It's Summer time! For many of us that means school's out, our kids' schedules are completely whacked, and demands on our time and attention are even higher as even though "school's out" — business is not. Unless you have camp or the Magical Land of Grandma and Grandpa's to send your kids to for the Summer, you may be trying to figure out how to still lead a great business, do solid work, and be an awesome parent/spouse who doesn't let another summer slip by. Regardless of kids or no kids, Summer can shine a bright light on the importance of "work/life" balance and taking good care of yourself and your relationships. There's a natural "school's out feel" and a pull to slowing down, vacations run abundant as your staff and colleagues and clients are in and out of the office making consistency and momentum challenging, your spouse or partner may be jonesing for their own vacation time, wanting you to be a part of it, and let's face it, it's hot — simply hot — the pool beckons and sitting on a beach somewhere sounds divine.
So what do you do?
Grab your water, breathe, throw on some extra SPF, and craft your plan.
As always, there's a "doing" plan and a "being" plan.
The better and more joyful your "being" plan, the easier and more powerful (and sustainable) your "doing" plan will be. This week, I'm hitting up some fundamentals for "being" and mindset. Get these 5 things going and next week, the doing game plan will be a piece of cake. These are 5 of my favorite ways of being with this stuff, but don't stop with mine, what ways of being will set you up for success this summer?
5 Ways to BE:
- Be flexible. You know what this means for you. If you tune in to yourself, you likely have about 5 places you can sense that taking on the energy and stance of flexibility (for yourself and others) will serve. What does flexibility look like and feel like to you? Tune in, and sink in.
- Be present and aligned with your body and what it wants and needs. Just the intention of being present to ourselves can create a significant shift not only in the impact of our presence on others, but on our own joy and well-being as well. This week tune in. The little things are essential. Notice hunger patterns, levels of vitality, where and when you need sleep and downtime, when your body wants to "go" and when it wants to go slow. Just notice. The more you honor this awareness, the stronger your body's self-trust, and the easier it will be to address and design for what is needed for optimal well-being.
- Be an energetic stand for self-care. If you don't hold this for yourself this Summer, no one else will. Make an energetic commitment to taking care of yourself, an energetic decision, and lead from there. (Next week you'll find this makes the "doing" of self-care significantly easier.) This self-care includes things like exercise and what you eat, as well as who you're hanging out with this Summer and where your life force is being fed or drained. Pay attention. Be a stand.
- Be present with your spouse, partner, kids. Sure, life may be a bit more chaotic right now. And this is THE time to be more present than ever. Put the phone down, let the planning go, leave it at the office, tune in, and listen. What do they need? What are they trying to tell you? Who are they becoming this summer? Take it all in (with ease).
- Be efficient. Use this time as an experiment to optimize efficiency. What's your current state of being? Notice how efficient you actually feel right now; sluggish? Focused? What do you need? Notice this week little opportunities for optimization: Where do you waste time? Where are you involved in meetings you shouldn't be? Where are you expending mental energy in situations that are totally out of your control and often simply none of your business?
Notice that there are no directions of what to DO with any of these, these are simply about mindset, awareness, and how you want to show up this summer. Set your intentions for being now and next week I'll hit up the "doing" that goes with each of these for a summer that leaves you rested, present, and productive both in matters of the heart, home, and hustle.
Ready? Go.
Next Steps
This article originally appeared on Inc.com on June 15, 2015.