Shownotes
How to Work Hard & Feel Great About Your Life
Make Self Care Consistent
- Self-care is crucial because if you aren't in a good position to show up for yourself and your business, even systems you do have in place won't work because you're too exhausted to go through them properly.
- Define for yourself what self-care actually means for you. Don't look at what others consider self-care and feel you have to do it that way or it will just put more stress on yourself.
- Reconnect with the things that bring you joy. Identify what makes you happy? What lights your fire? Then figure out how to bring more of that into your day-to-day life. <-- Listen to the whole discussion to learn how to find what works for you!
- Don't think of self-care as an item on your to-do list. It's about infusing it into your lifestyle.
- Stay consistent with intentional self-care so you are replenishing yourself on a daily basis.
- How to incorporate self-care:
- Define what brings you joy
- Identify how you can add more of that into your life
- Be intentional about making it happen on a regular basis
- Know what your love language is and find ways to leverage that to reinforce yourself in your business <-- Listen to the full convo for more on this!
- Be consistent about taking care of yourself.
Create Efficient Systems
- Automate things as much as possible. Leverage automation to make the systems in your business as efficient as they can be.
- Documentation in any business is your best friend. It will help you scale that business. People you bring to the team will know what their role is and what they’ll be doing. It cuts down training time.
- Automate collecting testimonials or feedback from your clients. It’s also increased social proof you can use out for your marketing,
- Simple automation ideas to get you started:
- Order emails such as receipts and follow-ups Hdo not need to be manually done each time. Use your email marketing system to automate these types of emails.
- Offboarding a client - instead of writing a handwritten thank you note, use a service like Handwrytten.
- Where else can you create systems to automate repetitive tasks to free up your time and brainpower for other things?
- Celebrate the progress you make and just keep going. It's progress, not perfection.
Resources Mentioned
- ep 326 – A Classy Way to Nurture Customer Relationships
- The 5 Love Languages
- Gift Biz Unwrapped Shop
La'Vista's Contact Links
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Gift biz unwrapped episode 351,
Speaker:Reconnecting with the things that bring you joy attentive.
Speaker:Gifters bakers,
Speaker:crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.
Speaker:Whether you have an established business or looking to start one.
Speaker:Now you are in the right place.
Speaker:This is gift to biz on wrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode,
Speaker:packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow.
Speaker:Your gift biz here is your host gift biz gal,
Speaker:Sue moon Heights.
Speaker:The new year 2022,
Speaker:the kids came home for Christmas and now have gone back
Speaker:to Colorado for their new year's festivities.
Speaker:And another round of family arrived on our doorstep a couple
Speaker:of days ago.
Speaker:That's what the holidays are all about,
Speaker:right? Friends and family.
Speaker:And I love it.
Speaker:We decided to have a nice,
Speaker:cozy new year celebration at home this year,
Speaker:hanging out in the kitchen,
Speaker:cooking a special meal,
Speaker:and then relaxing by the fireplace,
Speaker:anticipating the countdown.
Speaker:Then as midnight drew near,
Speaker:of course the noisemakers and hats came out along with the
Speaker:bubbly. Now I know I'm painting the perfect picture here and
Speaker:that there are many people dealing with all sorts of health,
Speaker:financial and relationship challenges,
Speaker:and the holidays only accentuate that if that's you,
Speaker:I want you to know.
Speaker:I recognize and I see you.
Speaker:And although I consider myself very blessed,
Speaker:my perfect picture has its own blemishes.
Speaker:I can't think of one person in my life who can
Speaker:say that everything is the best it could possibly ever be,
Speaker:nor can we ever,
Speaker:I just choose not to highlight or focus on the hard
Speaker:and disappointing things unless they're relevant to a topic we're discussing
Speaker:here. It's not that I'm covering them up.
Speaker:It's just where I choose to focus my energy on the
Speaker:positive things.
Speaker:So they shine brighter than the others.
Speaker:If you're struggling with something in your life,
Speaker:I hope you find that this podcast and my coordinating community
Speaker:gift biz breeze to be a welcoming,
Speaker:supportive, and inclusive place to help you navigate your way.
Speaker:And with that,
Speaker:as we look forward into the new year,
Speaker:I searched for a guest who could bring us a message
Speaker:on how to be better and advocate for ourselves as my
Speaker:husband would say,
Speaker:be your own best friend.
Speaker:So today's talk is about the future,
Speaker:including specific actions you can take to support and show love
Speaker:to yourself because you deserve it.
Speaker:You'll hear ways to be happier and bring more joy to
Speaker:your days.
Speaker:A new way of being in 2002.
Speaker:If you will now,
Speaker:doesn't that sound exciting and something to look forward to Happy
Speaker:new year,
Speaker:2022, and welcome to the first episode of the podcast for
Speaker:the year.
Speaker:I have the perfect guest for you.
Speaker:It's Lavista Jones.
Speaker:Lavista is the founder and CEO of 31 marketplace.
Speaker:An agency that helps overworked solo preneurs,
Speaker:do what they love without sacrificing themselves and experiencing burnout.
Speaker:She accomplishes this by blending systemization and self care topics that
Speaker:she and her guest speaker candidly about on her podcast.
Speaker:Boss, talk as the burned out survivor herself,
Speaker:Lavista is leading a movement of entrepreneurs who want more from
Speaker:life than frazzled days and sleepless nights,
Speaker:her unique approach to blending strategy implementation and holding space for
Speaker:a moment to breathe helps each client cultivate their own culture
Speaker:of work life balance.
Speaker:We need you so badly.
Speaker:Welcome to the gift biz on wrapped podcasts.
Speaker:Oh, I am so excited to be here.
Speaker:Thank you for having me.
Speaker:I am,
Speaker:like I said before,
Speaker:so thrilled that you're here,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:a new year brings this anticipation of the ability and the
Speaker:opportunity to do things differently.
Speaker:And that's the conversation that I'm looking forward to getting into
Speaker:with you today.
Speaker:But before we do,
Speaker:I have to do something because some traditions don't go away
Speaker:with the new year is our motivational candle.
Speaker:So if you were to shed a little more light on
Speaker:who you are share with us,
Speaker:what a motivational candle of yours would look like.
Speaker:Awesome. Yes,
Speaker:I definitely will get into that and happy new year to
Speaker:everyone who is listening.
Speaker:So my candle would be housed in this teal Aqua colored
Speaker:glass container would definitely have a wooden stick,
Speaker:kind of a wick in the candle from an aroma standpoint
Speaker:would have hints of lavender.
Speaker:And Teakwood because I find both of those very relaxing and
Speaker:would also contain dried flowers,
Speaker:the type that have those at the very top of the
Speaker:candle, because I like a little extra and pretty much everything.
Speaker:And so that includes my candles as well.
Speaker:So from an appearance in kind of smell kind of standpoint,
Speaker:that's what that would be for me.
Speaker:I can smell it and feel it and visualize it already.
Speaker:So do you have a quote or some type of saying
Speaker:on the candle?
Speaker:Yes. I would want it to say reignite and take a
Speaker:moment to breathe And tell me what that means.
