*Enjoy this rewind episode while we step into creation-mode - Stay tuned for new programming :) *
You started your business to honor your soul's calling and to make an impact. Then things got serious.
Today I'm sharing some ways that you can infuse more pleasure into your business practices so you can have more sustainable enjoyment while growing your business for the long term.
*Enjoy this rewind episode while we step into creation-mode - Stay tuned for new programming :) *
You started your business to honor your soul's calling and to make an impact. Then things got serious.
Today I'm sharing some ways that you can infuse more pleasure into your business practices so you can have more sustainable enjoyment while growing your business for the long term.
You started your business to honor your soul's calling and to make an impact. Then things got serious. Today, I'm sharing some ways that you can infuse more pleasure into your business practices so you can have more sustainable enjoyment while growing your business for the long term. Hi, welcome to the Connect with Sheila Botello podcast. I'm an entrepreneur, self-care strategist and creator of the Seasons Self-Care app. I'm committed to helping you reconnect to your purpose, elevate your well-being and build your version of a happy, successful life.
Speaker 1:
The thought for today's episode came up for me as I've been doing some planning, as have many of my circles. You're probably experiencing that similar thing right now. Some are closer to diving into new plans than others, but one thing's for sure there's a sense of focus and seriousness on the rise, and so there should be. This is business, after all, and whether or not you're still in rest mode or you're gearing up for something new to come, there's something to be said for looking at the way that you go about going into your next phase of business, and I've always found that a little playfulness brings out more creative flow. So I wanted to share some ways that you can add more of this to your strategy sessions. So, when you consider a few different elements, I really believe you can create an energetic shift that breathes life into your planning and your meetings. That may just add a spark to your outcomes as well. So the first thing I want to think about is atmosphere, and this makes sense, right.
Speaker 1:
When we think about pleasure, we think about well, how do we feel and what's around us? What things do we enjoy? That's what we think about pleasure, right. And so some tangible things you can consider are things like lighting and other things like color, images, scents and sounds. So when you think about lighting, depending on where you're working, how much natural light do you have access to in your workspace? You may not have a huge amount of control over this. However, there are some things you can bring into your workspace to make it a little bit more of a brighter or warmer type of lighting experience for yourself, so that it feels more pleasurable. It feels a warmth that can actually start helping you be more creative, maybe.
Speaker 1:
So is it a kind of lamp? Is it one of those Himalayan salt lamps that kind of has a golden glow? Is it one of those other colorful lamps there's different kinds that you can get or is it like a certain type of light bulb. Things like that make the world of difference, and if you can move your workspace to a window or an area where there is a window, that's always a wonderful thing too. And things like color.
Speaker 1:
What are you surrounded by? What are the things that you really enjoy? Do you have plants around you? Do you have images of people that you care about or things that just inspire you, something that you can look at at any given moment to dive into some creativity? Sometimes looking at really interesting pieces of art can open up your mind and expand and what kind of scents are around you? Do you have like an infuser with some essential oils? I always love to.
Speaker 1:
Before I even record these episodes, before I have a podcast interview, I will roll on one of my favorite sage scents called Connection, and I don't know that they even make it anymore right now, but it was one of those special ones I'm running out, but it's so good and I I kind of puts me in that space. When I smell that scent, I'm like, okay, I'm ready to connect, and then you can also have I know some people like candles and things like that. It really is up to you a certain type of scent? Um, and then thinking about sounds, of course. Do you have music playing? Do you have like classical music or some nice soft sounds? What is the type of sound that you like? Do you like total silence? Do you like the sound of like a waterfall or something? Do you have like maybe one of those little mini waterfalls that can sit on your desk that has like water bubbling over rocks? These things, all of these things are very sensory and regardless of how serious the element of business that you're working on is like if you're working on spreadsheets and really focused, focused, linear type stuff. Even in those scenarios you can find creativity open up when you have the different parts of your senses being impacted. So I really consider you to think about that.
