Jobs like the one I have ebb and flow. Some months, I’m turning away clients and wishing I had employees. Other months, I’m grabbing at scraps and jumping on any potential client to get as many bookings as I can. In the beginning of a slow time, I tend to be excited. I spend time with my animals, clean up the house, and spend time in the craft room. But as the streak continues and I get cancelations or struggle to get any leads, I head towards a depressive funk and have no motivation to do anything because it’s not bringing me any money so it has to be useless…. And instead I end up sitting around doing nothing. Which also doesn’t make me any money.
Work has definitely been really slow recently, and this is the longest “dry spell” I’ve had since I started this company. I could feel myself spiraling down and getting anxious about every task I was doing because I “should” be doing something to make money. Or I would add things to my “do-do” list that didn’t do anything other than to keep me busy. When I noticed how I was feeling – and that it wasn’t going to fix anything – I knew I had to reframe my thought process.
I decided to take the downtime to do things that I always wish I had time for like projects with Jarod, rearranging rooms, and deep cleaning my house. I have been taking the time to get into a yoga routine and add in more habits that benefit my health. And most of all, I’ve been trying to appreciate the calm. Yes, it’s stressful that I don’t have as many jobs as I’d like. But when I have clients 6 days a week, I let a lot of things slide and don’t always give myself as much rest as I need to.
I was listening to a podcast called “Self Help-less” the other day and they said something that really hit me:
“Remember when you wanted what you now have?”
I just sat there for a second and thought about what this meant. I feel like I’m always thinking about the next step instead of fully enjoying what’s happening right now. When work is busy, I look forward to my days off. When work is slow, I look forward to clients calling and getting booked up. I keep spending my days planning for the future, which is important to do but not healthy to obsess on. If I’m always wanting something different and craving new goals, I won’t appreciate them when they happen. So I’ve been taking some time that I have off to be thankful for the things I have now. Time to relax, my loving animals, a lovely boyfriend, friends who support me, and a home I feel comfortable in.
Take some time this week to think about what you have and when you didn’t have it. Go back 5 years to when you wanted the home that you have or the family you love. Sit with it for a minute, let go of the drive to “do better” and enjoy the hard work you’ve put in. What did you want 5 years ago? Or 10? What do you have now that you didn’t then? 😊 As always, if you take any fun pictures or videos, tag me on Instagram @SmileMakePeopleWonder and use the hashtag #DandelionSmiles. Don’t forget to subscribe so you won’t miss out on the next exciting idea.
Dandelion Smiles 