Speaker:Well, for me,
Speaker:it's actually a self care ritual that I just incorporate into
Speaker:my day-to-day when I'm running my business,
Speaker:I burn what I call my work candle.
Speaker:And so at the top of my Workday,
Speaker:I light the candle.
Speaker:And so then while it is burning,
Speaker:I am doing my work.
Speaker:And when my day ends,
Speaker:I ritually blow that candle out and I walk away from
Speaker:my office and I walk away from the work and I
Speaker:leave it there until I come back the next morning.
Speaker:And so what that message would be for me is to
Speaker:just reignite the passion that I have for the work that
Speaker:I do,
Speaker:but starting it with like just settling myself,
Speaker:taking a moment to breathe,
Speaker:focusing on just making sure that I'm okay first and then
Speaker:actually serving those that I serve in the marketplace.
Speaker:So doing a self check for yourself first,
Speaker:just like how they say on the airlines with the oxygen
Speaker:masks, you've got to put yours on first,
Speaker:before you can help anybody else.
Speaker:You have to be filled up to be able to offer
Speaker:and serve your audience regardless of whoever that is.
Speaker:Yep. Absolutely.
Speaker:So Lavista,
Speaker:do you really have a candle in your workspace?
Speaker:Like real physical candle?
Speaker:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker:Everyday. Oh my gosh.
Speaker:I love you.
Speaker:I am so all about candles and I do that also.
Speaker:I can't do it in my office.
Speaker:That's outside of my house because of fire code restrictions.
Speaker:But when I'm working at home,
Speaker:you better believe I have those candles going,
Speaker:but I'm going to think about that a little bit now,
Speaker:like have a work candle mentality when I was hearing what
Speaker:you were talking about,
Speaker:gives us distinct marker in time when you're stopping your day,
Speaker:when you blow out that work candle,
Speaker:right. It's kind of like closing the door to your office
Speaker:or driving home,
Speaker:whatever it would be,
Speaker:but so do candles then for you always link to work
Speaker:or when you go into the kitchen or the living room,
Speaker:can you light other candles?
Speaker:Yeah, I have candles throughout the house.
Speaker:I have candles in my bathroom downstairs in the kitchen and
Speaker:our living room just to kind of set the atmosphere for
Speaker:those particular rooms,
Speaker:the mood that I'm trying to set.
Speaker:I just find the one that I dub,
Speaker:like my work handle.
Speaker:It's one that just kind of helps me kind of set
Speaker:the tone for my Workday.
Speaker:I do work from home.
Speaker:So my office is at home and my husband is also
Speaker:an entrepreneur works from home and we have a young son
Speaker:and like many people in 2020,
Speaker:he was doing virtual learning,
Speaker:which was quite interesting.
Speaker:And so then I've been doing it for a while though,
Speaker:but it's just one of those ways to just kind of
Speaker:signify that for this space.
Speaker:This is where I work.
Speaker:This is the start of my day and this is how
Speaker:I ended.
Speaker:Right. And so it's even one of those signals for my
Speaker:family that when they come in and that candle is lit,
Speaker:like my focus is on work.
Speaker:And then when that candle,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I blow that out.
Speaker:Like I am wife,
Speaker:I am mom.
Speaker:Like they know that my focus is on them because I've
Speaker:been able to focus on what it is I need to
Speaker:do in the marketplace.
Speaker:And now I'm able to focus on being with them and
Speaker:being present with them.
Speaker:So it's just the physical ritual that I just do in
Speaker:the office,
Speaker:but I have candles everywhere.
Speaker:Well, I'm glad about that.
Speaker:Cause I would be really sad if you couldn't have candles
Speaker:except for work.
Speaker:So that's good.
Speaker:I also liked the idea of the symbolism there.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:it's a mental state,
Speaker:obviously too,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:blowing that one out.
Speaker:So you're done,
Speaker:you're kind of closing the book on the day,
Speaker:but then also just for everyone else to know,
Speaker:if that candles lit,
Speaker:mama's still working,
Speaker:I gotta be quiet and respectful for a short time longer.
Speaker:I like that.
Speaker:Do you use symbols like that throughout your business and what
Speaker:you teach?
Speaker:I don't know if they're all quite that tactical,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:I do try to help my clients infuse,
Speaker:like their day-to-day with simple things like that to incorporate their
Speaker:self-care. I know for me,
Speaker:I like candles.
Speaker:Like I like the way that they make me feel.
Speaker:I like the smell.
Speaker:I like the sound of like hearing that fire crackle right.
Speaker:Of like the WIC.
Speaker:So it's just kind of everything about them was kind of
Speaker:sets like a mood for me and just kind of makes
Speaker:me happy.
Speaker:And so it's that little spark of joy that just having
Speaker:a candle around me creates,
Speaker:it was like,
Speaker:of course I needed to incorporate that into like my work
Speaker:day so that I'm bringing that joy into my work.
Speaker:And so it's things like that,
Speaker:that I try to help my clients focus on like,
Speaker:okay, what is it that you like,
Speaker:what is it that brings you joy?
Speaker:How do we actually bake that into the systems that we're
Speaker:creating for you?
Speaker:So that this business that you're creating actually nurtures you instead
Speaker:of is one that is draining of you and your energy.
Speaker:Yeah. We all need that.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:this is why I wanted to bring you onto the show
Speaker:this particular day,
Speaker:a day of celebration.
Speaker:So that's why I wanted to do more of the lighthearted
Speaker:candle talk to calm.
Speaker:We all probably had a really fun crazy night last night.
Speaker:So now we're just going to ease into this new year
Speaker:and set the stage for a really fabulous,
Speaker:great, productive,
Speaker:happy, and self-empowering year.
Speaker:Share with me how you decided that this would be the
Speaker:focus of your work.
Speaker:Where did this all begin?
Speaker:Well, I would have to say it started,
Speaker:I think with my own burnout experience.
Speaker:So I often refer to my time in corporate is like
Speaker:my other lifetime.
Speaker:Cause it does seem like a lifetime ago when I resigned
Speaker:from my career that I had in corporate America.
Speaker:And when I talk about it,
Speaker:it's one of those things like,
Speaker:Hey, when you think about a relationship,
Speaker:it was complicated because I loved the work that I did.
Speaker:I really enjoyed my job.
Speaker:But in hindsight,
Speaker:I realized that I had a lot of lack of boundaries
Speaker:in that position.
Speaker:Especially around my time,
Speaker:the job required me to do a lot of travel.
Speaker:So being away from my husband,
Speaker:we didn't have our son at the time.
Speaker:And he would joke because I would be gone so much
Speaker:that my salary was like my spousal support.
Speaker:Cause he would only see me on the weekends and it's
Speaker:like, okay,
Speaker:yeah, this is spousal support for you being gone all the
Speaker:time. And so it's like,
Speaker:okay, you know,
Speaker:I can remember us having a family vacation.
Speaker:He and I in Maui for a week and literally flying
Speaker:back in to Phoenix that morning and going back to our
Speaker:home, me unpacking,
Speaker:doing a little laundry repacking and having him take me right
Speaker:back to the airport so I could fly to Atlanta for
Speaker:work the next morning.
Speaker:And so it was like,
Speaker:that was just kind of the pace that I kept in
Speaker:that position.
