,

The most sacred hour of my week

,
The most sacred hour of my week

Every Wednesday morning, at 8 am, I have a call with my mastermind buddy, Lucy. What’s a mastermind buddy? Well, for me at least, it’s someone you connect with on a regular basis to talk business.

The concept of mastermind groups came from a guy called Napoleon Hill in the early 1900’s. He wrote about the mastermind principle as: “The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.”

And for me, the introduction of this call into my weekly routine has been one of the biggest game-changers for my business. Lucy and I have walked through some pretty big stuff together. Business launches. Business fails. Hiring & firing. Negotiating big deals. Learning to say yes. Learning to say no. Big picture strategy stuff. Day to day decisions that have the potential to make or break you.

, ,

Is work/life balance a myth?

, ,
Is work/life balance a myth?

I’ve just spent the last 10 days in Bali. Here’s how most people spend 10 days in Bali: They kick back by the pool. They go visit stuff. They go out to eat. They surf. They hang out with friends. They relax.

And here’s what’s interesting… I did all that stuff. But I also worked my ass off. I worked with clients most days. I surfed when the tide was right and worked when the wind got up. I still got to go exploring, I just took my laptop with me and checked into a co-working space to get a few hours work done. It turns out that work/life blend is waaaay easier than work life/balance.

,

A simple way to effect real change (and real results)

,
A simple way to effect real change (and real results)

But the reality was a lot tougher than I imagined. There were days when the waves were huge & stormy (and everyone else was just watching from the safety of their cars), there were days when the waves were so small I had to drive around half the day looking for something, anything, that I could ride, there were shark alerts and injuries. And if I’m super honest, there were days when the stuff I was going through was threatening to pull me under (I think I teetered on the edge of depression for a while there — and it was a scary place to be), so the idea of hopping out of bed and going for a surf felt like an almighty mission.

, ,

Stuck in the entrepreneurial trenches? Read this

, ,
Stuck in the entrepreneurial trenches? Read this

Persistence doesn’t need to be rigid.

I know this, because I’ve made all those mistakes myself. For a long time in my last business, I resisted signs that things weren’t working. My determination to succeed and desire to ‘make it work’ blindsided me. My vision of an entrepreneur was of someone who kept hustling, kept fighting no matter what. It wasn’t until everything fell apart at the seams that it became obvious that perhaps, my drive & my never-quit mentality wasn’t serving me well.

, ,

Seven ways to side-step your burn out

, ,
Seven ways to side-step your burn out

The last 3 weeks, since I got home, have been a little crazy, to say the least. So much so, that about 10 days ago I had that sinking feeling that I was about to get super sick. I felt like I was dangerously close to burning out. My brain was telling me to push on through but my body was done & dusted. I spent 2 days working from bed (with multiple nap breaks haha) and realised I needed to make some serious changes.

, ,

Let's talk about fear

, ,
Let's talk about fear

After the movie screening, Chris & I sat up late talking about it all. And I realised that because he’s dealing with legitimate fear on a regular basis, he just doesn’t have much energy for the fake stuff. That’s not to say he doesn’t have it (although I did have to double check haha), but more than fake fear seems so much less significant and so doesn’t have as much control over him.

, ,

For all my non-conformists

, ,
For all my non-conformists

You see, up until that time, I had life pretty much mapped out (haha, or at least I thought I did). I was running a business that I assumed was going to be a lifelong career, I was in a relationship that I assumed was going to last forever and I had a neat little plan of how everything would unfold for me.

And when it all fell apart (in a pretty spectacular fashion) I was left dealing with 2 things. The pain caused by all the chaos, and the bonus pain caused by the complete void left in my life where all my well-laid plans used to be.

Suddenly it felt like I was peering into a big black hole of nothingness.

,

For when anxiety shows up

,
For when anxiety shows up

So here I am, almost a month on, after a whirlwind trip. Back home and in need of finding that stillness again. Wanting to connect to the grounded feeling that the universe has my back and that I’m exactly where I need to be. So I figured I would explore that moment again: The window of time when I shifted from total anxiety to total presence. From panic to happy stillness. And try and understand how it happened so I can remember it like a favourite recipe whenever I need it.