Speaker 1:
Your atmosphere and with that I'll say changing your scenery by working outside of your usual workspace, really can help add a different amount of creativity and that sense of playfulness and pleasure from just seeing something different in your environment can do. And I also invite you to factor in movement during your breaks as well. So when I'm saying changing scenery, that's like literally moving your whole workspace, whether it's to the coffee shop or maybe there's a coworking space that you can rent for a short time or just go there every now and then, or maybe you can go work at someone else's office with them. Whatever the case, there's so many different options. If you're in a workspace where there's a conference room, maybe just taking things there, or if you're at home, hey, maybe shifting it over to the dining room table with the fireplace on or something like that. You get to choose what it looks like. But there's also this element of movement and changing your scenery by changing how your body feels, by getting up and literally moving, leaving the space, going for a walk, maybe throwing in a little dance break, which I'm known to do and I really enjoy.
Speaker 1:
I find that moving my body will really really help keep the ideas flowing and moving. Because if there's one thing I have found and it's especially become true since starting this podcast is sitting down to decide okay, what will I be recording this week? It's always the most challenging thing for me. What I love to do instead is go on a walk and have my phone with me in airplane mode, is go on a walk and have my phone with me in airplane mode, but I will record a voice note of just different working titles and different ideas, and that is when the ideas really come to me. So I'm literally on a walk, doing something great for my body and my mind, and I'm working, I'm coming up with these ideas. It doesn't feel like work, though, and from the responses that I've had, from the various episodes I've had over the years, now I see that these episodes are landing with people, and so there's something to it, I really believe.
Speaker 1:
So there's different ways that you can do this, though. Right, you can go on a walk, you can go on a drive and just kind of have your phone, just the voice notes, just hitting record and letting it record you while you drive, so you're not touching your phone, and that way it's there to capture anything, in case you really feel that there's some inspiration that is hit. You don't want to miss it. That's something that you can do, too, and what I've found is, when you're doing things like this, it helps you to use your time in a way that is far more productive instead of sitting in front of a blank screen, and I want to share a little story.
Speaker 1:
About a few times more than a few times this has happened to me where I have not moved my body enough during working sessions and my body has started to pay for it. And you might say, well, is that just what happens when you hit over 50? Well, maybe, but I think this even happened when I was in my twenties, sitting for far too long at a desk where you're sitting. You're sitting, you're sitting, and you get up and do something really quickly, and then you tweak something, like I did this week. I tweaked my back, literally just bending down to do something I do all the time, like put something in a drawer and boom, and it was because I had been just getting over a cold and I had been lying around a lot, because that's all I could do.
Speaker 1:
And I would tell myself, okay, I'm going to do some stretches, I'm going to do some stretches. I would tell myself, okay, I'm going to do some stretches, I'm going to do some stretches, but the energy just wasn't there, and so it was a reminder again as much as you can, as little as you can, whatever the case, move your body and, even if you're in rest mode and you're recuperating from something, find a way, even if you're lying in bed, to stretch your back, to somehow move any amount that is possible for you to stretch yourself, so that you don't end up paying for it later and being in pain, because trying to create from a place of pain it's not fun, it's not the easiest thing to do. So moving your body of course we know it's important, but it's interesting. It impacts our mind and when our mind and body are both in the flow, so much good stuff can come. And so that I will say over and over again keep factoring in that movement. And that's why a dance break is so fun for me, because I get a little bit of music in there and I get to move my body at the same time and it just brings that oxygen level up so that I have the energy to keep going when sometimes we just feel like we're stuck and we don't want to move. But actually the ideas are there, we just maybe our energy is a little stagnant.
Speaker 1:
The next thought I have about how to infuse more pleasure into your business is the beautiful word collaborate. Ask how can I bring others into what I'm doing? Ideas really elevate each other's work right. You can maybe create something of increased value with someone else to reach new audiences. You can reach theirs, they can reach yours. Collaboration has been something I've found to be so valuable over the last decade.