Speaker:And I ignored those whispers that my body was giving me
Speaker:like, Hey,
Speaker:you're tired.
Speaker:You need to rest.
Speaker:You need to eat,
Speaker:you need to do these things.
Speaker:And then eventually like that cosmic two by four,
Speaker:just kind of smacked me.
Speaker:It was like,
Speaker:okay, we're done.
Speaker:And I found myself actually having like in the midst of
Speaker:like a panic attack,
Speaker:like on the 2 0 2 driving into the office,
Speaker:because like I said,
Speaker:I have ignored all of these other signs,
Speaker:like having like this headache that wouldn't go away,
Speaker:feeling super tired all the time and couldn't get rested,
Speaker:starting to feel emotional when I would get feedback from my
Speaker:boss, not malicious feedback,
Speaker:just like,
Speaker:Hey, we need to change this in the presentation.
Speaker:And I would go outside and like bawl crying and would
Speaker:even be thinking to myself that Tom Hanks movie,
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:there's no crying in baseball.
Speaker:And I was like,
Speaker:what is wrong with you?
Speaker:Like, why are you getting so upset by this?
Speaker:And so it's like,
Speaker:things just kind of escalated because I was ignoring all of
Speaker:those signs that my body was telling me.
Speaker:And so when I finally decided to resign from that position
Speaker:and go back into the marketplace,
Speaker:working with private clients,
Speaker:I recognize a lot of clients I was working with had
Speaker:a lot of those same behaviors that I had in corporate
Speaker:staying up and working until three,
Speaker:four o'clock in the morning,
Speaker:sometimes pulling all-nighters being available whenever somebody wanted to get on
Speaker:their calendar.
Speaker:A lot of those things that were boundary issues for me,
Speaker:I was seeing in the marketplace among entrepreneurs that I was
Speaker:working with and it was like,
Speaker:oh, okay.
Speaker:Like I know from personal experience that if they continue working
Speaker:at this pace,
Speaker:that they're on like a one way journey to burn out.
Speaker:And it was like,
Speaker:I couldn't stand by and continue to watch other people take
Speaker:that path.
Speaker:And so it's like,
Speaker:all right,
Speaker:let's work on not only making your business efficient,
Speaker:but let's also work on how you're going to take care
Speaker:of yourself while you're doing it.
Speaker:Because I do firmly believe that each of us has the
Speaker:capacity to not only fulfill our vision in the marketplace,
Speaker:but take care of us as visionary as well.
Speaker:And so that,
Speaker:I think my own experience of that burnout is what really
Speaker:led me to doing the work that I do.
Speaker:Now. Would you say,
Speaker:Say that women have a higher propensity to suffering from this
Speaker:because we always feel like we need to help a be
Speaker:there assist any time.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I don't have the stats to back it up,
Speaker:but intuitively I would say yes,
Speaker:I feel like we have the tendency to feel like we
Speaker:need to do all of the things.
Speaker:And it's like,
Speaker:well, no,
Speaker:no, no,
Speaker:no, I'm fine.
Speaker:I don't need help.
Speaker:I can do what I can do.
Speaker:Right. And we just kind of take on and take on
Speaker:and give and give and give.
Speaker:And I think that's in any role that we're in,
Speaker:right. Motherhood being a wife partner,
Speaker:whatever the case may be.
Speaker:And I think that also carries over into what you do
Speaker:in the business,
Speaker:because I think that most of us are coming from a
Speaker:place of service and wanting to serve our clients.
Speaker:And it's like,
Speaker:we just give and give and give and we just get
Speaker:further and further and further down on that priority list.
Speaker:And we don't always necessarily take great care of ourselves.
Speaker:Yeah, it's so true.
Speaker:And what we think is a strong position.
Speaker:So we're going to be better,
Speaker:greater, more successful is actually the reverse.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I've suffered from it myself.
Speaker:And even in the past,
Speaker:I'll say I'm staying at the office till six o'clock cause
Speaker:I need to get this project done.
Speaker:And now I've started learning,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:Sue, if you're going round and round in circles with this
Speaker:stop, and then the next morning I'll come in and I
Speaker:can do it in like five minutes,
Speaker:it's over because I've refreshed myself.
Speaker:But identifying those places where you need to stop or you
Speaker:need refueling or you're no longer being effective is sometimes hard
Speaker:to identify.
Speaker:Yes. But so I think this is a great place to
Speaker:go with this conversation because we want to set everybody up
Speaker:for this year,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:different types of things that we can be doing better,
Speaker:I guess.
Speaker:And I hesitate to say better,
Speaker:but different in a better way for us in terms of
Speaker:being able to achieve more potentially in less time,
Speaker:but with better results and then also taking care of ourselves
Speaker:too. So does it make sense for us to talk about
Speaker:these two buckets separately?
Speaker:So being efficient and then also self-care would you make those
Speaker:separate or should we talk about them together?
Speaker:I think that we can do either.
Speaker:I think it's easier to kind of wrap your mind around
Speaker:the concepts sometimes when they're talked about separately.
Speaker:And then I think that when you have the separate conversations,
Speaker:then maybe you can start making those bridges to how those
Speaker:two things intersect and are married to each other.
Speaker:If that makes sense.
Speaker:Okay, let's do it.
Speaker:So I would like to start with self care because as
Speaker:we've just been talking,
Speaker:if you aren't in a good position to show up for
Speaker:yourself and your business,
Speaker:any systems or anything you have in place,
Speaker:isn't going to work because you're just too exhausted to even
Speaker:go through them properly.
Speaker:I'm thinking,
Speaker:so let's talk about self care.
Speaker:If we have a propensity already to want to please everybody,
Speaker:and a lot of listeners have full-time jobs.
Speaker:So it's not just our own requirements,
Speaker:but it's people who are employing us,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:different people have different situations,
Speaker:but how do you start tackling this?
Speaker:I think the first place is to make sure that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:your own definition of self care.
Speaker:I think that if we get our definition from other places,
Speaker:like, you know,
Speaker:looking on social media,
Speaker:it's just like,
Speaker:oh, my self care has to look this way.
Speaker:And I think then that just adds to like the guilt
Speaker:and like the negative self-talk that we have,
Speaker:because it's like,
Speaker:oh, I'm clearly not doing self-care correctly because I'm not doing
Speaker:it like this.
Speaker:So I think that that's where we all have to start
Speaker:with. What does self-care actually mean for me and doing that
Speaker:self reflection,
Speaker:you might be sitting there thinking like,
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:I have no idea what self-care looks like for me.
Speaker:And so then I would say it's reconnecting with the things
Speaker:that bring you joy.
Speaker:So I typically take clients through the exercise of thinking about
Speaker:the things that like make you happy.
Speaker:And it might be things that you haven't done in a
Speaker:long time,
Speaker:because as we get older and we develop significant relationships and
Speaker:we have more things that are pulling for our time,
Speaker:like jobs and community ministries,
Speaker:like all of those things,
Speaker:we start losing little pieces of ourselves along the way and
Speaker:things that like,
Speaker:just make us happy.
Speaker:Maybe you really like crosswords,
Speaker:but you haven't picked up a crossword to do that in
Speaker:like a decade,
Speaker:right? Maybe you are big into puzzles.
