Is It Birthday Time Again?

This is my birthday week (Friday is the day). Each year I like to look back over the past year and see where (if) I learned and grew. Ideally another year older means another year wiser!

My travel bug has been reignited

I’ve traveled off and on my entire adult life. There were some years where I didn’t leave the US, and there are still places I would like to go. 

And as I’ve expressed in several posts, it’s important not to wait until retirement to take this time to do things you’ve always wanted to do. Ask any financial planner about clients who saved and waited until retirement and then got sick. Or something else happened and they were forced to change plans.

Generally, when you see Americans traveling overseas they’re either students or retirees. But have you noticed that’s not true of other countries, especially European ones? That’s because time away from work is an important part of life, and you get four to six weeks vacation.

Even when you’ve just started a job! There’s no such thing in other developed countries as “earning” time off. 

As a business owner, I’m fortunate enough to be able to set my own schedule and give myself as much time off as I’d like. I can choose to travel but still stay on top of work, or I can let everyone know they can’t contact me for a week or so because I’m taking that time off.

Although I believe my mission to help other business owners let go of the hustle and grind to build businesses that are profitable and still allow for life outside the company is important, that doesn’t mean I must always be available.

I have always wanted to go to the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, so I went earlier this year. Some of the treks had strenuous conditions, which is another reason it’s important to do these things while you're relatively young (I’m turning 52) and healthy. 

I ran into a Dutch couple, in their 40s maybe, who were both doctors and were taking their month off to travel Chile from the south (Patagonia) to the north. They didn’t feel guilty about taking time off, nor were they frantically checking their emails. They were on vacation, not a business trip.

In 2024 I also attended a weekend retreat with a virtual entrepreneurial women’s network and got to meet a lot of women I’d only met virtually, as well as some new ones. 
I think it’s important to attend a conference or retreat like this on a regular basis. If for no other reason than to remember you’re not alone!

Travel exposes you to different cultures and different perspectives and different ways of doing things. I think it also helps as you age to stay open and explore so you don’t shut down into small-mindedness or blinkered thinking.

Which brings me to classes!

It’s been not quite a year since I started learning cello. I played violin for years when I was a kid, and I wanted something that was new and different but easy to practice. I like classical music (hey I’m Gen X, we learned classical from Looney Tunes) but also you can play heavy metal on cello. It’s a wonderful sound.

I’m still a beginner, and that’s OK. I’m not doing this to earn money from it, but from the enjoyment when I play something that sounds good.

I’ve also recently started a program on flow coaching, which fits nicely with the neuroscience I’m already using in my business. Flow is a neurological state that helps you focus (athletes often call it being “in the zone”.) Your focus is narrow, and you’ve lost the self-consciousness and critical voice that’s associated with different brain states.

One of the modules on reducing distractions I’ve already been using in my business: staying away from the phone, batching communications instead of checking emails as they come in, etc. 

It’s stuff I’ve been doing, some of it for years now (like shutting off email notifications). Others in the program have issues, like many of my clients. I’m also learning some different ways to coach and help others solve their issues a little faster. There will be modules that are new to me coming up in the future.

For both these classes, it’s sometimes a challenge to find the time to practice (cello) and view the video modules and deal with the workbook (flow). The answer, of course, is to block the time in the calendar, just like you do client calls and other important appointments.

Coaching

Although I don’t offer one to one coaching with my own services, I’m working with an executive coach who’s not only giving me strategies for business development and important conversations, but helping me reframe and work through some blocks.

It’s only been in the past year that I’ve realized I have more internal resistance (largely related to a difficult childhood) to some of the basic building blocks of business. Having a coach reframe how to look at some of these necessities really helps me work through it.

In the flow class, we coach each other on calls. My coach is always helping me slow down when I’m fixated and/or spiraling, and zoom out to see the bigger picture. 

So I had to laugh when I was doing the coaching and I could see it from the other side: where someone was focused on one small piece of the picture and I helped her see the bigger picture to work through it.  

All that said…

It’s definitely been a year of progress, and of course this time next year I expect to be talking about The Book that will be coming out later this year on productivity!

I may not do 1:1 coaching, but I do have a few different offerings to help my clients stop the overwhelm and start focusing. So they can enjoy a profitable, thriving business and still have a life outside of it. Schedule your free consultation here if you’re overwhelmed and ready to take action.