It’s almost Passover, my favorite Jewish holiday, and each year that has me think about a few things:
- Cleaning
- Eating differently
- Not being a slave
Let’s talk about #3. As in any consulting business, my clients are varied- from newbie entrepreneurs launching their first businesses to CEO’s getting ready to retire after 40 years. And yet, almost everyone I work with is a slave to the same thing. Based on the image above, you might be guessing that the #1 thing is “Procrastination.” And sure, that is a big enslaver that’s hard to let go of. But my clients aren’t just sitting around avoiding and procrastinating, they’re running themselves ragged doing tons of things that won’t get them where they need to go. And then suddenly they find themselves with an impossible amount to accomplish way too soon, as pictured above.
In Joumor, we always begin with Clarity: What is your Intention? What are you trying to achieve?
The clearer you are about your goals, the harder it will be to BS yourself that responding to those unimportant emails right away matters, because at least you get to check it off your list. Noooo! Why is it on your list in the first place? Or worse, it’s not on your list but you’re responding quickly so doesn’t that count? Um, yes, it counts in taking you away from your intention.
This might sound a little harsh on a Friday before a holiday, 🙂 but it’s hard to escape our own slavishness. The thing is, if you don’t want to escape, you definitely won’t. So how does escaping slavery work?
First, all my clients have a Personal Manifesto. It’s 9-12 words (no longer!) beginning with the words I AM. It changes over time, but they’re able to check their work against their intention and see if their actions are getting them where they want to go.
Second, the more you escape your slavishness to doing things that don’t get you where you want to go, the easier it will be to get to the “Holy Land” of your Intention. You see, the clearer you are, the easier it is for your brain to make good decisions faster, and that cycle spirals upward, bringing your confidence and self-trust up with it.
Third, recognize that change takes time. People literally commit crimes to go back to jail after many years inside- it can be hard to be free! So a little at a time, and build the self-awareness along with the freedom so you understand and can rely on yourself, and your nervous system and subconscious can catch up to this new way of being.
In the beginning, no one could prioritize. Everyone just reacted to external forces. But as they began to listen more and more to what truly mattered to them and honor that, they became athletes of productivity and self-actualization.
Try this recipe to leave slavery behind for one tiny week:
- Write your personal manifesto
- Articulate your intention before each project and/or each day
- Review your actions at the end of each day to see if they aligned- and delivered you to- your Intention.
The good news is, you can always adjust along the way, because you aren’t a slave! You are a wise, independent powerful entrepreneur who knows how to get soooo much done. Now you’re just going to shift and laser-focus for even more success.
To your freedom and satisfaction always.
Happy holidays,
Leah
3 Ways to be Joumorous:
1. Hit reply and share with me- what are YOU a slave to in your business?
2. Want to try out the Joumor Institute? Click here for a FREE 3 day trial- the next class is this Sunday at 10am EST, but you can start when works for you.