Speaker:Maybe you really enjoy walking and feeling the sunshine on your
Speaker:skin. Like all of those things are self care simply because
Speaker:they bring sparks of joy into your life.
Speaker:And so it's like,
Speaker:once you define like what self care looks like for you
Speaker:then it's what are those things that bring me joy and
Speaker:how do I get more of it into just my every
Speaker:single day.
Speaker:Right? Because your self care,
Speaker:it's not something that is on a to-do list for you
Speaker:to check off like,
Speaker:okay, I did this,
Speaker:I took care of myself.
Speaker:Self-care done.
Speaker:And you like move on to the next thing,
Speaker:like, okay,
Speaker:newsletter done.
Speaker:It really is more about how do you infuse it and
Speaker:make it your lifestyle.
Speaker:So Luby stuff.
Speaker:Is it a combination more or less of things that you
Speaker:do and then how they make you feel?
Speaker:So it's not that self care.
Speaker:Like one of the things I've tried a million times over
Speaker:and over again is meditation because everyone tells me how good
Speaker:it is for you,
Speaker:et cetera,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:I can't do it.
Speaker:So to myself and like,
Speaker:Sue, you're not taking care of yourself,
Speaker:you're not meditating.
Speaker:But then when I even try,
Speaker:it's like,
Speaker:why am I doing this?
Speaker:I hate this.
Speaker:It's so frustrating.
Speaker:And so even though the doing might be on a good
Speaker:self-care list,
Speaker:the fueling for me isn't there.
Speaker:So I should just not bother with that until I decide
Speaker:at some point to try it again,
Speaker:if I ever did.
Speaker:Right. So it's the two things together.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:And I think that,
Speaker:that goes back to defining it for yourself.
Speaker:Right? Like I remember having a client and we were talking
Speaker:about her self care and she was doing regular massages.
Speaker:I think she was going to get a massage was like
Speaker:every three weeks.
Speaker:And so we were kind of talking about that and we
Speaker:were also talking about like her love languages and like how
Speaker:she's just naturally wired right in that way.
Speaker:And so I'd like for my clients,
Speaker:look at their self care through that lens of their love
Speaker:languages. And one of the things we realized was like,
Speaker:her physical touch was like on a two out of like
Speaker:a scale.
Speaker:I think of like a one to 12,
Speaker:she was like a two on physical touch.
Speaker:Meaning she doesn't like people touching her.
Speaker:And so then it was like,
Speaker:okay, there's a disconnect here.
Speaker:Like, so why are you going and getting massages?
Speaker:And she was like,
Speaker:because that's what self care is.
Speaker:And it's like the who told you that?
Speaker:Yeah. Massages are great for me.
Speaker:Like, I love a massage,
Speaker:but if you don't like people touching you that can't be
Speaker:your definition of self care.
Speaker:Like she hated them.
Speaker:And so when she would get out of the massage appointment,
Speaker:she would actually feel worse than she did when she went
Speaker:in. Because the whole time she's there she's tense because she's
Speaker:got this stranger,
Speaker:who's touching her.
Speaker:And so it was like,
Speaker:okay, that's not on your sock.
Speaker:Careless. Like,
Speaker:what does self-care mean to you?
Speaker:And we found out she really liked to paint.
Speaker:And so instead of doing massages,
Speaker:she would take the time to like,
Speaker:okay, I'm going to take a break from this in my
Speaker:day and go set up my easel and put some paint
Speaker:on canvas.
Speaker:And it was totally a game changer for her because that
Speaker:was something that brought her unique joy.
Speaker:This makes so much sense.
Speaker:So there is no list that you should be going to
Speaker:that say,
Speaker:this is self-care,
Speaker:this is self Karen,
Speaker:go through and pick the ones it is.
Speaker:It all has to do with what brings you joy?
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it sounds so simple,
Speaker:but I don't think we give ourselves permission to do those
Speaker:things. You had mentioned puzzles.
Speaker:I love puzzles.
Speaker:Like I asked my family this year for a huge,
Speaker:big, really nice puzzle.
Speaker:Not big size-wise necessarily,
Speaker:but big cost-wise because it's those really fun wooden puzzles with,
Speaker:anyway, I'm getting off on a tangent,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:at first I might,
Speaker:why would I do that?
Speaker:Like, I'm not 10 years old,
Speaker:but I love them.
Speaker:They make me happy.
Speaker:So that's self-care then That is self care.
Speaker:I think in its simplest purest form.
Speaker:I think that when we adhere to like,
Speaker:okay, self-care has to be a 90 minute massage and like
Speaker:a full day at a spa.
Speaker:Like for some people that is what it is.
Speaker:But for others,
Speaker:it's just like,
Speaker:yeah, I don't want to be touched.
Speaker:I don't want to be sitting in like,
Speaker:I hate taking baths.
Speaker:Like I don't want a bubble bath.
Speaker:And if that's like the prescription,
Speaker:right. That's out there.
Speaker:It's like,
Speaker:well, I suck at self-care because I don't do that because
Speaker:I don't enjoy them.
Speaker:And it's like,
Speaker:all right,
Speaker:like what do you enjoy?
Speaker:What does light your fire?
Speaker:What does bring you joy?
Speaker:I think that lists are okay if you're looking for ideas,
Speaker:right? Like,
Speaker:I don't know what I like to do.
Speaker:Well, try it right where you brought up the idea of
Speaker:meditation, you've tried.
Speaker:It, it doesn't seem to really fit with you.
Speaker:Like you don't seem to resonate with it.
Speaker:And it's like,
Speaker:okay, I've tried it.
Speaker:And I,
Speaker:now I know like that's not for me.
Speaker:And so then it's like,
Speaker:well maybe there's something else on one of these lists that
Speaker:I have found that will spark that joy in my life.
Speaker:So I think that lists have their place,
Speaker:but I don't think that you're going to find like a
Speaker:cookie cutter approach just from a list of like you find
Speaker:on Pinterest,
Speaker:like, oh,
Speaker:here it is.
Speaker:These are my things.
Speaker:This is what I'm going to do because you're an individual
Speaker:and it's gotta be something that just like lights you up.
Speaker:You were like,
Speaker:Hey, I like puzzles,
Speaker:but I'm not 10.
Speaker:Why should I be doing this?
Speaker:Because it makes you happy.
Speaker:Right. And I think,
Speaker:you know what you're saying?
Speaker:And this is perfect is our own definition.
Speaker:And it has to make us feel good.
Speaker:And there's no judgment about whatever that is.
Speaker:You don't even have to tell anybody what else you're doing
Speaker:for self care,
Speaker:whatever that is for you.
Speaker:It's fake if you're doing it because everyone else is telling
Speaker:you, you should do it.
Speaker:And you're not getting that emotional growth or rejuvenation from it,
Speaker:but it has to be pure or it's not even worth
Speaker:doing in the first place.
Speaker:So you're giving us permission to find whatever makes us happy.
Speaker:That's legal,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:any of those things,
Speaker:right. And no judgment on what it is.
Speaker:It's only for you.
Speaker:So I think that's freeing right there.
Speaker:This is a great start to the Year for yourself in
Speaker:the new year.
