Bank Holiday Vibes & Taking Time Out
It doesn't feel like a bank holiday today because I'm working and so is my husband. We took Friday off as we had a wedding down in Suffolk, so we decided to use today as a catch-up day since we've already had a long weekend away.
And what a lovely weekend it was. We travelled down on Friday and attended the wedding. Then on Saturday, we headed to Southwold for a day at the seaside (complete with fish and chips).
We travel a lot, but don't really do many UK breaks. We don't drive, which limits us, and UK breaks tend to be pretty pricey compared to breaks outside the UK. But since we had a wedding invite, we decided to make a weekend of it, and we had a lovely time.
So I'm back in the office today feeling refreshed and ready to go.
If you've followed my content for a while (or read my book), you'll know I'm a big advocate of taking time out from your business.
Too many people push this idea that you have to dedicate every waking minute to your business if you want to be successful, and it's complete bullshit.
Self-care is crucial as a business owner. If you are not looking after yourself, then how can you possibly give your best to your clients?
And that's why I never feel guilty taking a day, a few days, or even a couple of weeks off.
You shouldn't feel guilty either.
Working for yourself means you get to choose when you work. Or at least it should. Unfortunately, too many freelancers feel like they have to be available twenty-four-seven, and that's how they end up burning out.
You don't have to be constantly available. You are allowed to say no. You are allowed to ignore your phone or reply to an email later. You are allowed to set boundaries with clients.
And, trust me, good clients don't care. As long as you deliver what you've promised in the timescales you've promised, they don't mind when you work.
Want to take Wednesday afternoons off to have a massage? You can. Don't want to work weekends or evenings? You don't have to? Want to go on holiday four times a year? I do.
It is possible to build a business that works around you. I've done it and can help you do it too.
And as if you needed proof, here's an extract from an email one of my mentor clients sent me a couple of months ago.
I’ve been using my notes from our talks to help me get my business working for me. Because of this, I’ll be going on holiday for the first time in six years in June.
I was thinking the other day that the work we did together has started a sort of ripple effect. It has changed the way I work, the way I run my business and that in turn is having a positive effect on everything else.
So if your business isn't allowing you to take time off, hit reply and let me know or sign up for my rolling mentoring programme here.
Your weekly ten-minute task
The weekly ten-minute tasks are short simple tasks that should take around ten minutes to complete (although you can spend longer if you want to). The goal is to help you improve your sales and marketing processes.
Completing these tasks won't magically transform your business, but doing one small thing each week to improve is better than doing nothing. So block out ten minutes in the next few days and complete the below task.
Follow five relevant people/companies
Getting new insights, ideas, and inspiration is always good, but that can be hard if you're only ever seeing a small sample of what's on offer.
This week I want you to find five people or companies relevant to your industry - they could be industry experts, they could be competitors or they could have the same target audience as you or be connected to your industry in some way (a copywriter following an SEO expert, an estate planner following a tax specialist etc.)
Once you've found these people, follow them on social media, subscribe to their newsletter/email list or bookmark their blog. Follow their content for a couple of weeks - if it turns out not to be useful, you can unsubscribe and find someone new. But, it might well turn out to be interesting - you won't know until you read it.
Weekly anagrams
Sometimes you need a little break from work or something to get your brain going while you have your morning brew. That's where the weekly anagrams come in.
And this week they are all Star Wars Characters:
- babe toft
- bath bath jute
- airline specs
- kebab wi-onion
- halo son
If you are unfamiliar with how anagrams work: An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, using all the original letters only once.
Feel free to send me your answers once you’ve got them all – there’s no prize, but it’s always good to share your achievements. I'll give you the answers in next week's email.
And talking of answers, here are the answers to last week's anagrams:
- hunted retaker = The Undertaker
- herb tart = Bret Hart
- machines shawl = Shawn Michaels
- ha honk lug = Hulk Hogan
- colds tone aunties vest = Stone Cold Steve Austin
Thanks for reading
That's it from me this week. As always, if you'd like my help with anything sales, marketing or business-related, you can book 90 minutes with me.
