I recently hosted a free class to work less, slow down, and glow up. And why am I teaching this? Because this is what I used to believe:
"I don't have time to meditate!"
"I am too tired to go to the gym!"
"I don't have time to sleep longer!"
"I'm so stressed, I can't go see my parents!"
All of the above were things I used to tell myself as a result of prioritizing work over everything else in my life, and putting all my energy and efforts into my career. Today, I call them excuses.
What I shared with my students in the free 3-day class today is 2 things. Here’s the first part:
Time
Time is the only resource on the entire planet that everybody has access to in the same amount. Which means: we all have 24 hours. No matter if you're a president, a world-famous singer, an executive CEO, a dancer, or a mom (or anything else!): we all have 24 hours.
It's not that I didn't have time to meditate or go to the gym or see my parents.
I didn't make time.
Boom. Yap, it's that simple.
I used to prioritize my career, what I could write in my CV, getting a raise, receiving approval from my boss over... my physical health, my relationship with my parents, my mental and emotional wellbeing.
I used 95% of my time to either work OR think, worry, complain, brainstorm about work.
Now, there's nothing wrong with being ambitious and driven and a great performer at work. I am still very ambitious and driven and I perform in my work.
But what's the price you're paying?
It shouldn't be at the expense of the quality of your relationships, your mental wellbeing, and your physical health.
Lovely, you can't live like this forever. And you don't have to continue like this for the rest of your life. In fact, you can decide today that you no longer want to spend all your time at work or thinking about work.
You have a choice.
Are you in our private FB group yet? All our high achievers are sharing how they want to have a better work-life balance and enjoy their free time with more FUN and with their loved ones. DM me if you want in.
If your body was a car
Everything is energy, but we're not going into the quantum physics of things. Energy is the level of vitality and drive you feel in your body and your mind every day. It's kind of like the gas for your car.
When you have a lot of energy, you're feeling active, excited, driven, empowered.
With the car example: when your tank is filled up with the right gas, you can go fast and keep driving for a looooong time.
When you don't have a lot of energy, you're feeling tired, exhausted, depleted, sad.
With the car example: wrong gas = real issues, and no gas = you can't drive at all.
There are things, activities, jobs, tasks that GIVE you energy and fulfil you - and there are others that DEPLETE your energy and leave you feeling empty.
It is your job to differentiate between the two and proactively do more things that GIVE you energy.
Unlike time, energy isn't just freshly available to us every day. We need to proactively take care of our energy, recharge regularly, protect ourselves.
With the car example: we need to make sure we use the gas to drive to the right destination, we need to have enough gas to get there, and make sure we don't waste it.
Now replace “car” with “body”
Feeling energetically depleted and impatiently counting the days until my next day off was the result of putting all my energy into things that I thought were more important than my personal life.
It left me feeling nervous, I had racing thoughts every night, because I couldn't turn my brain off from thinking about work, and was feeling energetically drained.
At that time, I didn't have a strategy to recharge my energy on a daily basis. I didn't know how to meditate, I didn't know how I could sleep better, I didn't know how to shift my thoughts and stop thinking what a "poor girl" I was that I had to experience so much stress every day.
I was such a victim, spinning in the hamster wheel that society built for us - and maybe you're feeling the same right now? I'm going to gently remind you that: you have a choice.
The secret is: there is another way.
WANT MORE? GET YOUR FREE SELF-CARE GUIDE
3 Tips for High Achieving Perfectionists Who Are Ready to Remove Overwhelm and Work Less
...WITHOUT COMPROMISING RESULTS AND BURNING YOURSELF OUT
I created a free self-care guide if you’re someone who always puts everyone else - especially work! - first and needs some tips for perfectionists to slow down again! Click the button below to download your self-care guide for free:
