I was talking with someone the other day in Canada and her partner said, “Get back to work”!
I thought it was directed at me, and instantly felt a knee-jerk reaction of anxiety 😳
Within seconds, I had thoughts of not doing enough, not working hard enough, basically translating into I’m not enough…
It turned out the comment was actually for the person I was talking to (which incidentally was a joke), and not directed toward me in the slightest! It was only 7:30am for me after-all 🤷🏻♀️
But it got me thinking about the visceral reaction I had to the comment and how beliefs leave a mark…
Our beliefs are dictated not only by our parents, teachers and important caregivers in our lives, but also by society and the cultures we live in.
Where I grew up in Canada, mostly all of the women worked. They went to university, got degrees and worked.
When I moved out to California, in both towns we have lived in, most of the women also have university degrees, but tend to not be in the workforce with focusing on raising their families instead.
And not that either one is right or wrong, I truly believe it’s whatever works best for you and your family.
But I found myself torn around this and in the middle. With running my own business and setting my own hours, I was able to choose my own schedule. I flip-flopped back-and-forth on this a lot over the years, with some years having daycare or nannies after school, with others focusing on extra help with cooking while I was “on” for the kids.
So, I would feel guilty when I talked to my Canadian friends if I wasn’t working “full time” hours, and guilty with my Californian friends if I was working at all 🤔
And what I do now I love the most – it’s because I tuned into what I really wanted to do – I’m the one that drives the kids around while also being available after school in-between activities 😍 I find that’s when my kids talk and share the most – except during “hot tub time” – but that’s a whole other post 🤣
And I still take time for myself during the day. In the empowered business world, self-care is really more of a way of BE-ing, with infusing self-care & self-love throughout the day. I am more productive, more resourceful, and more inspired when I live from this place.
Less time and more abundance 🙌
And let me tell you this has taken years and years of practice to get to this point. Years and years of letting go of guilt and recognizing that when I take care of myself everything flows in my life, from business to being a happier mom, which in-turn enables me to do less, with a bigger return.
But it’s funny how those knee-jerk reactions are still there when someone implies that I am not working hard enough. It’s ingrained in my bones…
And just takes the awareness to spot it, and the tools to shift it.
So, tune in to your own beliefs around working hard, and what it’s really about.
Likely getting love and approval outside of yourself (meaning from someone else), through your achievements.
Strengthen your own self love and that connection you have to something bigger than you that is guiding you always💫
Because really, what you decide to take on today influences your ability to receive later.
Have an amazing weekend!
~ Chris xox