Today, this Monday seems to be the one – you know, the one that hits you in the face and it is so hard to find motivation. I’m feeling stuck and can’t get the week started. Until…
This song. This video.
Don’t give up, I won’t give up
Don’t give up, no no no
Don’t give up, I won’t give up
Don’t give up, no no no
Sometimes you’re feeling stuck and that is OK too. Sometimes you need to give yourself more time than on other days. Sometimes you will have all the power and motivation in the world and keep on going, but then it comes. Full Stop. People with HSP understand this better than others. HSPs also know how it sometimes feels like you’re not made to be in this world, with all the expectations and norms. Wake up at 5 AM. Work 24/7. Get loan, buy a house, get a station wagon, make two and a half kids.
I CAN’T. I DON’T WANT TO.
I was following this thread on Facebook, in one of the entrepreneur groups I’m in. One person asked if other people work during national holidays and so on. The common answer seemed to be: “We work 24/7” and “Yes, we work all the time and answer emails as soon as they come, even if we’re on a holiday”. All I want to ask is how long do you think you’re able to keep on doing that? At what point does your body and mind decide to call it quits when it’s too much? Your body breaks, burnout comes and takes you. If you have no support network, your company might not be able to recover from it all. Bankruptcy, either for the company or for yourself might be inevitable – unless you are a superman or superwoman. And that just doesn’t exist.
There are entrepreneurs who have no limits. The last thing they think about is themselves, until it’s too late. There are entrepreneurs who always think about themselves and only themselves, until it’s too late. Extremes are extremes, and usually the middle ground is the answer and it’s all about compromises. For solopreneurs it might feel like it’s all just too much. Sometimes when you’re on a holiday or having a day off, you can’t answer emails right away. When you finally are able to do so, some will reply back, saying they’ve already found a photographer. Being fast separates you from others but is it all too much for those of us doing things alone? The way things work now, with some companies answering emails within minutes or so, people have grown accustomed to it and when you’re the only one doing things, you won’t be able to compete with that. Attention span is so short nowadays. How could we compete with that?
I’ve always, always, always felt like I can connect with Sia. I get her. She gets me. Maybe that’s why it’s such a huge inspiration to me and why my heart feels so much whenever I’m listening to her songs. Where Sia has made the decision of not showing her face in public so that she will be able to keep some privacy in the middle of her public music career, I can relate to that when it comes to being a solopreneur. We have a right to set limits. We have a right to our privacy. We are allowed to have our own time too. We have every right in the world to set office hours. This is something I’ve struggled with a lot. One of the reasons is that we don’t have children, so to many it seems to be the same as having all the time in the world to work 24/7. We don’t have a good reason for not working all the time. But we do have a family too even though it doesn’t fit into the norms of a family. Even though we don’t have kids, it doesn’t mean I want to work all the time. I want to spend time with my own little family as much as I possibly can. When I woke up to realize I was answering emails while grocery shopping, I decided that now it’s the time to set some limits.
So before you’re ready to give up underneath all the pressure, change things. Like I wrote last Monday, you have to be yourself and change the world. Entrepreneus need to take care of themselves. You need to take care of yourself just like everyone else. Some of us can handle super busy life with noise, but some us can’t. Life is full of choices and some of them are harder than others. As long as your limits and boundaries are supporting you and giving strength to go through life, you will have energy to go as far as you want, as long as you need to. How you do things will end up driving people away from you but at the same time it will draw more people closer to you. And when you’re drawing the Right People closer to you, you will have so much more energy. So pick the frames that lets you be the best You, the one who is spreading joy all around you.
// Johanna
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