Feeling Fed Up and Uninspired in Your Business After 50
GLORIA GRACE RAND: Namaste. Have you ever felt uninspired when it came to creating content? Maybe recording a podcast episode? Or maybe you’re just fed up with how things have been going in your business lately? Things aren’t.
Maybe you’re just not getting the clients that you wanted to, or you’re social media posts aren’t reaching people. Or maybe you’ve got stuff going on in your life that’s just not working for you either and that makes it harder to focus on the business too.
Why I Stepped Away: An Injury, a Birthday, and Grief
Well, that’s what today’s episode is about because I’ve experienced some of that lately and that’s why this is my first solo episode in about three weeks because I was feeling uninspired. I got over trained for a 10k race that I’m doing in about another month from now. And so I’ve been dealing with an Achilles that’s been not feeling so good and so I’ve been resting and icing and elevating and compressing and all of that fun stuff. And then, then I had a birthday in between as well. In fact actually just last week and I, I, I enjoy my birthdays.
I don’t really normally have a problem with getting older. However this one hit a little bit because I, I’m now the same age as my sister was when she passed from cancer. So kind of having a little feelings about that. But yeah, so, so I thankfully had some interviews in the can that I pre recorded and so that’s why you, you had some wonderful interviews the last couple of weeks. I hope you’ve enjoyed them.
Advice From a Sheep: Brad and the Goat
But it was time for me to get back on track and thankfully yesterday I was inspired by a Facebook post that a friend of mine shared from someone named his. His Facebook page is called Brad and the Goat and I will share the link to that in the show notes, believe me. But he’s a wonderful person. I think it said that he’s like running 100 miles with a goat or something and to raise awareness for mental health, which I thought is wonderful. But the post that I shared and or that I saw is one of several that he posts on his page that involve animal memes with mental health advice.
You really need to check it out and if I can figure out how to maybe share some of these images in the video recording of this, I will. But otherwise, like I said, I’ll have the link to his Facebook page in the show notes. Check it out because they’re really quite clever. So the post I share I saw yesterday is some advice from a sheep on how to Keep going when you’re fed up. And I’m going to go through some of these and how it applies to me, how it might apply to you, and how it applies to business when you’re, when you’re in midlife and you’re either starting a business or trying to keep one going or trying to figure out what you want to do.
The L.O.V.E. Method: Value Your Uniqueness
And they all also relate to something that I’ve talked about on the podcast before. It’s something that I teach, which is called the LOVE method. And LOVE is an acronym. And the V stands for value your uniqueness. And that’s really what I think all of these lessons are about.
So I hope, I hope you’re going to appreciate this as much as I did, because it really did inspire me to get off my duff and record an episode again.
Stop Trying to Feel Inspired
So, so here’s, here’s the, the first one is that it says, stop trying to feel inspired. You do not need a big breakthrough. Sometimes you just need to get through Tuesday without launching yourself into a hedge.
When Content Creation Feels Hard for Solopreneurs
And I love that because I think that is what happens to us sometimes in our business is that, you know, we are, we’re trying to push, we’re trying to get maybe come up with a new idea for a new service to offer, you know, or a new way to market our products and services. Or again, we’re trying to write content, you know, marketing content. And sometimes, especially if you’re, you know, the, the main person in your business, if you don’t have a team of people helping you with that, it can be a struggle sometimes, even if you now, I mean, one of the ways that you can avoid this is you can create an editorial calendar and you can plan out what your posts are going to be about for, say, the next three to four weeks, which is a really good strategy to do. And it’s one I’ve let slide a little bit lately because I was doing that and, and again, I just haven’t been inspired recently because I’ve been injured. You know, you’re.
When you’re not feeling well physically, and then sometimes even if you’re not feeling well mentally, it can be a challenge to do the stuff you need to do. And that’s when it’s good to give yourself a little break. And as it says, you know, sometimes you just need to get through one day and, and don’t, don’t worry about it so much.
Do It Grumpy: Not Every Step Has to Feel Powerful
Then the next one I love here is that he’s, it says do it grumpy. Not every step has to feel powerful. Some of Them will feel like, fine, whatever. I’m still going, and that still counts.