Speaker:Yes. Okay.
Speaker:So I've got a few things now that fit the category.
Speaker:I have some activities.
Speaker:What happens next with self care?
Speaker:We're going to pick up this conversation right after we hear
Speaker:from Nancy at the ribbon print company.
Speaker:Hi, I'm Nancy.
Speaker:I get to work with all the beautiful colors of ribbon.
Speaker:As I pick impact customer orders for the ribbon print company,
Speaker:our ribbon printing systems include the software printer and everything.
Speaker:You need to start printing ribbon right away in your shop
Speaker:or craft studio.
Speaker:And when you need new colors or sizes of ribbon or
Speaker:ink, we call them foils where just an order away.
Speaker:My favorite thing is when I'm filling an order and everything
Speaker:fits in the box perfectly,
Speaker:really. I don't know why,
Speaker:but it's so rewarding.
Speaker:Kind of like how our customers feel when they print personalized
Speaker:ribbons and see the reaction on the faces of their customers,
Speaker:pure happiness and surprise.
Speaker:Besides the more obvious uses for customer driven,
Speaker:I'm seeing it used for sashes party,
Speaker:decor and bookmarks.
Speaker:There really is no limit to its application in our small
Speaker:town. The main street is lined with ribbon.
Speaker:The city requested saying,
Speaker:stand strong.
Speaker:And we're in this together.
Speaker:Our high school also used ribbon to motivate the students.
Speaker:When we had Jason Brown competing in the Olympics,
Speaker:it's a joy to be surrounded by something that can provide
Speaker:motivation, enjoyed others,
Speaker:to learn more and see the ribbon printer and action.
Speaker:Go over to the ribbon print company.com.
Speaker:Do it.
Speaker:You have to be consistent with doing it.
Speaker:I am a firm believer that your self care,
Speaker:it doesn't have to be complicated or expensive,
Speaker:but it's got to be intentional.
Speaker:And so it's like,
Speaker:that's where the lifestyle starts to come in.
Speaker:How do you incorporate that into your day today?
Speaker:How do you do more of the puzzles?
Speaker:Like do you intentionally take 15 minute break in the morning
Speaker:and go sit at the table and put a few pieces
Speaker:together? Is that how you break during the day?
Speaker:If it is walking,
Speaker:maybe when you take lunch,
Speaker:even if you're in corporate,
Speaker:right. Working for somebody else,
Speaker:if you enjoy like being out in the sunshine makes you
Speaker:happy, go for a walk under lunch,
Speaker:or go sit outside,
Speaker:go eat your lunch outside,
Speaker:get in that sun,
Speaker:put your feet in the grass.
Speaker:I guarantee you,
Speaker:it will be a game changer for you.
Speaker:And you'll feel so much better when you go back to
Speaker:doing what you were doing before.
Speaker:So it really is defining it,
Speaker:understanding those things that bring you the joy and then how
Speaker:do you incorporate it?
Speaker:How do you get more of that in your life and
Speaker:be intentional about doing it?
Speaker:Yeah. Make a space in your life to do it,
Speaker:or it just won't ever get done.
Speaker:Exactly. So what do we do if let's go to puzzles
Speaker:and this is not my case,
Speaker:so I'm not going to say it,
Speaker:but it,
Speaker:but since we're talking puzzles,
Speaker:what if that's something that someone likes to do and their
Speaker:husband's like,
Speaker:that is the stupidest thing.
Speaker:Why are you doing that?
Speaker:We need the laundry done.
Speaker:Why are you doing puzzles?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I think that it's a conversation it's definitely needed.
Speaker:Right? I would hope that the people that you're surrounded by
Speaker:support you recharging yourself and taking care of yourself and maybe
Speaker:they just don't understand that that's what that is.
Speaker:Right. And so just helping to kind of reframe what that
Speaker:activity or what that ritual is,
Speaker:what it actually means to you,
Speaker:what it's doing for you,
Speaker:how it's making you feel better.
Speaker:Because I think that if those around you understand the why
Speaker:a little bit better,
Speaker:I think that the support might come as well.
Speaker:And it's like,
Speaker:oh, okay.
Speaker:Like, yeah,
Speaker:the laundry will be there.
Speaker:Right? But my wife needs this 15 minutes to work on
Speaker:her jigsaw puzzle.
Speaker:And by doing so she's actually going to show up as
Speaker:a better wife or as a better spouse or life partner
Speaker:or parent or business owner,
Speaker:like all of the above,
Speaker:because her battery has been able to be recharged.
Speaker:So I think that if that is the feedback,
Speaker:then I think it warrants having a conversation like,
Speaker:Hey, this is why I'm doing this.
Speaker:This is how it makes me feel supported.
Speaker:This is how it makes me feel better because people seem
Speaker:to get on board a little bit better when they understand
Speaker:the why behind something We're not asking for acceptance,
Speaker:we're providing an explanation is I think the way I'm receiving
Speaker:what you're saying,
Speaker:because I could see a whole bunch of us after this
Speaker:conversation going out and doing some things and incorporating them in
Speaker:to our home with family,
Speaker:viewing it,
Speaker:being like his mom going crazy,
Speaker:no world is she doing?
Speaker:Or if someone does like going to get massages,
Speaker:but never has allowed herself to do that now saying,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:Yeah, this is for me.
Speaker:And this is a form of self care.
Speaker:And I am going to spend some money doing this,
Speaker:but we're not looking for approval.
Speaker:We're looking to explain why this is important.
Speaker:And then what the value is,
Speaker:if someone's questioning again to the fact that we're always people
Speaker:pleasers, it's a generalization,
Speaker:but I'm going to say it that way,
Speaker:that there might need to be a conversation.
Speaker:So people understand what you're doing because we're looking at having
Speaker:you change so that you have a more solid,
Speaker:strong, healthy,
Speaker:effective life for this year.
Speaker:So those changes might be noticed.
Speaker:And you don't back off.
Speaker:If someone asks a question about it,
Speaker:you explain why you're doing what you're doing.
Speaker:Exactly. Yes.
Speaker:Okay. Love that.
Speaker:Anything else in the self care category that we should cover?
Speaker:I think that if you're doing those things,
Speaker:I think that you are on a really good path to
Speaker:taking care of yourself in a way that is unique to
Speaker:you in a way that you can be consistent so that
Speaker:you are replenishing yourself on just a daily,
Speaker:ongoing basis.
Speaker:And I'm also thinking some of this might change over time,
Speaker:too. What you're enjoying doing right now,
Speaker:you might switch it out by season or just when the
Speaker:mood strikes you to do something differently.
Speaker:But the point is to fit something like this into your
Speaker:life, as you can.
Speaker:And I'm even thinking like when I'm at home,
Speaker:this is just so crazy,
Speaker:but I just get such joy out of a fresh mug
Speaker:of coffee and lighting my candle when I sit down and
Speaker:start working at my desk.
Speaker:And so I feel like that self care,
Speaker:because for absolutely no reason,
Speaker:I just feel so good about it.
Speaker:Yeah. And I would agree with you than it is.
Speaker:And I think that the key for that is acknowledging it
Speaker:and celebrating it.
