Who else feels like they are teetering on the edge? Nothing feels stable & nothing feels right as of late (okay, for a good long while now).
If you’re someone who hasn’t been affected by a layoff, an increased cost of living or a major life event… then likely this doesn’t apply to you. You can stop reading.
But for everyone else, like a pair of jeans from 5 years ago … everything we used to find comforting & fulfilling no longer fits.
And yet the universe isn’t saying “okay, make the changes you need to make - just muster up the bravery to do it and off you go” like it always has.
The universe has been saying “please god stop doing the first thing that comes to mind… try sitting on your hands and waiting for a little while”.
This waiting may require us to flex a patience muscle our capitalist selves tend to not have.
It may require us to dip into savings we really wish to keep, especially given the economic circumstances.
It may require us to re-think what is really, truly important to us. Because all of a sudden many of our resources have become more finite.
The Great Recession morphed into The Great Reset - and it’s not done yet.
The thing with big changes is they take a lot of time, no matter how you slice it. You can’t recover from a recession overnight. And you can’t reset your life’s trajectory overnight.
But you can make changes that accelerate the change. Just like how governments hike interest rates, we too have a say on the speed in which we reset our life’s trajectory.
So I write this to you with a gift, rather than (all) doom and gloom. I offer you the individual equivalent of hiking interest rates.
What is it? In short - increase your threshold of something being “worth your time”.
And not in a financial sense. In fact - considering the finances last would be supportive. More so if your friendships, work, activities do not feel worth your time… simply stop doing them.
Learn to get comfortable with the void. The in between. The fallow period. Because as we know, a garden must not be overcrowded for new things to bloom.
So clear out your overgrown garden, and take some time to plan out how you want to plant new seeds - rather than springing to plant them right away. Choose to place your pots down on top of the soil rather than plant them in, creating a temporary arrangement. And only if you like the arrangement a long a while later, plant them in permanently.
In reality, let’s say you don’t like your job in finance. You really want to explore your passion for food.
I can hear the practical “but I need money to survive, Kelly!” through the screen 😛
Well… how much do you actually need? Could you pull back your expenses, get a restaurant or catering job — and earn enough to survive for a while?
Think back a decade or so. When we were in our early twenties we managed to survive on very little. A few dollars / pounds / euros a day, if we had to. We got creative.
And guess what, you still have this creativity. Because your fixed expenses aren’t actually fixed. If you own a big home in a city… you can rent it out (for a profit!) and go rent somewhere in the countryside where that esteemed restaurant is you long to work for is.
Have kids and feel you can’t reduce expenses because of that? I bet they’d love a crazy change to a more simple life. Kids are more resilient than you think (a fact I frequently have to remind myself of). See the positives of the change, rather than the failings. Success is a feeling, and you choose how you define it.
I chose to come and write about this because what I’m feeling is that we are going to be biting your nails for the next few years. And we will be nail biting regardless of how we choose to organize our lives. So if we’re going to be biting our nails… wouldn’t we rather be doing it while doing something we’re genuinely excited about?
For me - this means owning the fact that coaching businesses are not thriving right now. People don’t have disposable income, and that’s okay. I’m earning some level of income that feels supportive, but not an amount I’m fundamentally excited about. Because of this - I’m biting my nails. Feeling nervous, and for the wrong reasons.
So what am I doing? Following my energy. Mostly - my love for raising my child.
I’m following my passion for supporting Mia in her development… and I’m starting a childcare business. I’ll be making £10 an hour. And I can’t fricking wait! Will I cover my expenses? Maybe just - if I hustle. But it’s not about hustling. Because my childcare plant isn’t out of its pot and in the soil yet. I’m testing it out. I’m seeing if it’s the right seed to plant in my proverbial garden. There’s no pressure for childcare to support me & fit into my life garden for the long haul, yet.
So please - let yourself live temporarily, and watch your perfect garden come together in perfect timing. In doing so, you’ll see your life trajectory unfold and accelerate with an ease you didn’t realize was possible 🥰