And I think that’s so good because we do. I think especially women, you know, we sometimes feel this pressure to just keep going, and it’s hard some tays. Sometimes? I think I was trying to put times and days together. It’s hard some days to do this. So it’s okay to be a little grumpy and to be, you know, like, whatever and just get going and, and not, you know, don’t feel like you got to be a people pleaser and that you’ve got be perfect or anything like that.
It’s. It’s just one step after another and do the best you can and, and sometimes just don’t strive for perfection. Just get it out there. You can always go back and edit something later and you can make adjustments later, but sometimes it’s just. Just getting it out there.
Make the Day Smaller: Beating Overwhelm One Step at a Time
All right, the third. One third. Third piece of advice that Brad shared is to make the day smaller. Do not think about your whole life. That is far too much admin.
Just deal with the next hour, maybe the next snack.
So I like that too. Chunking it down. Chunk. You know, just. I don’t know about you, but I am someone who does like to make lists of, like, things that I need to do sometimes.
I, I. Sometimes I’ll do that and, you know, and whether you do that on a piece of paper, like I have over here, if I could get it, you know, sometimes I will. I will do this. I would, like write down, you know, a bunch of things that I got to do sometimes, you know, I do keep it in my calendar. Maybe you’re digital and you’d like to have things organized in your calendar so that you know what’s coming up.
But then if you do, just think about, like, okay, what do I have to do right now? What is the one step that I can take right now that will move me closer to my goal? And don’t worry about what you got to do this afternoon. Don’t worry about what needs to be done tomorrow. Oh, that just reminded me.
Don’t Worry About Tomorrow
There was a song we used to sing in choir. I used to belong when I went to the Catholic church, but I don’t do that anymore. But we used to sing this song that was. It would go like this. It was like, don’t worry about.
Don’t worry about. Don’t worry about tomorrow. And it comes from. There’s a passage in, in the scripture where it talks about this, but it’s true. Just focus on now focus on what you can do in this minute and yeah, we’re gonna get to it.
The 50-Minute Focus Timer
Okay. I was gonna, I was gonna, I was gonna mention something that I did yesterday, but we’re coming to that. We’re not there yet. So, yeah, just, yeah, chunk it down and just do, just do focus on one step. And maybe here’s a good idea for you too, is to also set the timer.
Set your, Set a timer, maybe on your phone or whatever, or on your computer, possibly for 50 minutes and just focus on that task that you’ve got. Maybe it’s writing a new blog article, maybe it’s writing an email to send to your list. Maybe it’s planning out a podcast episode or a YouTube video.
Just spend 50 minutes on that. And when that timer goes off, get up, go grab yourself a cup of coffee, cup of tea, go for a walk. If it’s nice outside and you’re working from home, let’s say like I do, go pet your cat. Mine is sitting over on the chair getting ready to take his nap, which is good, but just get away for a little bit, clear your head and then come back and tackle the next thing.
So much easier when you can do that. Because if you know that you’ve got, you know, let’s say there’s six things that you want to get done today and you stare at this list, you can be easily get overwhelmed by doing that. So I don’t want you to do that.
Life is too short to be overwhelmed.
Give Yourself Grace to Not Be Graceful in Midlife
All right, our next piece of advice from our lovely sheep said to stop expecting graceful. This is not a majestic season. This is a head down, fluff forward, mildly annoyed sort of chapter and own it. And I love that because even though it doesn’t necessarily speak to women over 50, I think we can relate to it because this is, this is a, it can be, maybe, should be, I dare say a wonderful time in your life. Because now once you hit that milestone and you’re over 50 or you’re over 60, like I am now, I’m well into my 60s now.
Why Midlife Is a Time to Celebrate
This is a time to celebrate, frankly. You know, you’ve accomplished a lot. Maybe you’ve, you’ve been a corporate executive and now you’re starting your own business. Or, or maybe you’ve been a stay at home mom and, and you’re in business now. You know, you’ve sent.
The kids are off living their own lives now you’re an empty nester and this is your time to start saying, what do I want to do with my life? How do I want to design my life my way. Right. So just give yourself some grace. I know it said stop expecting graceful, but I’m going to flip that and say.
I’m going to say, give yourself the grace to. Oh, I said, oh, I read this wrong. Says, this is not a majestic season. Well, okay, yes.
This state that you’re in at the moment when you’re feeling fed up is not a majestic season. But in the grand scheme of things, it is. So give yourself grace to not be graceful. There we go. I knew I could figure out a way to.