Speaker:Right. Because I think that we have such grandiose ideas about
Speaker:what self-care has to be,
Speaker:what it's supposed to be.
Speaker:Okay. Like my self care has got to be like this
Speaker:two week vacation to Greece and you know what,
Speaker:Hey, if it's on the budget and you want to go
Speaker:to Greece,
Speaker:go, but think about it though.
Speaker:That's like a one time they cation.
Speaker:Like that's probably not going to sustain you for an entire
Speaker:year, but sitting down for a few minutes,
Speaker:lighting a candle and drinking a cup of coffee out of
Speaker:your favorite mud.
Speaker:That's something you do every day.
Speaker:Like you're literally pouring joy into your own soul every day
Speaker:by doing those things.
Speaker:Ooh, that's a great one.
Speaker:That's a quote for you,
Speaker:Libby sta I love that.
Speaker:Okay, beautiful.
Speaker:So we've had a great conversation about self care.
Speaker:I want everybody listening to really think through what that is
Speaker:for you and start integrating it into your day if you
Speaker:aren't already.
Speaker:And if you are taking a little bit of time to
Speaker:recognize and celebrate that for yourself and not just for today,
Speaker:but as we move on throughout the year,
Speaker:and by doing these things,
Speaker:I'm thinking lovey stud,
Speaker:that we are going to show up as our best self.
Speaker:When we get into our workspace and start serving our customers,
Speaker:Confident that anybody who is doing that on a regular consistent
Speaker:basis will most definitely show up better for themselves,
Speaker:their family and the,
Speaker:And stay healthy and all of that.
Speaker:But we still have the issue that we have a lot
Speaker:of work to do during the day.
Speaker:And especially as handmade creators,
Speaker:a major percentage of the people who are listening are the
Speaker:makers too.
Speaker:So you've got that added layer of selling,
Speaker:making business owner.
Speaker:If you're a solopreneur,
Speaker:you're shipping your marketing,
Speaker:like all the things.
Speaker:So how do we bring that into a more efficient system
Speaker:as we're looking at improving what we're doing throughout our life
Speaker:for this year?
Speaker:I guess one of the things that I would share is
Speaker:just trying to automate things as much as possible.
Speaker:So I know that there are things that are just going
Speaker:to be associated with.
Speaker:Like, I need to actually literally put my hands on this
Speaker:to create this,
Speaker:to do this,
Speaker:to send this out.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:those things that has to happen in order for your business
Speaker:to fulfill the orders and continue to support your clients.
Speaker:But I would say that if there's anything within those processes
Speaker:that doesn't actually required you to manually do something or take
Speaker:care of it yourself,
Speaker:try to leverage automation as a teammate,
Speaker:as much as possible to make the systems in your business
Speaker:as efficient as they can be.
Speaker:Yeah. I'm thinking of a couple of things that could work
Speaker:for our community here.
Speaker:And that is email service provider,
Speaker:where you can automate some of your emails,
Speaker:like a new customer who comes on.
Speaker:You don't have to be the one writing about how do
Speaker:you like your order?
Speaker:Did everything arrive?
Speaker:Okay, whatever those types of emails are,
Speaker:that is a system.
Speaker:For Sure.
Speaker:Absolutely. There's another system which is shipping takes a little bit
Speaker:of tech work,
Speaker:but this is totally achievable.
Speaker:I don't want anyone to not think about doing this,
Speaker:but having a system like ShipStation or shipping,
Speaker:easy, where when people order from you online,
Speaker:their information is already in the system.
Speaker:So you're not having to re-type addresses or anything with the
Speaker:order other than pulling the product,
Speaker:packing it up,
Speaker:clicking and fulfilling an order.
Speaker:So those are just two examples of ways that you can
Speaker:put systems into your overall day work.
Speaker:And I would add,
Speaker:especially for the makers that are listening,
Speaker:like for offboarding or clan,
Speaker:right? Like,
Speaker:Hey, they have ordered this,
Speaker:I've created it.
Speaker:I've sent it out there,
Speaker:even tools out there.
Speaker:One that comes to mind is a tool called handwritten that
Speaker:will connect to your CRM.
Speaker:So like,
Speaker:that's where your client's information is like their name and things
Speaker:like that.
Speaker:That if you are accustomed to sending out handwritten thank you's
Speaker:or things like that,
Speaker:or you want to incorporate that.
Speaker:And you're like,
Speaker:I don't even have time to do the stuff that I'm
Speaker:doing. Let alone send somebody a note,
Speaker:thanking them for shopping with me or supporting my boutique or
Speaker:whatever the case may be.
Speaker:That kind of stuff can be sent out automatically.
Speaker:Right? Like if you kind of have a general idea of
Speaker:what a note would be,
Speaker:you set up the infrastructure between like your CRM and like
Speaker:that tool in particular handwritten and those letters go out automatically.
Speaker:So Lavista,
Speaker:you're not even going to believe this,
Speaker:but I know you're in Arizona.
Speaker:I visited David at handwritten just a couple months ago.
Speaker:And he's been on the podcast.
Speaker:Yes. I love Kendrick.
Speaker:I went out to his location,
Speaker:saw all the printers.
Speaker:And have you been out there?
Speaker:I have.
Speaker:It's amazing.
Speaker:So the next time you talk to him,
Speaker:tell him,
Speaker:Sue says,
Speaker:hi, I will.
Speaker:But yeah,
Speaker:we were out there.
Speaker:We did a whole demo.
Speaker:I did some lives,
Speaker:like I said,
Speaker:he's been on the show just back.
Speaker:I want to say it was about end of July sometime,
Speaker:but that is amazing.
Speaker:That is such a fun business.
Speaker:I love it.
Speaker:It's so funny that you brought that up.
Speaker:It's such a time saver in such a personal touch to
Speaker:any business,
Speaker:even though like my business is service space,
Speaker:right? Like I'm not making anything for a client,
Speaker:but that's still a personal touch that I like to add,
Speaker:but it's automated and it's consistent.
Speaker:And so it's like every single client that I work with
Speaker:is going to get this from me and it's repetitive,
Speaker:but it's not something that I have to manually do every
Speaker:single time.
Speaker:Right. I'm thinking of other things within our days that we
Speaker:can do.
Speaker:And one of the things that comes to mind is not
Speaker:all of it can always be automated,
Speaker:but you don't have to remember how to do things from
Speaker:scratch each time,
Speaker:either. I'm thinking about when I do blog posts or even
Speaker:this podcast.
Speaker:So it would be different for different people.
Speaker:But when you have a process that you do over and
Speaker:over again,
Speaker:instead of having to remember each step,
Speaker:write it down.
Speaker:So you have a structure that you can follow because that's
Speaker:a lot less brain power than remembering,
Speaker:oh, I've got to check SEO,
Speaker:oh, I've got to do this.
Speaker:Like all those different types of things.
Speaker:It could even be maybe to be even more relevant to
Speaker:our listeners when you're adding a new product to your website,
Speaker:what are those steps that you need to go through?
Speaker:Well, you take photos and you're seeing that photos with this
Speaker:filter or at this time of day is the best or
Speaker:whatever it is and all your different steps.
Speaker:Then you don't have to use the brain power to remember
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:You just follow what you've put together.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:so that's being efficient,
Speaker:right? Absolutely documentation in any business is your best friend.
