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Improve Your Life with 3 Simple Changes

Whoa. What’s this?

I looked at my list and realized I was actually caught up.

Stop the presses!

No big projects and deadlines looming.  Nothing weighing on me business-wise causing me undue stress.  I was just going along at a nice easy pace … enjoying the business coaching I was doing.

This is a most unusual experience for me.  All my life, I’ve been a Type A overachiever who prided myself on my productivity.

I’m the girl who was in charge of the largest outdoor street festival in the Southeast for several years in the 90’s.  I’ve always been diligent.  I love my lists of priorities and I’m pretty darned good at managing them. But up till now, my tasks and projects have always been a bit overwhelming.

So what changed?  How did I get to this new and wonderful place where I’m not feeling overwhelmed and behind all the time?

It’s not as if business has fallen off.  In fact, I’m happily serving a full slate of business coaching clients and my practice is thriving.

I just made three simple changes.  And the key is I took it one step at a time.

1. I decided I had to simplify my life.

My default is to always take on something new … to stretch and grow. Instead, I put new projects on pause and resolved to evaluate what I might choose to take on in the future with a more discerning eye.

I paused actively teaching at Coach U for a bit.

I also decided not to participate in a couple of free gift launches with some affiliates that brought me a ton of newsletter subscribers last year. But there was a lot of effort involved that didn’t actually translate into new business. So, I passed.

2. I created some new boundaries.

Mostly boundaries that kept ME safe from ME!  

  • I often go back to work after dinner and exercise time and find myself working quite late.  I decided the computer gets shut off and work stops at 9 pm, no matter what. Plus, I gave myself an earlier bedtime.
  • I asked my clients to get me their materials by 7 pm the night before their calls. That way, I wasn’t stretched into working really late, really early, or at the last minute … and they were happy to comply.

Those changes allowed me to get up an hour earlier, so I could have my time to stretch, pray, meditate and/or listen to inspirational stuff.

3. I increased my self-care time … bit by bit in small increments.  

  • One day each weekend was sacred and only for fun. I took a long holiday weekend and on Easter Monday, I went shopping and to Yoga … and read my book!
  • I mapped out a number of Yoga and Pilates classes on various dates and times that would fit into my busy schedule.

Three simple changes.  Nothing earth shattering.  And here’s the thing.  My business hasn’t suffered one bit. In fact, during this time period, my client billings were the highest ever!

And the bonus?  I actually feel caught up … unburdened …with more freedom than I’ve ever experienced before in my life.

But what about you? What simple things could you do to shed some of the heavy load you carry around on that “plate” of yours?

What could you do to make yourself feel lighter and breezier … leaving behind the ever-constant, nagging feeling of always having to play catch up and never winning?

I invite you to come up with the answer of how YOU can protect yourself from YOU … and then don’t hesitate.

Implement your plan!

You’ll love yourself for it.

Best Wishes,
Denise

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Meet Denise: Denise Hedges is a Business Development Coach and Speaker Coach for small business owners who want to be more comfortable, confident, and successful with their sales and marketing efforts. She specializes in helping them use speaking as a way to dramatically improve their results!

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