To get around this. Yeah. If you want to be annoyed, that’s okay. You’ve earned the right to be annoyed because you’ve lived this long. And if things aren’t going the way you want them to go, well, then, yeah, that could be annoying.
You’re Allowed to Feel Your Feelings
And it can be frustrating. And you’re allowed to feel your feelings.
Ah, yeah, that’s a big one. Because as someone who grow. Who grew up not really feeling safe in feeling her feelings, and I know. I suspect that you probably may be able to relate to that as well, because it’s.
If you grew up in the west, especially if you’re listening to this, as someone who is. Who grew up in the United States, that’s. That’s the way we were taught to behave, you know, to be. Oh, gosh. There was even a.
There was even a song that I grew up hearing in the 60s.
I think the Four Seasons recorded it. Big Girls Don’t Cry. I mean, come on. What the.
Why can’t we cry? You know, it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to. Talk about mixed messages, baby, you know, I mean, what the heck?
So, yeah, this might not be a majestic season at the moment, but you can still own it and. And just feel it.
Rest Without Quitting: You’re Tired, Not Finished
All right, what’s our next piece of advice? Let me see on my list here. I gotta keep marking these off so I don’t. So I don’t miss where I’m going. Okay, so the next one.
Ah, here we go. Yes.
Rest without quitting. Lying down dramatically is allowed. Giving up completely is not the same thing as needing a minute. You’re tired, not finished.
Yeah, this is a big one.
Because sometimes life can be exhausting.
Running a business can be exhausting. And you might feel like quitting sometimes.
Sorry, I’ve. I’ve. I’ve been having those feelings lately myself, frankly.
Taking Breaks and Being Honest About Healthy Habits
Which is why I was so glad when I saw this post yesterday, because it really did help to remind me that it’s okay. It’s okay to feel tired. It doesn’t mean you’re giving up. It doesn’t mean you have to quit.
You can take a break. I mean, the other day I was. Was it just yesterday? I guess it was just yesterday. I think I did it Monday too, because I, I’m.
I’m. It’s Wednesday that I’m recording this and I took a. I took a break in the afternoon to meditate because I just needed a break. And my go to of late has been to run out to the store in the afternoon and buy something to eat that isn’t the healthiest. And that’s one part of my issues too, is that I’ve not been engaging in healthy behaviors of late. And it’s caught up with me and, ah, makes me full of regret because earlier in this year, one of the first episodes I recorded was about how I had been not indulging in healthy behaviors, but I was going to change.
And it’s like, well, it’s been about six months since then, and I. I have spent this whole year just not taking the best care of my health with my food intake. And, And that’s frustrating because this is where I have to give myself grace again. And, and the good thing is, is that I haven’t given up completely. I could, I could just say, eff it, and just give up and, you know, and just, just keep eating food that doesn’t. That doesn’t serve me.
But all the while that I’ve been doing this at the same time is that I’ve been indulging, is that I’ve still been eating healthy stuff. I still, for the most part, have a green smoothie every day. And, and I’ve still been exercising. Exercised a little too much. I was running when I should have been walking, and now I’m just fast walking instead.
I’ve decided I’m going to do the race fast walking. This weight is not good for running, so I’ve got to treat my body better.
Why I Haven’t Given Up on My Business
So my point, sorry, is that I haven’t given up. Even I haven’t given up on my business either, because I’m back here today recording a podcast so that you can learn from me and hopefully be inspired to take action.
Whether that’s taking a rest when you need one or it is taking little baby steps and getting into action.
Yeah. So there you go. Okay, that’s enough of that one. All right, let’s see. What’s our next one?
Ignore the Perfect Sheep: Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
We still have a. Still have a few more to get through here. Okay, the next one Is to. This is, this is so. This is one’s really good.
Ignore the perfect sheep, there will always be someone looking more organized, more healed, more productive. Good for them. This is not their breakdown. Yeah. Because boy, oh boy, oh my.
Isn’t social media full of perfect people? Seemingly so. And for those of you listening to the podcast and not watching it, I’m using air quotes. Okay.
Yeah.
