Why busy entrepreneurs struggle to slow down?

The last two weeks I was sick with the flu (yes, the real deal flu), my kids were sick, and we moved house.

The illness had me in bed for days without eating or having the energy to watch Netflix. With two kids, a need to pack boxes, and a few key business obligations to take care of, to say "it was TOUGH" is kind of an understatement.

I knew what got me here: I was taking on more than I could handle.

Life had once again become a packed day of to-do lists and never-ending responsibilities.

From the moment I wake up, I go from being Mom in the morning, to running my business during the day, to doing housework and then back to being Mom and Wife before hitting my pillow each night.

Even in paradise I found myself saying "you have so much freedom", but I wasn't really acting like it.

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In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Dr. Gabor Mate, I was struck by this sentence:

"We have an investment with maintaining that our way of thinking is right, that the principles and methods we have practiced are sound, and that approaches outside our emotional or intellectual comfort zones are not work investigating."

I realized when I was sick in bed that I was invested in maintaining a belief that "being busy and active is good. It was good because I was getting lots of things done. And resting (is bad) it means that things aren't getting done."

Ugh, I really hate that belief!

And yet, I cannot be the person who doesn't get things done!

This is why people can't just "stop" or "do self care" -- the belief will sabotage any temporary efforts in the long-run. Unaddressed, the belief will push us right back to being a fully booked mom-entrepreneur-partner to-do list maniac!!

We won't become people who can be productive and have a rejuvenating lifestyle. So what do we do?

One suggestion is to get coaching. We cannot coach ourselves out of a belief and behavior like this - it's too deep. It's too much of who we are and who we've learned to be. We need to really change who we are and coaching is all about that.
A second suggestion is to attend personal growth classes. Participating in classes and experiences aimed at your inner growth can open the doors to new ways of seeing things and seeing yourself, which is the precursor to making permanent, lasting changes.
If you'd like, please join me on Wednesday at 10am EST for a live re-run of my class on Mastering the Art of Dealing with Conflict.

You better believe if you start to change yourself -- like stop taking on everything for everyone or stop accommodating everyone else's needs -- that conflicts will arise with the people around you.

They're used to the old you. Are you ready to be the new you? Come learn more.

Please email me at tracey@livlitceo.com to RSVP yourself for this free professional development class. And let me know your thoughts about this newsletter.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Lots of love,

xx Tracey

CEO, Co-Founder and Master Coach with Liv.Lit!

PS Get coaching for your performance as a leader and human being. Apply for an Intro Coaching Call