Speaker 1:
Where had I tried to just do everything by myself and only just sharing my own message? I probably would have found myself talking in circles. And while it's important that you want to be so clear on what your messaging is, when you talk to any brand expert, they're like no, you want to repeat that message over and over and over. It is true, something fun happens when you put a collaborative spin on it, because you get to share your work and maybe someone else's world. That might be just a little bit different. If you remember one of my episodes with Katie Allen, who's a stylist, we were talking about self-care and style, and it really showed me the beauty of collaboration from a different perspective, of just looking at one part of your business from a completely different angle than maybe you otherwise would. So ask who can you collaborate with? Who's in your sphere, who's reached out to you, or who have you looked at and said, hmm, I really wonder what they're up to and I'm interested in their work. How could you work together when you do that? Oh, my goodness, it is pleasure when you get to connect in that way. So find a way that works for you. And then I would say something that is a really worthwhile goal If you feel that you're able to really do some planning for this coming year, think about how you can seek to work 10% more in your zone of genius than you did before.
Speaker 1:
So that number's. You know, 10% is 10%, but like of what you previously have done. So maybe you're already working quite generously in your zone of genius and you can always stand to do it more, but maybe you're not. Maybe you're trying to do everything yourself and it's challenging for you to let go of some things, or it's challenging for you to find help. I really invite you to like barter with other people for their services and things like that to maybe help offset those things that you need done that maybe are not the best use of your time.
Speaker 1:
That's something to consider, because when you actually do this, you are allowing yourself to see further than where you are right now and you have more space open up to create new things. And sometimes we get afraid to have that open space, like, oh, it's a void. Well, what will I do If I'm not doing all these other things? What would I do in that space. Well, there's something so beautiful about having space just to allow things to land, and it might feel like just open space at first. You might feel like you're wasting time. But I promise you, when you create space and you open your mind up to thinking of new opportunities and new ways of moving forward, those things will come, people will land, ideas will land, all those things that you need. So that is so, so important. All of us. If we are doing the thing we're meant to be doing, each one of us, everything will get done.
Speaker 1:
And lastly, I will say this is something for me and for all of us, and that is don't overload your schedule. It's so tempting. There's so many good things we can be doing. Our lists are long and we feel like, oh, if I have all of these things offered into the world, then it'll just mean more success. But often two things happen. One, when you are trying to do too many things, not for too many things, it can water down what your true message is and confuse people. So think about that. That's really important. But also, overloading your schedule really drains your energy and makes even the enjoyable things feel really exhausting.
Speaker 1:
Think about it. Think about those times that you had all these great ideas and you just wanted to dive into all of them and then they didn't get the full force of your energy and so they didn't really land in the way that maybe you had planned. Think about that and imagine a different way forward. Imagine saying, hey, let's just have an idea list that we add things to, so when we're getting really excited about all these things, we don't have to do them all at once, but we can put them on a list. And then maybe every month or every few weeks, we sit down and we say, okay, let's plan this out. When can we actually act on these ideas? And then you'll feel like, wow, what a sense of spaciousness to be able to focus on the things that you really want to focus on, and there's so many ideas that you still can expand on. So I hope that's been helpful in giving you something to consider as you're starting this year.
Speaker 1:
Think about those things that can add more pleasure into your business, because guess what, what happens when you add more pleasure into your business? You start looking for ways to add more pleasure into the rest of your life and being a more pleasurable addition to everyone else in your life as well, and we certainly could use more pleasure. Right, this is something that we have the ability to do, but sometimes we forget because we're just so focused on all of the little details. When it becomes a habit, it starts to feel really good. You start to wake up in the morning having more energy and more excitement for the things to come and a lot more capacity to handle when those times are maybe more stressful and when you know that there are some things that are not so pleasurable, that you need to do those things that may seem mundane, and yet you have pleasure as kind of a backdrop of your life, everything feels a lot better because, hey, this is our life.
Speaker 1:
You only get one. May as well enjoy it. So thank you so much for listening. I hope you really enjoy these episodes that are coming your way. I have new interviews that will be dropping soon, and I'm thrilled to be in this space sharing with you how you can truly reconnect to your purpose and honor your soul's calling in a way that feels good. So have a beautiful rest of your day and I'll see you on another episode. Big blessings, thank you.
