond that - it can even serve as your website!! It has everything and I'm in love.��

��

It took working for someone else to realize that wherever I go, there I am. My work habits followed me into whatever position I took and every business that I owned, so, the only thing left to do was see what I could be doing differently.��

Through that process I came to understand 3 major mistakes that I was making on a regular basis in my business.��

1. Over-promising!��

I wanted everyone to be happy whenever we were talking to one another. So, I'd find myself making promises without even thinking through what I'd agreed to do. That would lead me to being over booked, unable to deliver and in some cases made me seem straight up flakey. It took me years to realize how important it is to pause and assess before making agreements to do anything out of the ordinary scope of my work.��

2. Putting too much pressure on EVERYTHING.��

In the early years of my business, everything felt IMPORTANT. Like, life or death important. "I have to get this newsletter out or my business will fall apart!" may have been an actual sentence that came out of my mouth. Yes, business is different than an ordinary job because every decision does have a consequence and we want all of our decisions to lead to more profit. However, treating a late blog post like you've just pulled your own life support isn't helping anybody!��

3. Focusing on my 10 year goals.

In my first few years of business I dreamed and I dreamed BIG... for someone else. I had grand plans for who I would be in 10 years and not a lot of plans for who I was right then. I spent all of my time day dreaming about who I would be "one day" and not enough time figuring out who I needed to be in that moment to make "one day" a reality. The truth is that we change, our dreams change and what we want out of a successful life, it changes too. All that you can control is where you put your energy RIGHT NOW. I am no longer focused on "one day" now, I make sure that I'm enjoying every single day just as it is. "One day" for me, IS today.��

��

But, what about those times where we aren't necessarily working too much and the demands on us aren't actually that intense yet, we have a hard time waking up and making it all happen each day.��

Slowly the fire in us begins to fade and every step taken in our work feels like we are walking through a thigh-high mud puddle in a pair of galoshes.��

There's nothing to be taken away. There's no one to please. No new boundaries to set.��

Yet...

Here we are, tired and overwhelmed and detached.��

We get a project rolling and then we do our best to maintain. We have good days and we have bad days and all the while we are maintaining.��

Shouldn't we be happy? Shouldn't we be content?��

The thing that most of us forget is that when you are living an intentional life and running a creative business, there is a key element that we need to keep tending to. It's the element that makes us our million dollar ideas, that gets us out of bed each day engaged and alive and participating, it's the element that makes all of the hard work feel like child's play and a no brainer. It's kind of a big deal.��

That key element that often gets overlooked is INSPIRATION.

You see, we tend to only seek inspiration when we are starting something new. When we are engaged in the process of creating. Then we toss it to the side until we think we need it again.��

This is what causes us to think that we need to constantly start new projects and blossom new ideas because, inspiration feels GOOD. It's sexy, it's inviting and it'll get you high. Some of us we chase that high by constantly pursuing new ideas and allowing inspiration to flow.��

But, the secret is that inspiration is needed even more to maintain.��

So you've got a good thing going. You have a business or a project that is stable and sustainable. But, you're depleted and drained and tired.��

SEEK INSPIRATION.��

Take a class on basket weaving, get some coaching, go to the art museum, create shorter workdays for yourself, take a road trip, dip your toes in some water, whatever you need to feel ALIVE again. Give that to yourself.��

You will be surprised by how much pouring into your inspiration tank will feed the status quo of your existence.��

What can you do today to feed your inspiration?

Your business and your life will thank you for it!