Social Media, Influencers, and the Entrepreneur Myth
So many of us, we’ve just been, I think we’ve been trained by the algorithms to either be fighting or to be portraying our lives as these perfect, perfect lives. And you see all these influencers out there with their, you know, perfect lives and their million dollar homes and their, you know, spray tans, whatever, or they’re just, you know, they’re making hundreds of thousands of dollars and, or millions of dollars from their small business. And I’m actually, I’m reading, I’m reading a book right now that someone recommended to me. Let me see if I can pull it up on my Kindle real quick. It’s, it’s for solopreneurs.
Oh. It’s called Staying Solo. Your Guide to Building a Simple and Sustainable Service Business by Maggie Peterson. Maybe I’ll put the, put that in the show notes as well. I’m only part way through it, but it’s been very enlightening because entrepreneurs have been sold a bill of goods, frankly, that, you know, that you can do all these things and you know, and make a ton of money and, and I, and it was raising up a little bit in me because I, I hope I don’t come across as one of these people that is, well, let’s, let’s put it this way.
I am not the type of person who will say that. And in fact, maybe this is why my business isn’t quite as successful as I’d like it to be is because I don’t say that you’re going to 10x your results and you’re going to make a $100,000 if you join my program.
What Actually Works in Business
Will your business get better if you take my program? I believe so, because I have been a business owner now since 2009. So I know things that work and I know things that don’t work. And I know for me, when I don’t do the things I know that do work, that is when my business suffers. But when I do the things that work, then my business succeeds.
So focus on you, I guess, is my point and know that.
Wow, what’s, what’s, what’s the. No, well, comparing yourself to someone else is not going to do you any good. Focus in on what you can do and focus in on how you can best serve your clients. And if you have to take a break for a little while, then you take a break for a little while until you can be inspired again, and that’s okay.
Look for Tiny Proof You’re Getting Somewhere
And this next one is really good to follow up with, because now the sheep advocates that you.
How to keep going.
Excellent.
Answered one message. Heroic did not scream into the abyss today. Massive progress.
Oh, my gosh. Isn’t that awesome? I love that. Yeah, just. Just look for tiny proof that you are getting somewhere.
It doesn’t have to be a big thing.
Did you answer? Yeah. You answered one email. Yay. If you got more to do, you can do it later.
But I love that. Just, Just, Just, you know, we. It. It helps. In fact, I. I know it’s.
Something happens in our brain. I think it gets like, you know, dopamine gets stirred up when you, you know, find that proof. And then, you know, what you might even want to do is reward yourself for accomplishing something. So it doesn’t have to be a major reward. Maybe you just say, okay, now I can go get myself a cup of coffee because I did that thing.
Let Stubbornness Help and Keep Going, Even Scruffy
Yay. So it’s okay. All right, let’s see. What’s our next one? Our next one is to let stubbornness help.
You do not always need hope. Sometimes pure spite and mild inconvenience will carry you surprisingly far. Whatever works. Yeah, I like that. And I don’t even think that one needs much explanation.
I think it’s just.
Yeah, just, you know, just kind of keep going. Even if you’re cranky, you know, like. Like the. The one of. The second.
The second step was do it grumpy. So, yeah, you know, just don’t worry about mild inconveniences. Just. Just keep going. I think that’s.
Oh, and. And that’s the last point is to keep going just uglier. You do not need to be shining. You just need to keep moving until life feels lighter again. Even scruffy progress is still progress.
Yeah, yeah. Just. Just keep moving. It doesn’t need to be, you know, perfect. And.
Walk Before You Run: My 10K Pivot
And that’s what I’ve. I’ve been doing now is now again, not. Not just in my business, but in. In this training I’m doing. I’m doing this 10k race in October, and I’m actually, I’m raising.
Raising money for TechCorps, which is a. An organization that helps promote STEM education for kids in schools, you know, science and technology and all that good stuff. And so because I had injured myself, because I was starting to run again, doing a little bit, I was doing walk, run, walk intervals, but still it was too much. So once the foot started feeling better and I felt comfortable walking again, I decided that what I’m going to do now is I don’t have to run this race. I check to see how my times were, the pace and the pace I have to maintain in order to complete the race.
And I’m under it. So I’m just going to do fast walking intervals. And that’s, you know, I. That’s how I’m going to get this done now. And if it gets to the point where down the road I’ve shed some of this extra weight that I put on and I feel like I can do run, I can run again, I will.
