Do you struggle to switch off?

This is a big part of the picture I work on with my clients - because who doesn’t want the freedom to be able to take some time out from their business, or create a life where they work just a few hours a week and are able to switch off from it the rest of the time?

Need help with Imposter Syndrome? Here are 5 ways you can feel more confident now

This is something I personally have struggled with massively over the years and if I’m honest I think it’s something we are ALL prone to as entrepreneurs and business owners.

I thought I’d talk about this today as I had a couple of coaching sessions with the ladies in my membership this week and both of them were really keen to take August off to spend some time with their families - and just to enjoy life after the year and a bit that everyone’s had since Covid first hit!

Things are hopefully really going to be relaxing on July 19th as regards the UKs covid restrictions lifting and I think everyone’s just had such a full-on year and such a waiting game that a lot of people just want some time out!

But this is a big part of the picture I work on with my clients regardless of Covid - because who doesn’t want the freedom to be able to take some time out from their business, or create a life where they work just a few hours a week and are able to switch off from it the rest of the time? Yet SO many entrepreneurs I know struggle with this, they feel like they’re constantly on and find it really hard to step away from work. It is a battle - and very often a losing one! So what drives that? Why do we find it so hard to just relax?

There are two main reasons:

Fear and addiction.

Fear - the fear that by not working we’re going to lose clients, miss opportunities, make no money or frankly the whole thing is just going to fall apart.

And addiction - yes, work and work stress is addictive!

Working literally changes our brain chemistry and puts us on this addictive emotional rollercoaster, a bit like gambling. The adrenaline rush of trying to make it all work, followed by this big hit of dopamine, our reward chemical, when something goes well. And we make that doubly hard for ourselves because we’re constantly chasing this future we want to create, we’re ALWAYS focused on the goals and all the stuff we’ve got to get done to make those happen - which just drives that fear and adrenaline rush even more. We get hooked.

And like breaking any sort of addiction - that’s not so easy! Especially when it’s grounded in fear. So one of the biggest things we can do for ourselves - is just ground ourselves in reality.

Remind ourselves that the world isn’t going to fall apart if we take a little bit of time out. Because it doesn’t, right? If we’re really unwell and unable to work for a few days - we cope. We find ways to make it work.

Need help with Imposter Syndrome? Here are 5 ways you can feel more confident now We usually find that when we’re FORCED into having less time, what happens is that all of a sudden our priorities become so much clearer and it’s easy to see what’s really important and what’s just stuff that we’ve been telling ourselves must get done. We shift our client appointments around rather than telling ourselves they’re set in stone. We push back deadlines on projects. We don’t hold ourselves accountable to the imaginary deadlines in our head - because we can’t! And all of a sudden, when we’re FORCED to take time out - things look so much clearer and easier. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed that but when you do take some time away - maybe you go on holiday for a couple of weeks and completely relax.... Or maybe just during that period over Christmas when everything quietens down and you can’t do as much… all of a sudden all that pressure you usually put on yourself just slips away and you find you can’t remember what felt so important.

And that’s because there’s a massive paradox with this. The more time out we give ourselves - and the less we focus on thinking and doing in our businesses - the more time, and focus, and clarity we get. So on the flipside, the more we keep telling ourselves there are a million and one things we’ve got to get done and we can’t possibly put things down - the more it feels that way and the more stress and pressure we experience. Our brain literally gets trapped in a vicious cycle of it NEVER feeling like there’s enough. Enough time, enough work done, enough money. We really have to remind ourselves that everything’s ok. Give ourselves a reality check. Come back to what our real priorities are and what our financial situation really is… because our brain, when it’s in that scarcity loop, will only see what isn’t there. It will only see the negatives. So what can you do today to remind yourself that there is enough time? That taking a bit of time out for yourself won’t break the bank?

And here’s the thing - when you actually DO take that time out for yourself, I pretty much guarantee you’ll find you make as much if not MORE money. Why? Because everything shifts. When you’re decisive about your time and intentional in giving yourself space away from work, your brain adapts and helps you shift things around to make sure your other priorities still happen. You’ll just find that what happens is you streamline. You start to cut out all the crap and get SO much better at spotting opportunities and ways of doing things that help you get there all the faster. And the even MORE amazing thing is that when you just allow your brain to switch off and have some downtime, you can tap into your insight and intuition - that isn’t available to us when we’re constantly drowning it out with work. And you’ll suddenly find you start getting all these amazing creative ideas and insights into your business that you never had before! So if that’s not good enough reason to make sure you switch off regularly, I don’t know what is!

So that’s a great way to shift your mindset around it - just reminding yourself that time out is actually really beneficial to your business.

So many of us are brought up with this narrative that working harder brings us results but I think really the opposite is often true; I’ve definitely noticed for myself and my clients that when you’re intentional about how much time you want to spend working life gets so much easier and your business thrives.

And I really believe that creating a business where you CAN take time out without it causing you stress is essential - because if your business is built on such a knife edge that you don’t ever dare put it down - it’s not really serving you so much as you’re serving it. And if you’re anything like me, the whole point of being your own boss is to create a life that brings you freedom and fulfilment - not being chained to your laptop 24/7. So let me know whether that has resonated with you today or set off any lightbulbs - I know this has been a major mindset shift for a lot of people I’ve worked with. What’s also really essential is reducing your anxiety around putting your business down, creating firm boundaries and forming a clear plan and safety net so you KNOW you can afford to take time out without it causing you real problems - putting the practical steps in place to do that is also incredibly reassuring. Those are all things that we tackle in my membership The Aligned Mind & Business Academy and if you think you could do with some support in that department, as well as creating incredible self-belief to help you thrive in this demanding world of business and open the door to your real earning potential - I would love to see you there! I have a new website address to make finding my resources so much easier, so if you want to check it out then just head to www.unblockyourbusiness.com/thrive and click ‘Tell me more’ to join us.

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Need help with Imposter Syndrome? Here are 5 ways you can feel more confident now