Speaker:And it will help you scale that business because when it's
Speaker:time for you to start building team and bringing people on
Speaker:to maybe take on some of those roles,
Speaker:they'll know how to do it because everything is documented and
Speaker:it cuts down on your training time.
Speaker:There'll be able to just kind of come in from day
Speaker:one and follow the process that you already have laid out
Speaker:and documented.
Speaker:And it's like,
Speaker:okay, I do this,
Speaker:this, this,
Speaker:and this,
Speaker:and it's done.
Speaker:Love it.
Speaker:Excellent tip.
Speaker:Anything else we should talk about with processes and being efficient,
Speaker:I guess,
Speaker:to maybe close the bridge,
Speaker:right? From what the self care into the systems I spoke
Speaker:earlier about kind of looking at your self care through your
Speaker:lens of like your love language,
Speaker:your love languages.
Speaker:So that's work that is that's out there.
Speaker:You can go to like leveling,
Speaker:which is.com
Speaker:and figure out like what your love languages,
Speaker:if you don't already know,
Speaker:and it's figuring out how to incorporate some of those things
Speaker:like into your system.
Speaker:So an example for that might be again,
Speaker:like with your offboarding,
Speaker:we already talked about like,
Speaker:okay, here's what you can automate sending out thank yous that
Speaker:maybe you're really high on words of affirmation rate.
Speaker:And so in your physical space,
Speaker:maybe you surround your office or your workspace with quotes or
Speaker:things that motivate you.
Speaker:But what about the business that you're running?
Speaker:And so part of your offboarding,
Speaker:if words of affirmation is really high for you,
Speaker:make sure that you automate collecting testimonials or feedback from your
Speaker:clients, because what that's going to be,
Speaker:it's going to be like these little love notes that you
Speaker:are asking for from every client that you work with or
Speaker:every person that makes an order with your business.
Speaker:And that's going to be something that's going to bring you
Speaker:joy, right?
Speaker:Because you're already wired to feel a certain kind of way
Speaker:when you're affirmed with words.
Speaker:So why not have your business send those to you on
Speaker:a regular basis?
Speaker:Because how often do we ask for feedback?
Speaker:If it's not like an automatic thing,
Speaker:like you forget,
Speaker:you get busy and it's like,
Speaker:oh, I sent that two weeks ago.
Speaker:Is it too late for me to ask for feedback or
Speaker:a testimonial automated,
Speaker:have a system behind it,
Speaker:collect that information.
Speaker:And not only is it great for your business,
Speaker:you've got increased social proof that you can use out for
Speaker:your marketing,
Speaker:but it's one of those things that you're doing it in
Speaker:a way that's building a business that nurtures you because it's
Speaker:bringing you joy to get that feedback coming in.
Speaker:That is a fabulous way to think about this because continuing
Speaker:with your example,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:asking for reviews or referrals is a best practice anyway.
Speaker:But if it also helps you reinforces why you're in the
Speaker:business and what you're doing and why you put in the
Speaker:work and all of that,
Speaker:because it aligned so well with what you need with your
Speaker:love languages.
Speaker:I've never thought about it that way before.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:we, haven't really talked about love language.
Speaker:There may be some people here who don't really understand what
Speaker:that's all about.
Speaker:So let's cover that for a minute.
Speaker:So there are five of them and it really is the
Speaker:idea of like the way that you are wired to receive
Speaker:and to give love in a lot of the context of
Speaker:those conversations is often in like a romantic kind of way,
Speaker:like, oh,
Speaker:knowing your spouse's love language.
Speaker:So if they are a physical touch person,
Speaker:maybe you know that they're going to want some more snuggles,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:on the couch with you,
Speaker:because like,
Speaker:that's how they're wired to receive love or vice versa.
Speaker:If you are,
Speaker:again, words of affirmation,
Speaker:like hearing your spouse,
Speaker:tell you that you are great,
Speaker:and that you're a great spouse in,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:tell you things that are affirming to you,
Speaker:then that's going to make you feel loved from your spouse,
Speaker:my approach,
Speaker:and taking that research in that way of looking at your
Speaker:love languages focused internally,
Speaker:right? Like,
Speaker:so, okay.
Speaker:If I know what my love language is,
Speaker:how do I do things in my life and my business
Speaker:that actually speak those things to me,
Speaker:which is why,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I use the example of words of affirmation for testimonials,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:getting a testimonial from somebody that you have helped,
Speaker:or you have created something for and knowing how much they
Speaker:enjoyed it,
Speaker:or loved giving it as a gift,
Speaker:or just really appreciate it,
Speaker:your craftsmanship,
Speaker:like that's gonna make you feel good.
Speaker:And so that is more of how you leverage that love
Speaker:language in to how you're building your business to make you
Speaker:feel good when you are doing the day-to-day stuff.
Speaker:Yeah. And you know,
Speaker:we're talking love languages and business,
Speaker:but you also mentioned personal.
Speaker:I think telling people that what they've done really made you
Speaker:happy, even if it's your husband taking out the garbage or
Speaker:your child cleaning up the room or your child being very
Speaker:polite and saying,
Speaker:thank you to someone that they don't know,
Speaker:just demonstrating good behavior.
Speaker:That makes you feel good.
Speaker:You should tell them because it reinforces that behavior to them,
Speaker:which in turn makes you feel good.
Speaker:It's kind of a little circle there.
Speaker:Is there a book about love languages?
Speaker:I think There is.
Speaker:And it's actually called the five love languages.
Speaker:There you go.
Speaker:I've heard of it before.
Speaker:I don't think I've ever read it,
Speaker:but I think I'm going to now the five love languages.
Speaker:Is there like a test in there or do you just
Speaker:kind of zero in on what they are?
Speaker:Or how does that work?
Speaker:There is a test in the book itself,
Speaker:but I think that if you go out to the five
Speaker:love languages.com,
Speaker:I think there's an assessment.
Speaker:You can just take online.
Speaker:Maybe if,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:10 years ago you were like,
Speaker:okay, my love language was primarily words of affirmation and physical
Speaker:touch. It may have changed now from like the last time
Speaker:you really kind of thought about it.
Speaker:So there's an assessment that's out there that you can take
Speaker:to learn more about what love language your most dominant in
Speaker:your spouse can take it.
Speaker:Your children can take it.
Speaker:If you have a team,
Speaker:your team can take it,
Speaker:right. Because how good is it to be like a boss?
Speaker:And knowing that you have a couple of teammates that are
Speaker:words of affirmation or gifts is like their core leveling,
Speaker:which, and like,
Speaker:that's how you can like purposely talk to them,
Speaker:right? Telling them that they've done a good job,
Speaker:like, you know,
Speaker:somebody that is words of affirmation,
Speaker:giving them a thank you card or saying,
Speaker:Hey, well,
Speaker:if you said did a really great job on this project,
Speaker:or you did a really great job getting this mass order
Speaker:out and getting it out quickly,
Speaker:and the client was happy.
Speaker:Like that's going to light them up and like,
Speaker:make them feel appreciated being part of your team.
Speaker:If you've got a teammate that maybe really likes gifts,
Speaker:like gifts is their dominant love language.
