When was the last time you celebrated a small win? By small I mean taking a shower or going to bed early.
There is this dangerous sentiment that we should always be striving for some kind of perfection. To achieve something far beyond what we could ever imagine or come up with a new original ingenious business venture that no other entrepreneur could dream of.
I hate the word “hustle” but that is what’s expected, isn’t it? Sacrificing your wellbeing to work and push yourself well beyond your limits.
The thing is, we value our achievements over ourselves. We attach our worth to what we can accomplish. We ARE our achievements.
But this is a toxic mindset that we don’t always realise we’re stepping into.
It can be as simple as being disappointed that a post you worked hard on isn’t getting the engagement you expected. We see this as a reflection of our worth – or lack thereof.
People always talk about this “hamster wheel”. Going round and round burning ourselves out by working hard but making no progress.
There’s that feeling of: I can’t stop now or I’ll fall behind.
And falling behind in 2022 means no longer being on top of mind as our posts slip lower down peoples’ feeds. The poison of unrealistic consistency and the pressure of daily posting.
The “hustle” of content and needing to put your business out there to attract clients or risk almost certain failure.
What if you started looking at it differently?
You can’t be your most creative and inspired self if you’re a rest-starved entrepreneur.
You need to start looking after yourself and listening to what it is you need. Consistently.
Consistency looks different for everyone. Maybe you like posting every day on social media – that’s great! However, another person may see consistency as posting twice a week. And that’s perfect too.
Consistency shouldn’t be a word you dread or avoid. It should be something that feels right.
If you’re not comfortable posting every day then don’t. If you don’t like it you more than likely won’t stick with it therefore making this idea of consistency meaningless.
I challenge you to sit down and think about it.
What does consistency mean to me? What does consistency look like in my life?
Don’t look at it only in terms of content or carrying out tasks that encourage business growth. Examine where you can incorporate consistency in acts of self-care.
Perhaps twice a week you do a face mask or treat yourself to a bubble bath every Friday night after work.
Nurturing yourself through acts of self-care means that you’re recharging yourself.
We’ve all heard that saying you can’t pour from an empty cup. And “hustling” empties your cup right out. Not one drop to quench your thirst.
Take a break to evaluate what really matters to you. Do you think Mark Zuckerberg cares what you do on Instagram? Well yes. Click on his ads I suppose. But that’s beside the point.
The key takeaway I want you to think about is that your business – and your life – will look different to others. Prioritising what matters to you is key.
If you can stay consistent in doing the things that matters most to you, you’ll make more progress than if you’re trying to juggle everything based on what you think others expect from you.
But more noticeably – what you expect from yourself. If you’re basing your self-worth on your achievements you’re in for a bad time. You can’t control if you win a big client or get accepted to talk on a podcast. That’s on the other person and you can’t rely on them to fulfil your needs.
That’s on you.
If they don’t choose you in the end that’s fine. The world will – funnily enough – keep turning at its steady pace and you’ll pick yourself back up and kick ass in your own way.
You won’t be for everyone and that’s a good thing. If you were for everyone you would probably be as interesting as a bar of soap as with any luck most people like (and more importantly use) those.
There’s no need to dizzy yourself on a hamster wheel when you can set your own goals and work at your own pace.
Strive towards what fulfils you but don’t expect external validation to full up your cup. That’s for acts of self-care and having patience with yourself.
I’ve put together a very cheesy self-care calendar that I want you to take a look at and start prioritising what will help to reinvigorate you. Print it out and put it where you’ll see it every day. Make the effort to stick to this schedule as you’ll definitely feel better for it in the long run.
And don’t forget to celebrate each time you tick off a self-care activity. Get yourself some fancy stickers and pop one on the calendar when you take care of yourself that day.
The small wins are just as – if not more – important than the big ones. It’s time to start focusing on them.
Take care and keep creating!
🐰 Sandy
