And everything in nature has a cycle. And that cycle has a productive, active phase and resting, receptive phase (like day and night).
But it’s easy to forget that in a society that has basically ignored the resting part — which is virtually half the cycle — in favor of continuous productivity.
So you’re on call day and night + you’re considered lazy if you haven’t written your novel during a pandemic.
And yet, you feel you have to keep up because — we equate our value as human beings with how much we produce and achieve.
Sigh.
This pattern is physically exhausting and leaves most conscious humans (like me and you) feeling disconnected and dissatisfied.
But here’s the thing:
We are not going to get what we want by doing MORE.
A truly sustainable business (and joyful life) is not about working harder and being infinitely more productive.
It’s about bucking the system – slowing the F down, and stepping off the obsessive productivity hamster wheel…
To get quiet, rest, and give our bodies, minds and spirits time to replenish (ideally in nature!)
And from this still place, we can listen and truly hear — in a way we simply can’t when we’re glued to our screens.
We can tune into ourselves, what we actually want for our lives, and the impact we want to make.
And create a more intentional, strategic, focused, streamlined business. We become what I call:
NATURALLY PRODUCTIVE.
Not hamster wheel productive, and definitely not robot productive.
About 13 years ago, I co-founded a nonprofit that’s dedicated to reconnecting people to the earth. Then I worked my ass off for 7 years to the point of burnout and had to take a six-month sabbatical to recover from it. (Yes, there is some irony here.)
I was so frustrated that I was being forced to slow down and re-evaluate. But it turned out to be the biggest gift I could have received.
Because when I finally slowed down and started tuning into nature’s rhythms, I found SPACE.
And that space gave rise to inspiration, motivation, new energy and the profoundly obvious concept that we are humans — not robots — and we CAN actually run our businesses and our lives at a more natural, sane pace.
So I created a system that integrated what I’d learned from my mentors and teachers in the nature and ritual world with my management and business experience.
A system that allows for the necessary pause to get clearly aligned, strategic, streamlined and focused. A system that’s evolved plenty over the years and has helped me and many other entrepreneurs to create truly sustainable businesses.
So I built my business with relative ease, took Fridays off, went on walks when I felt like it, gave myself a paid maternity leave, and went back to work after my leave to earn the same amount I had been before I left and increased it the following year, working only 3 days/week.
Because not far into my shiny new business, I was hit with a chronic illness that’s done a huge number on my health, my energy, and my ability to produce (so hard for us over-achiever types!)
Then, I had a baby. (By the way, both of these things keep me up at night.)
And then came the dumpster fire of 2020.
So how am I still here and thriving?
So here I am.
Listening, learning, trying, failing, adapting, growing and bringing that wisdom through to my clients… helping them be more efficient with their time so they can build truly sustainable businesses that they love.
So… join me?
Through our work together you’ll learn how to embrace a whole new way of doing business that doesn’t involve an ever-growing to-do list ora so-called proven cookie cutter system.
And one that will never force you to be a robot.
And finally, my deep thanks to the teachers and organizations who have so deeply influenced me that their teachings are woven inextricably into everything I offer: Lynne Twist (Soul of Money), Jon Young (8 Shields Institute), Tad Hargrave (Marketing for Hippies), Mike Bodkin & Renee Sweeney (Rites of Passage), Trudi Lebron (Equity Centered Coaching) , Weeze Doran (According to Weeze), and swoon-worthy poet, David Whyte.
And, we know we’re not there yet. It is lifelong work to dismantle the system of white supremacy. But we’re committed to making these changes. Here’s how it shows up in our company.
Some of these commitments are complete, some are brand new commitments, and all of it is ongoing, always.