Speaker:It doesn't have to be like anything super fancy,
Speaker:maybe, you know,
Speaker:their favorite coffee,
Speaker:places, Starbucks.
Speaker:And it's like,
Speaker:Hey, you know what?
Speaker:I saw you really working hard for this project that we
Speaker:were doing.
Speaker:I just wanted to give you this gift card to just
Speaker:show you how thankful I am and appreciative that you're part
Speaker:of the team.
Speaker:Like they're going to think that you were the best boss
Speaker:and slice bread.
Speaker:Right? Absolutely.
Speaker:And that not everything has to cost money either.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:it just depends.
Speaker:But the other thing that I was thinking as you were
Speaker:talking is it's gotta be their love language.
Speaker:It can't be your love language thinking they're going to appreciate
Speaker:it as much as you,
Speaker:you would appreciate it.
Speaker:Right. So,
Speaker:yeah, I mean,
Speaker:my assistant,
Speaker:I'm not good.
Speaker:This is something that I need to be better at.
Speaker:But in the summer we have a fabulous farmer's market and
Speaker:I'm usually at the office before the farmer's market opens.
Speaker:And so I don't ever really go and I'm so angry
Speaker:with myself for not doing it.
Speaker:So this is a perfect example.
Speaker:I need to fit that in next summer for sure,
Speaker:to be good to myself,
Speaker:but she will pick up tomatoes when she sees really good
Speaker:tomatoes, she'll bring them in and she'll bring them a couple.
Speaker:And she's like,
Speaker:this is for you and Michael tonight for dinner,
Speaker:I just saw them thought of you and I'll bring them
Speaker:in. And then that was so sweet,
Speaker:right? Like she's buying a million tomatoes.
Speaker:She gives us two.
Speaker:It's just nice.
Speaker:It's just those little personal touches.
Speaker:And it also,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we all can feel it.
Speaker:And there is science behind this that when you give,
Speaker:there is some reward chemically in your body,
Speaker:just for the act of giving,
Speaker:just being generous.
Speaker:Like that comes back to you too.
Speaker:So just had to throw that in there.
Speaker:Cause I was thinking about it.
Speaker:So this is fabulous.
Speaker:I just feel like what we've talked about here with identifying
Speaker:love languages,
Speaker:how to define what that means for you and then acknowledging
Speaker:how you feel and integrating that into your day.
Speaker:And then along with easing some of the work that we
Speaker:have by creating systems or documenting one or the other can
Speaker:be a way to set us up to have a different
Speaker:work-life in 20,
Speaker:22 more fulfilling life overall,
Speaker:and just set us up really well,
Speaker:to be happy,
Speaker:fulfilled, energized,
Speaker:and not burnt out.
Speaker:Yes, yes.
Speaker:And yes.
Speaker:Okay. What would you add to that or also say to
Speaker:inspire us to actually do it because you know how it
Speaker:is, you know,
Speaker:if you're a podcast listener,
Speaker:you probably listened to several podcasts,
Speaker:you get off,
Speaker:there's so much information and sometimes we never act.
Speaker:So I need some words of inspiration from you for Everybody.
Speaker:Yeah. I would say,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:incorporating all of the things that we've talked about,
Speaker:right? Systemization in the self care into your business and into
Speaker:just your day to day life.
Speaker:I guess the,
Speaker:the biggest takeaway from that would be to give yourself grace
Speaker:along that process,
Speaker:right? You're not going to come out the gate being perfect
Speaker:at all of the stuff like,
Speaker:oh, I'm going to implement 14 new systems tomorrow.
Speaker:Like that's probably not going to happen,
Speaker:but give yourself grace and celebrate the progress that you're making
Speaker:towards these things.
Speaker:If you know that there are a few systems that you
Speaker:need to put in place,
Speaker:some automation need to put in place,
Speaker:some documentation of things that you need to put in place.
Speaker:Also, you know,
Speaker:making sure that you're being consistent with taking care of yourself,
Speaker:it's progress,
Speaker:not perfection.
Speaker:It's going to be an ongoing journey as your business evolves.
Speaker:As you evolve,
Speaker:celebrate the progress that you're making and just keep going,
Speaker:give yourself grace throughout.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:Where can people go and learn more about ullevi sta Keep
Speaker:it as simple as possible?
Speaker:Well, you can find me really anywhere at Lavista to Jones.
Speaker:So my website is fluffy SAA jones.com
Speaker:on social media platforms.
Speaker:You can find me as Levisa Jones as well.
Speaker:Beautiful. Perfect.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:This has been absolutely fabulous.
Speaker:Thank you so much for your insight.
Speaker:I feel so good.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I already am thinking of a couple of things that I'm
Speaker:going to integrate in for this next year as well.
Speaker:Your advice is so spot on.
Speaker:It makes me feel light and excited about what's ahead.
Speaker:We've got a whole new year with whole new opportunity.
Speaker:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker:Lavista here is 2 20 22 for you,
Speaker:me and all of our listeners.
Speaker:Yes. Happy new year,
Speaker:Cheers to a new year with a focus on caring for
Speaker:ourselves. So we're in a better position to also serve others.
Speaker:January is a big month here at gift biz unwrapped.
Speaker:I'll be talking about why starting this Wednesday in my tips
Speaker:and talks show.
Speaker:So make sure to watch for that.
Speaker:I appreciate you spending time with me today.
Speaker:If you'd like to show support for the podcast,
Speaker:please leave a rating and review that helps the show to
Speaker:be seen by more makers.
Speaker:Here's a great review from her Royal Fontus.
Speaker:She says Susan enthusiasm for her industry is infectious and it
Speaker:helps guests get even more excited to share meaningful insights that
Speaker:can measurably help her followers.
Speaker:Conversations are deep and the time flies by.
Speaker:Thank you so much for those kind words.
Speaker:As a loyal listener,
Speaker:there are other ways to support the podcast to visit our
Speaker:brand new shop for a wide variety of gift biz paraphernalia
Speaker:like mugs,
Speaker:t-shirts water bottles and more featuring logos and quotes to inspire
Speaker:you throughout your day.
Speaker:They make great gifts and can be shipped throughout the U
Speaker:S and are available at gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash shop all proceeds,
Speaker:help offset the costs of producing this podcast and now be
Speaker:safe and well particularly tonight and all throughout our new year.
Speaker:And I'll see you again this Wednesday for a super special
Speaker:announcement. That's all happening in the next tips and talk episode
Speaker:of the gift biz unwrapped podcasts.
Speaker:I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook
Speaker:group called gift Ms.
Speaker:Breeze. It's a place where we all gather and our community
Speaker:to support each other.
Speaker:Got a really fun post in there.
Speaker:That's my favorite of the week.
Speaker:I have to say where I invite all of you to
Speaker:share what you're doing to show pictures of your product,
Speaker:to show what you're working on for the week to get
Speaker:reaction from other people and just for fun,
Speaker:because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody
Speaker:in the community is making my favorite posts every single week,
Speaker:without doubt.
Speaker:Wait, what aren't you part of the group already,
Speaker:if not make sure to jump over to Facebook and search
Speaker:for the group gift biz breeze don't delay.
