Arggggggh - Overwhelm!!!
Self coaching, doing what I would do with you!
Hello, I hope I can add something positive to your day.
I thought I would share with you some of my current overwhelm and how I am attempting to sort my professional life out. My hope is, that it might inspire you to come up with your ways of sorting out your overwhelm (if you have it). A mind full of such great ideas that you can’t move forward with, stuck maybe, it is very frustrating. From what I describe below, you may notice some similarities that you are experiencing. Can you adapt my ways of sorting out my own situation to your situation? I have noticed that the clients I work with, who do the best, are those that take the ideas from a session and make them their own.
So whilst, this is about me, how can you translate it to you?
I have done a lot of different professional things over the course of my life. From working in huge corporates to my own businesses that I have started from scratch. Both have their appeal but I do prefer my own thing.
My current situation is that I work part time for a big corporate and the rest of the time have my own therapy practice that is morphing into a coaching practice. Alongside that I have my other business, Star Dreme that is a creative business. I want to have the coaching business that is less 1:1 to one and more rooted in Substack and small courses that will be very reasonably priced alongside Star Dreme. So there is much to do and change. An overwhelming amount.
Photo by SEO Galaxy on Unsplash
I have listened to soooooooo many podcasts, listened to so many videos on how to do everything business of late. I can now see this is huge procrastination on my part, looking for the ‘right’ way.
Having worked in the therapy world for a very long time we are told, there is only one way you are allowed to do things. Breaking out of this mindset, is a HUGE challenge. It is not a mindset that sits well with me and I have always struggled with it. It has burned me out and I have lost my identity, but I am beginning to get it back. I can name this consumption of stuff to ‘help me’ as ‘procrastination’ as it is keeping me in my comfort zone. Well fuck the comfort zone, I am coming out of it.
There is also a lot about the coaching world I really dislike and I won’t be doing a lot of things that go on there.
I realise I need to add a lot more content to my substack and just about everything else in my professional life needs changing……….FFS I think, overwhelmed, more procrastination, don’t know where to start, so I don’t start.
Feel familiar?
I have been here many times. But it stops here. Enough!
So at this point I have two businesses to develop. I realise I have spent way to much time listening to what other people thought I should do (not marvellous coaches who do nothing but inspire me) but other people. Other people who have never stood in my shoes and have always had the 9-5. Now that is totally fine, but they are just the wrong people to talk to as they want me to stay in the safe zone, from a good place, but stay and I am leaving the safe place! In fact, I just need to concentrate on what I think is important.
Rule 1: everyone has an opinion, that is fine, but what is my opinion and how do I want to do things. I will no longer focus on what everyone else is doing and get on with what I want to do. How many times have I discussed this with my clients😳
Business 1 : Jane Watkins Coaching
Going from therapy to coaching has a clear rationale for me. It is just about how I do it and still being able to continue to eat on a daily basis, tricky! I have accumulated a lot of knowledge that I have witnessed help a lot of professional women by working with them 1:1 over the last 20 years along with a TONNE of experience in so many domains in so many capacities. As a coach I want to be able to help a lot of people without much 1:1 work in a way that is financially viable for them and for me. I love helping and I totally love watching women grow out of their comfort zones into a life they only dreamed of.
So, what is the life I dream of (a dream list), in no particular order, just brainstormed with myself and probably not everything, but that is ok, just what has come up in this moment:
Do you like the image? I am so loving making these, even if they are not totally brilliant 😂 My graphic designer partner will groan.
I am a person who needs some order to be able to think. I have pages and pages of notes written down all over the place, in notepads, post-it notes, journals and my phone. I am very visual so I dusted off the whiteboard and did an enormous brain dump:
This is for the coaching business. Before I went through this process, I had decided that business 2 had to wait. Now I don’t think it does. I can do some of the enjoyable creative part of that to help me do something of my dream list. It helps to write things down.
This is what Tally the cat thought:
Business 2: Star Dreme
This is going to be our letterpress wedding stationery business. I started a wedding business to pay my way through university and then when it had served its purpose, I closed it to pursue my therapy career. I really miss the beautiful creativity of it and so it is back on our agenda. More on that in later posts.
Whilst the whiteboard is very full, I have identified the bits I am going to work on now and I feel empowered and know what I am doing. Starting any business is a huge undertaking and that is ok.
As the cat had a starring role, I cannot miss out Riley dog:
Having enormous fun in Hobbycraft promoting their pumpkins as everyone wanted a stroke.
Would love to hear your thoughts and what ideas this article might have brought you, if you are currently experiencing overwhelm. What has to come to mind you could do to take one step forward?
Have a lovely rest of your day.
Written with much love,
Jane
(I need to design a fancy signature, on the to do list, coming soon!)
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