But for now, walking, you know, walk before you run. And, and, and so this is in your business too, is that maybe send, instead of doing a whole big email newsletter, maybe you just send out one little message or instead of scheduling a whole month’s worth of content on your editorial calendar, maybe just schedule the next week, you know, but just, just do a little bit and eventually you’re going to build up some momentum and you’re going to get through it.
Light Language Transmission to Clear Stuck Energy
So I’m going to share one other thing with you before we close out our podcast today. And, and this is something that I feel is also helpful, and it’s something that I love doing in the podcast because I think it will, especially if you are someone who is feeling, you know, fed up right now and you want to be able to keep going. Maybe it could be that there is some stuck energy inside that is keeping you from being as mentally clear as you would like to be. So what I’m going to share with you in a moment is light language. And this is a form of communication that speaks to your soul.
It’s not necessarily something you’re going to be able to translate. Possibly you might be able to, but it’s going to sound like a foreign language. And it is something that I have been blessed with the ability to channel. So if it is safe for you right now, I invite you to close your eyes and, you know, hopefully you’re somewhere where you can listen without being disturbed and just allow what comes through to help you and in fact, set an intention that what you’re going to hear, the message you’re going to receive, will help to clear away anything that is stuck that is keeping you feeling like you’re fed up and will help you to be able to get back in momentum and to, to keep going again. And so, yeah, so that’s what I’m going to do.
I’m going to set that intention for myself and for all of you. And also that the message you’re going to receive is for your soul’s highest good and the highest good of all.
Okay. Yeah. So again, if it’s safe for you, I encourage you to close your eyes. I’m closing my eyes as it helps me to focus better.
Maybe just take a deep breath in and exhale and just relax.
Kind of think of it as a little, a little meditation break.
[Audio transmission only]
Okay.
Free Light Language Sessions and Why Healers Need Healing Too
I hope you received that with the love that it was intended and just a little, a little sampler. And if you’d ever like to have a private session with me, maybe get a little bit, a little bit more, I offer a free introductory light language sessions, 15 minutes. And this way we can be focused specifically on whatever issue you are needing some support with. So I’ll have the link to that in the show notes as well. And yeah, I’d love to, I’d love to be able to serve you with that.
And, and of course, if you want to just have a longer session, we, we do offer those too. I do, I do charge for those. But this you can do just get a little bit more, a little more help. So I encourage you to take advantage of that because we, you know, even if you are, let’s say that you are someone listening to this and you are a massage therapist or you are a Reiki practitioner, we all need to go see other people sometimes, other experience other modalities to help us. I was at, a couple weeks ago, I went to a local natural awakenings expo and I had a little sample session of reflexology and, and wow, wow, wow.
I went in there with a backache. I did not have a backache. It was fading away and by the next day it was gone from working on my foot. It was pretty amazing. It hurt a little bit.
It did hurt a little bit. But the short term hurt helped alleviate the longer term pain that I was dealing with. So I’m going to make another appointment with him to help him with some other issues. Because as much as light language helps me again, sometimes it’s really good to experience another type of modality to help you. So I encourage you to do that, especially if you are someone who does.
Has your own type of practice that you do. It’s, it’s good to experience some others from, from time to time. All Right. I hope that you enjoyed the advice from a sheep today. I tell you, it was great.
Closing: Value Your Uniqueness and Live on Purpose
And there was. There’s a whole bunch of others on there that are just amazing. But like I said, I’ll have his link, link to that Facebook page in the show notes. And I’d love to know what you think about it, because I, I think the guy’s great. I think he’s got great, great advice and it inspired me today, I hope it inspired you to give you yourself some grace today and, and value again.
I want to come back to the V and love is to value your uniqueness. And if, and if that means valuing that, you know, I’m uninspired right now, okay, fine. What can I do about that? Let me just get through today and see if tomorrow’s better. Because as long as you keep moving, you know what, tomorrow will be better, and if not tomorrow, the day after.
But eventually it will get there. Or maybe you’ll have some moments of it may not be the whole day is fantastic, but maybe you’ll have an hour or something really great happened or you just felt lighter and that’s something worth pursuing, too. All right. Thank you for joining me today. Thank you for listening, for watching.
Whether you’re watching on YouTube or on newrealitytv.com we are there as well. And if you’re not subscribed, I hope you will be. And until we meet again, I encourage you to go out and just be bold and live on purpose.
