The Power of Being Versus the Stress of Doing

I wonder if like me you’ve been conditioned to believe you need to work hard to do well in life or make your business work?

We all experience ups and downs in life and running a successful business can certainly feel like hard work at times. But it doesn’t always have to be that way!

It’s only since becoming self-employed 13 years ago that I’ve realised it’s always been me pushing myself to work long hours.

When you’re in a job it’s easy to blame others, but as a business owner, you don’t have that excuse. We are the ones in the driving seat of our business and can determine what we’d like our day-to-day experience to be.

At last, I recognise that for years I’ve been nurturing the beliefs that I need to work hard to be successful. Partly because I believed that to be a good person or ‘good enough’, I needed to work hard.

I’ve been speaking to quite a few friends and clients over the last few weeks who have also expressed similar beliefs; that they feel they need to work hard to be successful; that work needs to be hard (rather than fun); and that they feel they need to ‘do’ certain things to prove their worthiness (to themselves and others).

Does any of that resonate with you?

Imagine if it didn’t need to be that way…

Imagine being open to the possibility of enjoying more success by ‘doing’ LESS….

Imagine having more fun or doing what brings you joy every day…

Because when you do this, you’ll feel happier, less overwhelmed and things often feel easier too.

That’s been my experience since stepping back from my business at the end of February.

My original intention was to have a break for a couple of months so I could have the time to enjoy more of a personal life and reflect on what I really want to spend my time doing over the next few years. This has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!

Not only am I really enjoying catching up with family and friends, I’m also getting around to doing lots of fun creative activities I’ve been meaning to do for years e.g. taking up tennis, hosting craft nights with friends, and signing up to silver jewellery making classes.

It’s a special time during which I’m enjoying the more natural patterns of being human, rather than fitting into the mad world of work and business we have created. Typically my days involve:

Getting up when I feel awake and refreshed–paying attention to the rest my body needs.
Starting days with mediation, tapping, and a lovely healthy homemade juice/smoothie.
Exercising if my body feels up to it.
Having massages and other nourishing treatments.
Connecting with people–having spent so much time developing an on-line business it’s an absolute joy to be spending more time in person with lots of special souls in my life.
Turning off my computer and avoiding social media as much as possible– phew, this has been brilliant! And I don’t feel I’m missing out on anything.
Saying ‘no’– to whatever I don’t want to do over the next few months…

Seriously if you haven’t had a break for a while I’d thoroughly recommend taking one–to nourish yourself, even if only for a few days!

As well as being exactly what I needed, what’s been truly magical is that as I do less in my business, I’m attracting fabulous new clients and exciting opportunities, more aligned to where I’d like to take my business in the future.

By shifting my focus to only do what I enjoy in the hours I am ‘working’, I feel I’ve changed my energy vibration to one of ease and flow. Having made this energetic shift, I’m now also attracting lovely new clients who also want to experience more ease and flow too.

Likewise, as I’ve contemplated the things I love doing (public speaking, training, writing, fundraising), the people asking to work with me are those wanting to create on-line products, get a book published, run workshops and raise funds for charity. Again they are a reflection of what brings me joy.

You see it’s only when you allow yourself to STOP and ‘BE’, rather than being consumed with ‘doing’, that the real miracles start to flow.

How often do you slow down enough to allow this to happen?

When you are running around ‘doing’ do you ever feel stuck or overwhelmed and wonder what to do to get past this?

Sometimes the best answer is simply to STOP and remember to BE kind to yourself.

You are already good enough.

You don’t need to prove yourself to anyone.

Growing your business doesn’t need to be such hard work!

Let go of any expectations or attachments to results you hope to get, and instead focus on enjoying the present.

By being kind to yourself in present in the moment you’ll be happier, healthier and better placed to respond to what’s happening around you.

How could you be kinder to yourself?
What could you stop doing?
What could you start doing that you’d love instead?

These are topics I share lots of tips on how to live a more authentic, happy and healthy life in my book Heartatude, The 9 Principles of Heart-Centered Success. You can check this out on Amazon HERE.

I’d love to hear your ideas and thoughts – please do share your comments below.

Alisoun Mackenzie is The Compassionate Business Mentor, Author, and Speaker who inspires business owners and social entrepreneurs to turn their passions into profits and make a difference in the world.

She is also the author of two Amazon Best Selling books Heartatude, The 9 Principles of Heart-Centered Success and Give to Profit: How to Grow Your Business by Supporting Charities Social Causes.

Alisoun is also the founder of The Heartabiz Hub a business network and training academy and has written the following free ebooks:

The 9 Secrets to Signing Up Clients Without Selling (click here)
101 Ways To Attract Great Clients, With Heart, Integrity & Social Impact (click here)
52 Ways to Raise Funds for Charities and Social Causes Through Your Business (click here)