It’s December, and we’re all trying to stay sane and survive the holiday season, right? For us solopreneurs, it might as well be December all the time -- because we’re constantly trying to stay sane. Scheduling, emails, meetings, troubleshooting, technical difficulties, spotty WiFi… there’s usually some of that in our day, and it’s not wrapped up in a pretty bow.
Slowing it down for a few minutes to find your grounding and sanity in a busy day is not easy, but there are a few things you can try. After all, what do you have to lose? Your sanity? Oh, wait…
Gratitude and mindfulness
Gratitude and mindfulness are certainly buzzwords as of late -- the kind of words we feel should be a part of our daily routine, but we’re not sure how. Why? Because it feels overwhelming. How are we supposed to integrate them into our day, when we already have more than enough going on?
Let’s start with gratitude
You don’t need to make a list of 10 things you’re grateful for every day. Start with one thing. There are no parameters you have to keep in mind; you can be grateful for anything you choose. Often, big buzzwords evoke the feeling that you have to find something worthy to qualify -- but that’s not true. Your list is personal, so you get to decide what you’re grateful for. If you choose to be grateful for the Starbucks barista getting your name right? You go for it!
If you can get in the habit of finding something (anything!) to be grateful for every day (and maybe even jot down why you’re grateful for it), it will help you see the big picture in the long run. Being a solopreneur is a crazy, fantastic journey, and having that little piece of “hey, things are not all bad” when times are tough can be a sanity saver and confidence booster all in one.
But there is more! Gratitude can also help you with living a more mindful life, and that’s an especially tricky task for solopreneurs.
More about mindfulness
Mindfulness is often defined as “living in the moment and being fully aware”, and it implies you’re accepting things as they are. For those of us running our own business, that definition is likely to cause some discomfort. Why? Because planning ahead and anticipating things that might come up are part of the solopreneur DNA. (At least it feels like that sometimes, right?) While we have a feeling that we could benefit from living in the moment, at least at times, it’s hard to relax and just let things happen when your business depends entirely on you.
So how can you get to fully aware and living in the moment?
Gratitude can help with the fully aware part. By establishing a daily practise, you don’t only have something to fall back on when things are bleak, but you also learn to be more aware. If you’re actively seeking out things you are grateful for, you will be more tuned into what’s going on around you. You will start to notice things you didn’t notice before, and all of that contributes to being more aware.
Next step? Tackling living in the moment.
How do you manage to plan ahead, while living in the moment? How can you enjoy an organized, well-planned business process and be present, not feeling like a robot? Start by acknowledging that it’s not all or nothing -- and it’s a choice you can make every day. In this case, you can have both. You can choose automation and consciously set aside time where planning is not allowed. You have two choices -- and also two benefits. While you can be fully present and in the moment to establish a practise of mindfulness, the very process will often give you new impulses for your business and send your creativity soaring when it comes to planning for later.
Is it worth a try?
The benefit of establishing a practise of gratitude and mindfulness is increased awareness of what’s going on around you, which will help you fully engage in life and in business. The ability to live in the present and enjoy your life and business as it is at the moment is a happy byproduct of the process.
Speaking from my own experience, I highly encourage you to give it a try. I was weary of fitting an additional practise into my life, but I decided to try it out when I heard about the #100happydays challenge. I scheduled the challenge into my day planner, took a few minutes every day to think about what made me happy or grateful, snapped a picture of it, and posted it on Instagram. And I found something every single day. Even when the kids were giving me attitude, even when projects took longer than planned, even when it seemed like the day was a total write-off. There was always something good, something that made me pause for a moment and appreciate the life and opportunities I have.
For many solopreneurs, the line between personal life and business is blurred (or non-existent), so a tool that will help you embrace both -- and stay sane while you’re at it -- might just be a gamechanger.
Want more tips + tactics for maintaining your solopreneur sanity? We've got you covered. Just released: The Solopreneur Sanity Handbook, inspiration and action for finding the intersection of productive and sane to maximize your time working so you can maximize your time living. Ready, set, sanity!
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