Are you feeling burned out by work?

I’m getting ready for a week of huge waves ahead in Hawaii!  I’ve been very focused during the last weeks on getting my body strong for the surf season by doing Yoga, swimming, running and surfing a lot!

For me, surfing is my place and moment where I can play. I don’t know if  you’ve ever tried surfing, but if you did, you know that is too much fun!

Since I came back home from a one month trip to Indonesia, I’ve realized that I haven’t been working at the intensity that I had in the past.  Instead’ I’ve been following this motto:

“Follow the energy, do only what gives you a Hell Yeah joy!”.

A few months ago I started learning about this concept through the amazing book from Danielle Laporte, “The Fire Starter Sessions”.  By the way, if you haven’t read that book, I  highly recommend it! It is a source of understanding  and inspiration for our lives and businesses.

It took me months to get to a point of really trusting that if I followed my joy, I would make a better use of my time and my work would actually benefit more, than if I just worked endless hours daily.

This is were I got confused, tell me if it goes in these lines for you as well:

I love my work. I absolutely love and enjoy coaching people to make changes in their lives and go for their dreams. I love writing my blog and creating materials to teach others how to manifest their best life. I enjoy it because I love seeing others succeed. It gives me great pleasure to be able to walk hand in hand with  people and assist them in doing life changing breakthroughs. I also enjoy doing the other part of my business, the actual labor: marketing, social media, business plans, bookkeeping, interviews.

I am grateful that I found my call in life, and I enjoy every step of the way.

The problem is that in all this enthusiasm of starting a business for the last couple of years, I forgot to pay attention at other parts of my life. I also got carried away with trying to do it all, and I found myself working 12 hours day, seven days a week!

I stopped doing my training, I didn’t surf as much and I rarely took  time for myself to just chill and read a magazine! I didn’t realize how getting into “workaholic” mode was affecting me until I took a holiday.

This is what happened:

After a summer of doing a sort of a world tour, doing lectures, workshops and interviews in Argentina, Chile and NYC, I came back to Hawaii and I realized that I was running on empty. I felt that I gave it my all, left my heart on the stage when I did my lectures, gave my time and attention to hundreds of people, put their needs and requests before mine, and I ended up feeling exhausted.

I needed “me” time, so I decided to go to a beautiful location in Indonesia to surf the waves of my dreams! I stayed in a luxury resort for the first time in my life (instead of a cheap backpackers) and I had the time of my life.

As soon as I unplugged myself, I realized how much I was needing to have fun!

I went to the other side of the spectrum: I found myself feeling that  all I wanted was to surf and drop off the map for six months!

At that point I had spent 13 months months giving life to my brand, website, coaching business and when it all started to come together, I wanted to run off.

I went into full rebellious mode.  Instead of saying “Hell Yes” to work, I was saying “Hell No! I want to be free!!!”.

When I came back home to Hawaii I made a point of learning from this experience and not going back into a workaholic mode that drains me.

My job is about being of service to others. If I don’t serve myself first, I have nothing real to give to others.

True service is about honoring ourselves first and then sharing out of the abundant overflow.  That’s when we share truth, because we share from a real place of fulfillment.

It was important to me to return to those activities that give me joy, so I could be the best at my work.

When you’re clear on what activates the joy within you, time management becomes a means to self-expression, not self-policing. And “making time” becomes an art of service so that you can be your best for those around you.

Danielle Laporte, The Fire Starter Sessions

I decided to follow my every day “Hell Yeah!”

What does that mean?

If I wanted to attend a Yoga class instead of writing a blog post that I had scheduled, I would.  If I wanted to surf on a Tuesday morning and then read a magazine on the beach, I did it.  I would always ask myself: ” Where is my joy now? What do I want to do?”

Hey! That doesn’t mean that I become lazy at work. It actually surprised me to discover that when I  chose to do my work and the tasks that I had scheduled, I was doing it in less time because my energy was very focused.  If I had an appointment marked, I would do something for myself before or after the appointment.

I always talk about being the creator of our lives.

I chose to be my own boss so I could be location independent and manage my schedule as I please.  My dream is to  live an abundant lifestyle.

What does that mean?

Living as I choose, every single day!

I am now truly living my dream, because I switched mental gears.

Most of us come from this mentality of “Work first and play later”.

We may think like this: “One day, when I have  X  amount of money in the bank, I will take it easier” or, ” One day I will go on a vacation and do nothing!”,or, ” One day, when all things are in place, I will just take naps and bake cookies for my grandchildren”.

We neglect our life’s pleasures and we give our joy to that “one day” that never comes.

We are afraid that if we stop for a moment, all things will collapse.  We feel that we are in charge of our whole world, and if we let go for a moment, do less, take a bubble bath, our businesses will go broke.

It sounds extreme, right? But does it has some truth in it?

This is what I am discovering in this motto of “Play first, Work later”:

• I play  first (surf, chill, go for a hike, watch the Ellen Show for an hour in the middle of the day, ect.) > then I feel very energized and enthusiastic> then I work> I do an amazing focused work> I share with others from a great space> my business expands.

Do you know why this motto works?

Because when we live the movement of loving, joy and enthusiasm within us, we then let that energy manifest itself in all areas of our lives.

The key: We bring the joy into our lives, and we let that joy affect our business, finances, health, personal growth, relationships.

Now I am bringing the fun and joy into every moment of my day, and I let that be the guide to my daily decisions.

I actually “played” most of the last work week. I couldn’t get enough of the beautiful surf that we had in Hawaii.  I swam with turtles, did a three hour hike with Gregg, listened to old music, and sneaked work in new places: for the first time I did work phone calls while getting tanned on the beach! If only people knew that I was talking to them while wearing my bikini!

Investing on myself on a Thursday morning!

Today, I woke up, on a beautiful Sunday morning and I wrote this blog post. I am pouring creativity and I think that I will be writing a lot today! Because that is where my energy is at.

Now I would love to hear about you.

Let me know in the comments below:

• Do you struggle with making a time for yourself?

• Do you fear that if you are not “pushing” at work, you won’t make money?

And most importantly:

• What is one thing that you can do today for yourself  that gives you joy?

Remember:

Investing in yourself, is the greatest investment for your business!

When you tap into  joy and enthusiasm, you tap into the keys to manifest abundance.  That joy will be the energy that will affect your business and therefore bring positive impact into your finances. But don’t take my word, try it out for yourself and let me know how it goes!

Living in Abundance is not about “getting there” in the future.  Abundance is here and now, in every moment of every day.

If you are loving this article and you feel that someone you know might benefit from reading it, please share it!

Much Loving,