“Everything you do now is for your future.” 🌟 ~Mel McSherry
My Monday chiropractor/physical therapy appointment had me moving on to doing more physical activities, which was a sign that my neck/shoulder issues were improving. By Thursday, however, the pain returned, so we had to pause the physical activity and work on reducing the inflammation. That made me feel like I was taking two steps back rather than continuing to move forward and bummed me out. I shared this with my chiropractor, who said that progress is often not linear, it ebbs and flows a bit, and often, it looks like:
Your muscles don’t hurt as much or as long.
The overall pain is better than before.
There is not as much discomfort during movements.
But all of it is on the journey and path to healing. The other thing? I’m more aware of when I need to take breaks, relax my shoulders, and change my posture.
A similar philosophy applies to business. Some weeks are great: we are getting speaking opportunities, clients are booking our thing. All is right in the world. Others, we hear crickets, question whether this entrepreneurship thing is right for us in the first place, and struggle to find the motivation to keep going.
When you take a step back and think about it, it’s all progress because we continue on this path. And while on the surface, it might look like things are not moving forward, we could be:
Getting the pause we need to think strategically about some things that we couldn’t do before
Finding it easier/quicker to write or create or publish our next thing
Creating systems and processes to make it easier to work when we get that next client or opportunity.
Awareness is progress. Creating white space is progress. Being open to whatever is next is progress.
It might look like doing the cha-cha (one step forward, two steps back), but trust that you’re learning, growing, and improving as long as you take those baby steps.
It’s all progress.
On to the picks!
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#loves 😍
🎧. Listening: Side Hustla! Podcasts. I’m starting a playlist that will feature podcast episodes helpful to us building our part-time businesses. A few are there now, and the list will continue to be updated, but let me know if there are others we should add. Shout out to Josh Spector for the idea, and you can check out his Marketing Podcasts playlist here.
📚. Reading: The Baby Shower. I love a good thriller. The setup for this one is that the woman attends a baby shower, sees the mother-to-be through a mirror/window, and realizes that she’s not pregnant! 😱 Say what now? 😜. Cue suspense music. It’s a fast and good read so far - I can’t wait to see how it ends.
📺. Watching. Jasmine Gardens Inspiration - advice from your Fairy God Sis. If you’re looking for a quick pep talk, this is GOLD.
#reads
Mini Habits You’ll Never Regret in Life If You Do Them Consistently — medium.com
“Consistently execute on tiny habits that are good for you and your life will completely change in a year.”
We love good tiny habits we can apply to our lives, amirite? So here are a few of my favorites from Tim’s list:
Celebrate with cake (need I say more?)
Move, sleep, eat, drink if you get brain fog (this is just a good practice to adopt in general)
Drink a heck more water (dehydration causes so many issues, and most of the time, when we think we are hungry, we’re thirsty)
Clean up your digital life (I want to establish a consistent process and routine for this)
What Side Hustle You Should Start, Based On Your MBTI Type — www.brit.co
This was a fun post to read. I feel like I understand myself so much better when I look at personality test results. I’m an ISFJ. It says:
“Even though you’re introverted, you love connecting with others. Working with people brings you a lot of joy and you go above and beyond to exceed their expectations. You could even be called a perfectionist, which makes side hustles such as virtual assistance, customer happiness consulting, relationship coaching, and interior design some of the top options for you.”
While I’m not doing those specific side hustles, they are right about loving connecting with others and wanting to exceed expectations. Did you look up yours? What do you think?
Also, if you like this type of stuff, I’ve found this resource helpful for understanding how I can use my personality type in marketing my business.
#icymi
😍. Last issue’s top pick was: RankMakers Newsletter.
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If you are selling always-open memberships and looking for simple marketing tips, this might be a helpful course for you.
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#lifevibes
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