The First Step to ‘Doing Less’

We have had such positive feedback on our last email – Do Less, Seriously. So, I wanted to spend more time helping you with exactly that – doing less – but with a concrete action plan.

But why should you listen to me? Because I have spent the last 8 months making a huge shift in my life. Have you noticed how our blog posts have gotten much, much better? It’s because overall, I do less so I have the bandwidth to do what I really love – helping people through acupuncture and coaching.

I have spent some time writing all of the blog posts to give you a deep dive into how to do this RIGHT NOW.

The first step to doing less is to get rid of what is no longer serving you. This step is what is known as the “Fall Phase”, which you can read more about here. 

Think about it – you wouldn’t organize and install shelves in a closet without first cleaning it out, would you?

The same holds true for your life.

Each quarter, I attend a retreat with other business owners across the country and we troubleshoot areas of our business.

There is the most lovely woman in this group who owns a medical practice – I will call her Sandy. Sandy opened her business 3 years ago and within those few years, she has quickly become the “best of” in her niche industry. Think “Best of Dentistry in Boston” or “Best of Exotic Animal Vets” – something along those lines.

Her office generates well over 7 figures and she is the main practitioner. She works 5 days a week, has a few “technicians” who work under her in add-on specialties, as well as an office manager. She has about 8 people on her payroll, but she is the main producer of income for her office. She works – a lot!

Sandy is stressed. At almost every retreat over the last 18 months, she has cried and yelled about the stress in her life. Sandy is one of the most caring people I have ever met – and one of the most highly motivated.

Guess what Sandy does every day at 2 pm? She leaves work, often not having eaten lunch, hops in her car to drive 45 minutes to pick up her 14 yo son at private school, and then drives him home another 45 minutes. She then high-tails it back to the office to begin her afternoon. evening shift.

Stressful? You bet. As I listen to her story, I then start to go down the rabbit hole – what if she hits traffic and can’t make it back for her 4 pm client? What if her son needs to stay after school for an unexpected obligation (like a detention or teacher meeting) – how does she manage that? What if a snowstorm rolls through in February and she really can’t get there and back to see her evening clients? I then start to hyperventilate over all of the imaginary “what ifs”, and it’s not even my life! Imagine how she must feel at a daily baseline.

So then I start thinking, what if she didn’t do this commute? What if she focused her time on her son just during the morning drop-off and at dinner every night? Can you imagine how the quality of her life would change in an instant? I know the reason she does all of this is that it’s her idea of “what a good mom” would do, but is it serving her life?

I am not poking fun at Sandy – I have HUGE blindspots when it comes to my family. I am sharing Sandy’s story as it shows how making small changes to your daily routine could have massive impacts on your life, energy, and mood.

What I am asking you to do is take a look at your life. Then take a step back and look at it from a 10,000-foot height. What are the facts? At 10,000 feet, when you look at your life and it is now reduced to an ant-sized habitat trail, where are the blockades? What have you been doing as a matter of course as a workaround to not address the huge blocks in your life?

What is really and truly not serving you? Change it. Clean it out. Get rid of it. Bless and release.

You can’t make any changes in your life without doing this crucial first step.

Really sit with yourself on this one. Stop tolerating these blockades. What does this look like for you?

Warmly,

Nicole