Confession: “I used to be a workaholic. I worked long days, feeling like I was being productive, but in reality I was just spinning. Now, I work just 15 hours a week and am getting more done, and my business is doing better than ever!” - Jessica Durivage, founder of Where Is My Guru
Jessica is a business buddy of mine. She’s up to amazing things in the world -- like starting an online “university” dedicated to well-living and self-improvement -- but the clarity that she has now was not always there.
During her Clarity Confession, she candidly shares that she used to be a burnt-out, overworked and overwhelmed business builder. She wasn’t focused, didn’t have a business structure that was bringing in money, and didn’t feel like she was making the difference that she knew she could make in the world.
Fast-forward to today. Her work is all about service and helping people live beautiful, meaningful lives, and as she puts it, she finally feels aligned with her purpose.
In this month’s inaugural Clarity Confession, Jessica took the hot seat and held nothing back.
Tune in to learn…
What her first 5 years in business REALLY looked like (trust me, this is a truth that NO ONE tells you)
How she’s able to work just 15 hours a week and still grow her business
The lifestyle movement she’s embraced that has enabled her to find more time, ease and enjoyment in her life and business
What keeps her grounded and present in order to show up as her best self
Watch Jessica’s Clarity Confession below.
Plus, Jessica’s offering an amazing gift to one lucky viewer. Watch until the end to learn how to enter for your chance to win free admission to a Where Is My Guru online course. There are several amazing ones to choose from!
P.S. You can hang with Jessica HERE & check out the super cool things she's up to (and pick out the course you'd want to take if you win free admission!)
Have you ever ridden the business crush roller coaster?
Come on. Don’t act like you haven’t had a business crush or two in your day.
I get them all the time, and they always start so innocently.
You stumble across a new blog, maybe after seeing the gal behind it featured on another site or interviewed on your favorite podcast. You peruse her content, read her posts, investigate her offerings.
Wow! This chick is really cool. I LOVE what she’s doing. She’s awesome. I wish I could hang out with her. I want to be her friend!
You’re totally smitten.
You sign-up and read every email she sends, feeling like it’s a personal note just to you and not a mass mailing to her thousands of subscribers.
You follow her on Twitter, like her page on Facebook, stalk her online whereabouts and daydream about attending her live event or taking her online program, just for the chance to befriend her.
There’s no denying it. You’re crushing hard.
For now, you’re still in the safe zone, but it could turn ugly fast. Watch out. I know, because it’s happened to me.
What do I mean?
One day you’re casually crushing, and suddenly there’s a shift.
You start comparing your stuff to hers.
She’s so much more innovative than me! I never would have thought to include that in my program.
That blog post was amazing - like she read my mind. I could never write something that spot on.
She’s so ridiculously good at what she does. I’ll never get to that level. Ugh.
Comparison is deadly. It makes you feel like crap and totally trashes your energy.
It’s just like that middle school crush on the hottie a few grades above you, when you went from being high-as-the-sky when he smiled at you to a mopey puddle of mush feeling sorry for yourself when you realized he didn’t know your name.
Business crushes turned bad can wreck your spirits.
But don’t worry, I’m not just going to leave you there, beating yourself for having the occasional business crush.
It’s perfectly normal -- and natural -- to admire the amazing work other awesome-preneurs are doing out there, but when you let it affect you negatively, that’s where we need to pump the brakes.
So, instead of allowing business crushes to turn ugly, I challenge you to harness that crushing power for good!
Here are some ideas:
Send your crush a little “love note” telling her that you admire the work she’s doing. (Who knows, maybe you’ll become actually friends with the gal you’re crushing on!)
Be inspired by her. If you love the way she writes, the look of her website, the head shots she has, the sales page for her signature program, ask yourself in what ways can you up your own game to appeal to your ideal client the way she’s appealing to you.
Spread the love. Remember how fun it was talking about your crush with your BFFs? Same goes for business crushes! If that gal you’re ga-ga for is inspiring/helping/motivating you, chances are her work will uplift your biz friends, Twitter followers and social media pals. Do her a solid and share her good work around! (Plus, you’ll be putting money in the Good Business Karma Account when you do :-)
Enjoy the crush (while it lasts), and squeeze as much positive ju-ju out of it as you can. And, when the time comes to move on, you’ll be left with the memory that it was good while it lasted.
Who’s your business crush? Spill the beans in the comments below so that I can start crushing on them too!
xo,
P.S. Stop crushing and start connecting! Find some real-life business crushes (that’ll soon turn into business BFFs) HERE.
As I write this post, I’m sitting on my back porch still in my yoga clothes. It’s 9:44am. My daughter is napping. The work day has officially begun (even though a shower never happened).
My day started at 4:50am. Brush teeth, wash face, pack my gym/yoga bag. (On Tuesdays I teach a 6am Vinyasa yoga class.) Grab some trail mix, my water bottle and head out.
Teach class, more trail mix, read Dream Year on the elliptical, do some free weights, pick up veggies at the farmers market, back home to officially start the work day (after cuddling with Leona).
It’s not even 9am, and the entrepreneurial dance has already begun. Does reading business books at the gym count as “work” or “me-time”? Does teaching my yoga class count as “professional” because I get paid or is it “personal” because I enjoy it so much?
My days are always some version of this back-and-forth between wife, mom and entrepreneur. I’m used to it by now. I’ve never had a typical 9-to-5. I live the dance every day.
