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John McEnroe - you cannot be serious!
11 . 02 . 24
11 . 02 . 24
First though, I’ll set the scene.
I’m on a train with my fam. It’s Friday night and it’s currently 7.30pm.
Ahh Avanti wi-fi – the joys.
I had this train journey time all planned out. Two whole hours to pen this (Keyboard this? Type this! There we go, got it). I’d jotted a few things down throughout the week I fancied mulling over with you and cleverly saved them in the notes app in my phone for safe retrieval on our train journey.
Waaaaaaaaa – the wi-fi is worse than ever! But that’s ok, I know just what I want to talk about, because I’m feeling it right now.
Where are we off to then I hear you ask. London!
Why? Well ,it goes a little something like this… (What track was that…? That’s going to annoy me).
School finished today for both kids, for a week of half term. I was due to be at an event in London on Saturday (tomorrow as I type). I thought it would be a good one, work related, so I booked it. Then I had the great idea that we could make a family weekend of it. That way, I can build all my priorities in (lots of time with my fam) around work stuff. See how this designing a life you love thing can work? So yeah, I realised we could all head to London after school on Friday; the three of them could enjoy London for the day on Saturday while I went to the event, then we could all meet for tea somewhere lovely and spend Sunday together before heading home Sunday evening.
This gets relevant to you soon I promise.
Anyway, due to some changes I’ve implemented with work, the event became not quite so relevant, so I thought sod it, we’ll just go and have a lovely family weekend in London together anyway. We are very lucky and get the use of a flat for free. So, it’s a great option for us for a quick break and doesn’t cost a million pounds.
As I always do, I booked the usual favourite brekkie spot for Saturday morning, then booked us all tickets for the Balloon Museum. (Does anyone else immediately think ‘BORING’ the minute the word museum is mentioned? Yes, I know the Natural History is Great, but in general ‘museum’ conjures up images of old, dull and boring to me). But not the balloon Museum! I’d seen it on a friend’s Insta some time ago and it looks dead interactive and bright. So, there we shall go.
Later that evening, we’ve booked to eat at Rule’s, the oldest restaurant in London. There’s history in that for me and Rich. His (lovely) late father, Big Trev, took us there when we first met 15 years ago, so we thought it might be a treat to take the kids as a bit of nostalgia, and a right old experience for them and us.
As it happens, now the eldest has to be home Sunday for an art class with mates, so she and her Dad will leave early Sunday to get back, whilst me and the youngest will get some QT just the two of us (if this was a Whatsapp message I’d insert a heart emoji). Oh, and also I go live in my Facebook group every Sunday night for a relaxed chat in there (Sunday Soul Sessions with Georgie – join me!), and I can do that from the flat. Perfect! And that’s what I absolutely love about this work/life thing I’ve created for myself now I run an online business rather than a 1:1 business.
Now it’s getting relevant to you, I promise!
I can choose to be where I want when I want. No clients depending on me physically being anywhere, but in the same sense I’m even more there for my clients. SO GOOD.
This is really what I wanted to talk a little about.
You see when I used to work 1:1 as a Health, Fitness and Lifestyle Coach, although I worked for myself and wholeheartedly LOVED what I did, and indeed chose what I did because it aligned with my deep passion, I mean I really did love it. There was always an internal kind of guilt thing that played out in my… well like everything that feels slightly off, I feel it in my gut.
Where do you feel things that don’t feel quite right? Chest, gut, heart? I’m interested.
When I had to work evenings and weekends, to accommodate my client’s timetables, I always felt like I was missing out on my family time. And yes, I felt sad, and worse still guilty for not being there for bedtimes etc. Similarly, when I cut back on those ‘out of office’ work hours to spend more time with family, I then felt I was failing my clients. Not to mention reducing the amount of income available to me because I couldn’t be in two places at once.
Although yes, to a large extent back then, I had certainly started to create a life I loved (FAR better than when I was working in offices, in jobs that sapped my passions never mind fed into them). I was indeed doing a job I loved, based on what absorbed me and I wholeheartedly believed in; working with humans (my very fave!) and seeing my input helping them thrive. I was also able to still align, it in the main, with some of my other priorities, health, and longevity, both mental and physical.
But… I always felt like I was on the back foot. Like I was just on the edge of something brilliant but never quite knowing how to make it so. Never really progressing as I felt I was capable of. I did always feel I was capable of big things too (yes, even when I felt like I was never good enough I felt that, just far, far deeper down). I knew I could do so much more, for my own progression, for my family, my clients, and my friends, but time just wouldn’t allow. I couldn’t see any way to grow my business, secure our future, be any more than I was, unless I worked many more hours (time I could have easily filled with waiting clients I hasten to add)… which only added to the guilt feelings of not doing or being enough for anyone.
Overwhelm? Yup. But, more client hours would have taken me away from my family even more and added even more time pressure (know that feeling?); more pressure on the time I spent at home, as I’d need to write all those additional programmes and fit in so many more client consultations to be the coach I was dedicated to being, and time I’d lack to do anything else
So, you see, we all have this bloody wrangle going on, despite it looking somewhat different for everyone.
And it’s now, when I sit here on this train, having shuffled plans around on a whim, that I realise how grateful I am to myself for having pivoted with my business and decided to take the leap to take my business online (knowing nothing about the how to do so!). And no, I didn’t just sack the day job, it was a slower transition where I did both at once for a time..
But it’s been so worth it. Now I am helping so many more people on a much bigger scale, making far more impact, able to work from wherever I may be (dead time on the train – yes please!) and my earnings are no longer dependant on me having to be there to generate it. I have put in a lot of work this past year, yes, but now my programmes are written, my systems are in place, I now just get to help lots of people at once and really have time to listen to the needs of my clients and constantly improve what I offer, because I have that time. Reducing the hours I must physically work, has increased my output, increased my impact on the world (the dream), increased my income and created a life I absolutely love, whilst showing others how they can do the same – whatever that looks like for YOU.
Now, don’t get me wrong, this first year of building a (semi)passive income online business has meant I have not seen nearly as much of my friends as I would like to have done. Or been to as many gigs. Or seen my wider family as much… you get the picture. But that was the groundwork. Now, the tide is turning. Time is coming back to me. My life is my own and now it’s all totally aligned with my own priorities.
Fancy a bit of that?
This is available to you too. It really is. There is something in this life you are so passionate about, something you could talk for hours about, something people always come to you to ask you for advice on and that you’ve always keen to do or learn more about. That thing could be your pathway to this freedom and choice too. You can turn any area of knowledge into a passive income stream, a business, you really can!
I can help you discover, to unearth, what that thing is. The work we do together helps you get back in touch with you again. Rediscover your passions, regain your confidence, believe you can and then, my word, you will!
So that overwhelm your currently experiencing needn’t last forever. There is a way out. Another way. I’m not saying it’s easy, but then neither is living with overwhelm for the foreseeable. Together we can help you find your way.
I’m always available to have a free 15 min chat to talk these things though you know. You can book it in here – I’d love that.
Or join us in the Facebook Group A Journey To A Life You Love.
Brighter, lighter days are coming for you.
Let’s do this together.