Ten years ago, I hit publish on my first blog. It was titled ‘Kalos Stethnos – Beautiful Strength.’ It took hours of painstaking writing to get that blog into the world, not to mention the hours spent trying to figure out the whole’ technical-wordpress-blog-thingee.’

As soon as I hit publish, embarrassment overcame me and went into what I now know as a shame spiral.

“What will people think of me”?

“What if this is shit?”

“Gah, that’s MY opinion going out there.”

Of course, this event was well before discovering the now-infamous reputation of Brene Brown and her work on shame.

I felt shite because I was putting myself out into the world.

Not that I needed to worry.

Those days only 3 or 4 people read my blog, which included my family and friends, so the reality was, no stranger was going to have an opinion.

I also had ZERO ideas on what to do with a blog once the publish button was hit, soooooo, it was basically written for crickets.

Fast forward to today, hundreds of blogs later (many of which I unpublished and are now sitting gathering the equivalent of crusty computer dust in a lost sub-sub-folder somewhere) as well as many different platforms later, and here I am again.

Back where it began.

A written blog.

It feels a little romantic sitting here at my computer staring out the window, tapping away, getting my thoughts down like this.  Very ‘Love-actually-esque.’ It feels retro even.

I’ve been thinking a lot about why I do what I do.  And I don’t mean it in the ‘what is my why’ sense. I’m clear on what my business ‘why’ is.

But somewhere along the way, I’ve lost the fun element.

I would write and create for the pure joy of doing it in those’ old days’.  It was novel and exciting, and I loved the entire process.

It wasn’t about the likes or feedback.

There was no strategy or building of a funnel to get my content out. 

I wrote.  I posted.  I wrote some more. It made me happy.

These days, I experience a sense of heaviness around creating. This in itself is ironic because the pure act of creation shouldn’t involve feelings of heaviness.

Having to create content in a certain way, making sure that it’s ‘optimised’ for engagement, and posted at a certain time, is, to be honest, making me bored as fuck.

Putting rules on creation is the equivalent of putting a bird in a cage.  Stifling. 

Considering one of my core values (and biz values) is freedom, putting myself in a creation cage is the fastest way to misalign.

Of course, I only realised this a few days ago when I was revising my business values and reflecting on whether I’ve been doing life + biz according to my values.

This highlights some important lessons:

 1.  Your ‘why’ is your north star. It is that reason you do what you do and keeps you moving in the right direction.

2. You’ve got to know your values.  This is truly essential.  They are the coordinates of your life.  If you don’t know what you value, then it’s difficult to stay on track.

3.  Regular reflection and revision sessions are your checkpoints. They’re opportunities to tune in, see if you’re making good decisions, and reset your course if needed.

(I’ve been watching lots of adventure racing videos hence my directional-based analogy #wannabeadventureracer)

Ok, back to what I was saying …..

Upon reflection, I realised that my boredom (and this will present differently for different people) was not about my work or what I do. It’s about the intention and energy behind it.

It’s gone from being fun, like in the good ol’ days, to a chore.

And here’s the thing, if anything in your business right now feels like a chore, and you used to love it, then I highly suggest you take a look at why.

Given the way the world operates now, especially in the business sense where every fitness professional needs an online brand and presence, it’s easy to get bogged down in the ‘have to’s.

Have to post X times per day.

Have to create an opt-in/freebie.

Have to be selling daily.

Have to be writing shareable content.

Have to ..

Have to …

Have to. ….

Blah.  Blah.  Blah.

What if you didn’t ‘have to’?

What if you switched that from ‘have to’ to ‘get to’?

That small but powerful shift in words completely shifts the energy.

I get to post X times per day.

I get to create an opt-in/freebie.

I get to be selling daily (and therefore helping people

I get to write content that is shared.

I get to ..

I get to …

I get to ….

(I am writing this as a reminder to myself along with you ..)

In the same way that we encourage our clients to focus on the idea that they ‘get to train/exercise’ instead of ‘having to,’ the control shifts from outside of themselves to within.

The client becomes in control of what they get to do.

In our business example, we get to reclaim control of our actions and business choices.

And here I am back at the start.

One of the primary reasons I got into the online space and education was, apart from making a contribution, to have fun, adventures, and freedom.

Writing fulfils that requirement.

Blogs are fun.

I’m happiest when I’m having fun.

Therefore, I’m back to writing blogs beatches.

Your Business Life, Your Rules.

PS. In order to keep this light and fun, I’m not putting pressure on myself to write these to a schedule.  It’s gonna happen when I want it to happen, for the sake of it happening – ya feels?