For years, my work week has been a hybrid of working-laundry-working-running errands-working-prep dinner-working-yoga-working (and now you can throw breastfeeding into the mix).
On the best of days it feels like a (mostly effortless) dance. On the worst days it feels blurry. Confusing, stressful and like I’m not 100% present no matter where I am.
When you’re an entrepreneur, this is what life is like. It’s a blending of personal and professional in order to build a lifestyle that you love. Hmmm...a lifestyle that you love. Is this love??...
But, let’s be honest here, the lifestyle of an entrepreneur isn’t always glamorous, fun or easy. Far from it. It’s hard, takes A LOT of dedication, and rarely looks like what we imagined when we first started our businesses.
Sometimes having a “lifestyle” business is the very thing that leaves us feeling the most frazzled! It leaves us asking, “Where does work end and life begin?”
If you aren’t enjoying your life (at least a little) then what’s the point of building this business anyhow? The whole point of creating a business you love is to enjoy a life you love! Stop putting that on hold for “someday”.
In this week’s lesson, I’m sharing my 4 favorite strategies for balancing work & life so that you can start living the good life NOW.
How’s your work/life “balance” treating you? What do you struggle with most? Or, if you have another tip that I didn’t cover in the video, please share in the comments below! I love learning from you.
xo,
P.S. Wanna connect with fellow purpose-driven entrepreneurs like yourself? Meet the people that "get you" HERE.
In one way, having down time can be great. You get a chance to restock your business reserves, read books (business or otherwise), get ready for the fall pick-up and reconnect with family and friends. Good stuff.
On the other hand, the slow down can result in worry and anxiety as the influx of people, money and ideas slows, and you’re left with (too much) time to think about and question your business. “What am I doing? Did I really think this would work?” Dangerous territory.
If you’re anything like me, you likely pendulum between the two -- one moment you’re reveling in family time and in the next you’re having a minor freak out because you heard (once again), please be in touch again in the fall.
And then something hit me...if everyone else is slowing down, taking time off and letting things “coast” a bit until September, then it’s not a horrible thing if I do that too.
Not saying that I’m gonna sit on the back porch with my feet up all day (though that does sounds appealing). But, if there’s any time of year when there’s a collective slow down, it’s now, so why not enjoy it a little bit more?
For me that means enjoying mid-day walks with my little girl, coffee breaks with my husband on the days he works from home, and the occasional girls’ lunch date with friends.
It means not taking myself or my business so seriously and having more FUN with it. Being playful. Curious. Open-hearted and optimistic. And, engaging with like-minded entrepreneurs who get it -- like you!
It also means working on stuff that truly matters and letting go of the “busy” stuff that makes me feel like I’m doing something, but actually gets nothing much accomplished. Things like checking emails 40x a day or getting sucked down the Google rabbit hole.
Whether you’re feeling the summer slow down in a good or not-so-good way, I’m calling for a collective deep breath to ground you in the here and now so that you can remind yourself why you got started with your business in the first place.
(I’ll wait while you enjoy that. Ahhhhhhhhhhh :-)
I’m feeling better already. You?
Here are some of the things I’ll be enjoying that made the August 2015 HOT List.
On my nightstand.
Dream Year by Ben Arment.
I’ll admit I’m only about a quarter of the way through at this point, but so far it’s a pretty good read. Arment talks about how each of us, because of our unique background, skills, education, has something that only we can deliver to the world. So, we can either spend our lives working to help someone else achieve their dream, or set out on our own to manifest our own. The one thing I take issue with is the negative tone his copy has at times. He uses words like “frustrations” and “fears” again and again, which are a little depressing for my taste, but the underlying message is a good one.
When I’m feeling like a lonely-preneur.
I’ve been loving the supportive interaction that I’ve found in Facebook Groups lately. It’s a great place to go for community, feedback, answers to business questions and to find some business best friends.
One caution: go with a purpose. Don’t just hop from one group to the next to the next haphazardly, go with a question you need an answer to or to connect with members in a real way -- like setting up a 15min Skype date to mastermind.
Feeling like a lonely-preneur? Learn how to find, woo & form real, lasting relationships with some Business BFFs here.
When it’s time for a break.
I go for a walk with Leona (who’s 10 months old now!). Even if it’s just a 15 minute stroll around the neighborhood, I always return to my work refreshed and more focused.
Breaks are essential -- they ARE NOT a luxury. We all need them, so give yourself that gift. Whether it be a quick 10 minute walk, a 30 minute yoga DVD, a cup of tea on the porch or a 90 minute massage (yes, please!).
Tip: If you’re not great about giving yourself down-time, schedule in breaks throughout your day. Try not to stare at your computer screen for more than 60 minutes without giving yourself at least 5 minutes to get up, walk around and look at something other than your laptop.
I know it’s a bit cliche, but we’ve only got this one life. We can spend it stressed out, rushing around, feeling like we need to do/be more. Or, we can choose to move through life differently. We can slow down, be present, kiss our spouses/kids/pets, take (mini) breaks, do things we like once in a while and live the good life now.
There is only one summer month left til September arrives. Do your very best to enjoy it.
If you enjoy any of this month’s HOT List items, let me know about in the comments below, on Twitter @CailenAscher, or in the Facebook Group.
Have some fun stuff you’re lovin’ on lately? Let me know. I’d love to check it out!
xo,
P.S. Missed last month’s HOT List? There was some booty-shaking goodness & a recipe for a delicious must-try cocktail. (Everyone that I make it for LOVES it!!) Check it HERE.
