I don’t know how many times I’ve heard someone say, ‘oh, I’m only a little ill, I’ve got to keep going or nothing will get done’ whilst they’re slowly dying inside. Now, I’m the world’s worst for saying this and it’s something that really hit me in the last few weeks. I’ve been poorly for a good two weeks now and I’m still suffering from the after effects- a ridiculous little cough that just won’t shift! Anyway, I could rant about this cough till the cows come home! Back to it. I was beating myself up like mad because I’d fallen ill the Friday before my launch was supposed to be, and no matter what, I just needed to keep going and get everything done so that the launch would go smoothly. Yep, this was all swirling around my head. I’d made the plan and convinced myself I could do it and it would all turn out brilliantly… in my little fantasy world that was. In reality, my body felt fine but I felt like I had the worst head cold ever, everything was in my head, brain fuzz, sinuses blocked, can’t breathe or think properly and the worst thing. Random pains would appear all over my head. I couldn’t wear my glasses one day because the left side of my nose hurt too much, what’s that all about? So my picture perfect launch just wasn’t going to happen, I couldn’t think straight to plan my content and quite honestly, if I did manage it I know it would have been the biggest load of rubbish. Now queue the self sabotage and beating yourself up for not being perfect. And trust me, this is something I’m really good at- can anyone relate??
With all this going on I just stopped myself and thought, no! I’m only human and I can launch anytime, for once in my life I need to stop and listen to what my body is trying to tell me. Relax, recuperate and just enjoy doing nothing for a while.
Why is it that we always feel like we should be pushing through and carrying on no matter what? I’ve always felt like this in life but since setting up my business I’ve felt so much pressure to just soldier on no matter what just from the perceived opinion that that is just what you do. It’s what’s expected of an entrepreneur. If you want to be successful, you have to be inhuman. Wait what??? What a load of shit if you ask me. We set up our businesses so that we could control what we love doing, our work hours, and how we want to spend our lives. So why do we often fall into the trap of trying to do what is expected of us and not just do what we want and need to do for ourselves.

For once in my life, I followed my own advice and I stopped trying to finish my course, stopped worrying that I hadn’t posted on my socials and took some time for me. I spent that day in bed reading some of my favourite books, took some time to enjoy my horse without running around a million miles an hour to get her done and onto the next job i needed to do and I spent time pootling in my garden, sorting the tomatoes which desperately needed staking, pulling and storing the veg that was ready to be harvested and planting my winter veg ready for us to harvest in the spring. My garden and being outside in nature is truly my happy place which I just don’t allow myself to enjoy enough because there’s always other things that need doing, in life but also so many things I should be doing to work on my business. Well, I tell you, this stops now. Maybe being ill was what I needed to remind me why I started my business- to have the freedom to work when it suits me and allow myself to spend more time with my family whilst being blessed with helping so many small businesses.
So if you’re reading this and thinking, ‘oh my word, this is so me!’, please just give yourself a break. Remember why you decided to do what you do in the first place. Allow yourself the freedom to enjoy it, the way you pictured it. Maybe that means things need to change, be honest with yourself, sit down and make a plan, and then do it. If you need an extra pair of hands or you just don’t know where to start, give me a shout and we’ll get you on the road to living your dream.
If I can do this, I know you can too. Here’s to making that dream we created right at the start of our journeys and finally putting the steps together to start living it.
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