It's ok to pause

Consistency. Consistency. Consistency. You’ve heard it a million times. I’ve posted about it a lot, but what I want to tell you right now is - it’s ok if you need to step back, and step away for a little bit.

The thing about being consistent is that it is necessary for growth in your business, on your social media platforms and for anything in life really (just ask my personal trainer husband about this one, you can’t get fit by showing up to the gym once a month.)

BUT

We are in completely uncharted territory right now. If you’re a parent, you have your kids home and you’re the maid, chef, laundry folding machine, oh and the home school teacher. If you think you can run a business on top of that and show up consistently on social media without losing your dang mind - you might need to check yo’self. I say this because I had to check myself.

I was doing all the things. Being the mom my kids needed. Keeping up with the household chores. Trying to workout. AND running my business. Somewhere around month 2 of quarantine I had to check myself - because that lifestyle isn’t sustainable. How do I know? Because I have been there before. While this may be my first pandemic - it is the second time I have had my kids home, while waiting for child care with no relief in sight. Chloe wasn’t accepted into nursery school until she was 28 months old, and Ollie was 18 months old. I learned that getting your unborn child on the daycare waiting lists doesn't ensure you a spot when you're ready to tag in some help in the child care department. There were a lot of months just waiting for the call that there was a spot for them.

Taking care of toddlers while trying to run my bookkeeping business almost broke me. I had to downsize, give up clients, say no to referrals and eventually close the business because I wasn’t able to be the kind of mom I wanted to be while having to put my clients first, ahead of my family.

I tried to "do it all" for way longer than I should have.

Just because you can - doesn't mean you should.

I had to pivot into a new business that fit with the lifestyle I wanted.⁣ I had planned to re-launch my Brand Your Business course this month - but I decided to put it on hold. I know that when I look back on this time I won’t be proud of myself or feel successful if my launch came at the expense of time with my kids.

If you’re chasing something right now, ask yourself "why?'

Whether it’s . . .

That next rank in your NWM company

A new client

A $10K month

A 6 figure year

Why are you chasing that goal? Too often we chase goals and dreams because we think we should. Everyone else in your company is moving through the ranks and you think you should too. Everyone else is highlighting their successful launches and hitting their income goals. “Hitting 6 figures” is EVERYWHERE - but do you really need to hit 6 figures to pay your bills and put food on the table? Probably not.

My advice - sit down, go over your expenses, and calculate how much money you actually need to get by. Take out any of those impulse purchases (I see you swiping up on your fave influencers IG stories while you’re sitting in the drive thru line waiting for your grande, low fat, triple espresso, soy milk, whatever the heck drink.)

Focus on what you need to get by during this time. Work towards that, and let the pressure to achieve anything more go.

That next rank, client, income threshold, launch or whatever it is will be there when this is over. Those things will never go away - but this time will.

This will pass and I want you to make sure you can look back and reflect on positive memories not just the hustle.

I say this as someone who worked my butt off during the first year of both of my kids lives and I know I will never get that time back. I won’t make that mistake again, and I don’t want you to either.