047: When thoughts keep you from your Sacred Work
Sometimes our thoughts can feel like the enemy when we sit down to do the things that we know will move the needle forward in our business.
Over the past few weeks, there have been many things swirling around in my head, and I’ve often found myself either working through painful memories or worrying about the future. When I find myself in this place, even with huge amounts of free time available on my calendar, it can feel almost impossible to sit down and focus.
I have a bit of a “flee” response, which is to turn off my mind and distract myself from feeling what I’m feeling. It’s far easier to surf the internet, listen to music, or resort to any number of other things that aren’t necessarily the best choice in the moment when there’s work that needs to be done.
This pattern of fleeing could be triggered by unhelpful thoughts related to the project you’re working on, or it could be related to something happening in some other area of your life. But when it’s related to your actual sacred work and self-doubt, it’s particularly important to create space to hold what’s going on inside of us so we can develop trust with ourselves to take the next step forward in a meaningful way.
To make a different choice when we find ourselves distracted from our sacred work, we need to begin to bring awareness to our patterns that tend to take us out. So next time you sit down to work on something important and you find your focus waning, ask yourself the following questions:
What is going on in your mind and body right before you begin to lose your focus?
For me, I tend to either start thinking about the future laced with some sense of worry, or I feel a fiery feeling in my solar plexus.
What are you doing when you start to lose your focus? Are there specific types of work that trigger this?
For me, it’s usually something that causes me discomfort based on the fact that what I’m working on will be publicly consumed. I experienced this a lot when working on the Sacred Business Manifesto, and recently on a new workshop Carolina and I would like to offer. I still have a lot of fear around public speaking, so anytime I sit down to work on a presentation, I find it hard to focus because my mind starts wandering to thoughts of actually delivering it and fear of being rejected.
What has allowed you to regain your focus when you have noticed it drifting in the past?
If I’m able to notice the fear in my body or unhelpful thoughts, I will usually stop what I’m doing, stand up, stretch, and take a few deep belly breaths. I will then reconnect to the 25-year vision Carolina and I have created for Sacred Business Flow, and read a few lines that inspire me to want to keep going and that remind me of the importance of whatever I am working on.
From there, I’ll ask myself how I’m feeling right now. If I find I’m still experiencing unhelpful thoughts in relation to this inquiry, I’ll notice it and try to be playful with myself, reminding myself of my desire to shift back to something more aligned with my vision.
Lastly, I’ll look for a “next-best thought” that can help me reconnect with that vision. For example, if I had the thought that I am a terrible public speaker, I’d remind myself that part of my vision for the next 25 years is that Carolina and I are professional speakers who are paid to deliver keynotes for $20K per engagement, inspiring people across the globe.
If that is hard to connect with in the moment, I might find a next-best thought that I can connect with, something like, “When Carolina and I spoke in San Antonio, several people came up afterwards and shared how what we shared impacted them positively.” From that place, I could reconnect with inspiration and get back to focusing on the task at hand.
In conclusion, managing our thoughts and maintaining focus on our sacred work is a skill we all have the capacity to cultivate for our own growth. The key lies in recognizing our patterns, understanding our triggers, and consciously choosing to realign with our vision and purpose. Through practices such as mindful breathing, reconnecting with our long-term goals, and reframing negative thoughts, we can overcome self-doubt and stay committed to our important tasks.
Ultimately, this process of self-reflection and intentional action not only improves our productivity but also strengthens our resilience and ability to pursue our dreams with determination and clarity.
Sending Love
P.S. if you haven't checked out these additional resources, I encourage you to:
Happenings
Carolina recently offered an Authenticity Through Movement workshop within The Foster Writing Collective.
During this 60-minute embodied movement workshop participants are invited to move their body as a way of supporting their creative expression within their business.
Participants work with the intention of allowing authenticity to flow freely so the next time they sit down to write, they aren’t holding themselves back from greater levels of expression.
We would love to share this message with more people.
If you are involved with or lead a community, we would love to share this workshop with your audience.
If you see an opportunity to collaborate, drop us a reply!
Here is What I Want to Share This Week:
Voicenotes
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I shared this one two weeks ago, but I think it's worth a second share because it has quickly become one of my favorite apps that I used on a daily basis.
Record new ideas, family moments, meetings, podcast takeaways, anything.
Ask your AI to review past notes or brainstorm new ideas. It has perfect memory.
Create summary, to-do list, blog post, and more using your notes.
Available on the Web, iOS and Android. Loved by 30,000+ note-takers.
Go ahead, record a quick note. No sign-up required. This is the tool Carolina and I are using to manage our Daily Review process we shared a couple weeks ago here in the newsletter
It's currently on Lifetime deal for only $50 but I don't expect this to last long! Brought to you by the developers of Buy Me a Coffee.
Publishizer: Get Your Book Discovered by Readers and Publishers
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Writing a book on Sacred Business is high on the list for Carolina and I. We are also supporting a few clients in their own book launch marketing, so I've been doing more research in this space lately.
Publishizer is a platform I recently came across that allows authors to crowdfund their book proposals, providing a novel approach to getting books published. By selling pre-order copies, authors can demonstrate interest to potential publishers.
I haven't personally used it as an author, but participated in someone else's book pre-launch campaign there, and I was impressed with the way it works.
Memorable Quote:
