Five weeks ago, I left a job where I’d worked for over 7 years.  It was not an easy decision, nor one I took lightly, but I had some money saved up, and took the leap.  It’s so important for my soul to feel aligned, and things had been out of alignment for quite a while.  I think many people have this fantasy of what their life would be like if they didn’t have to work their full-time job, and could dedicate all of their time to pursuing their passions.  I know my first thoughts were around how I could dedicate more time to my wellness center, my cleanse (The Chinese Medicine Cleanse), piloting the advanced version of my cleanse (to be released in January, fingers crossed), relaxing, spending more time with my family, exercising, taking care of myself, and the list goes on.

What I’ve found out about myself over the last 5 weeks since leaving my job has been eye-opening to say the least.  I didn’t quite realize how much the structure of a full-time job allowed me to continue to work within a structure even after work, and without that set structure, or in trying to establish new routines, I found myself feeling like I was wasting a lot of time.  In reality, I wasn’t wasting time, however.  I was finding out what worked for me and what didn’t.  I was realizing that it doesn’t matter what millionaires or other financially successful people do in the morning or throughout their day if it doesn’t work for me.  So here are my biggest takeaways and lessons from the last 5 weeks.

* Working out in the morning or even around lunchtime doesn’t work as well for me as working out later in the day. With only having to work around my acupuncture patient schedule, it left my days wide open to experiment.  I took my time getting up in the mornings, rather than waking up at 5 something, I tried eating small amounts of protein and fruit to prepare me to exercise in the morning (because eating nothing is definitely NOT a good idea), and I’d lace up and get out there.  While I’ve been happy to discover I can push myself to run farther than I’ve ever run in my life, and while I liked working out around 10 am, the extra food I had to consume to make that happen actually impeded any weight loss and led to me feeling more bloated throughout the day.  I realized that my body feels so much better when I intermittent fast, and it’s not realistic to workout in the morning without eating first.  I have to follow what is best for my body.

The other thing I discovered is, when I exercise in the morning, I do not finish showering and getting ready until almost lunchtime. By that point the whole morning is gone, and that is my most productive time.  I know, you’re asking yourself, why don’t you wake up at 5 am to workout Jen?  Well, again, I need to eat before I run, and I have found I need to give my body a little time to digest.  So yes, I could go run by say 5:30 am, then be back and done and showered and so forth and maybe it’s 7 by that point.  So maybe I could, but again, the eating in the morning is really messing up my digestion and not as beneficial for me as intermittent fasting until the late morning. I’m definitely not interested in eating between 5 am and 1 pm instead of 10:30 am and 6:30 pm, which is what I usually do.  To me, if I can just shift it to workout in the evening, when I know I have  good amount of energy, and if I can still enjoy meals with my family, that’s more important.

Here’s the thing…who said that the morning is the only time that successful people workout?  When you limit yourself to believing that the way that the person or celebrity you look up to is the only way to do something, you’re less likely to stick with it and succeed if it doesn’t work for you.  Health is personal.  I love that people like Rachel Hollis can wake up at 4:30 am and take a spoonful of nut butter and jam and then run a half marathon.  She’s great and amazing and it works for her.  And it doesn’t work for me.  Letting go of some sort of idea of having to be like everyone else and wondering if something is wrong with you doesn’t serve.  Exercise is super important and I am still 10000% dedicated to moving for 30 mins every day.  Some days I may go on walks throughout the day.  Other days I may do a full bout of exercise in the evening.  But exercising in the morning doesn’t work most days for me.  And that’s totally ok.

* I need to be extra conscious of whether or not I am actually hungry when I eat.  When I worked in an office full-time, I had whatever I had packed for lunch.  When you work at home, you’re around food all the time (assuming you have groceries).  While I’ve found it fun to be able to cook food for lunch that is fresh and warm, I’ve also found myself occasionally snacking when I didn’t need to, because my husband or kids were, or because I hadn’t planned my meals as well as I normally did when I packed my meals and snacks for my full-time job.  One of the keys to maintaining a healthy weight is to only eat when you are actually hungry, and not just bored, because it’s a certain time, or because someone else is eating.  Working with access to food whenever you want demands a higher level of attention to conscious eating.

* I need to sit at a desk to do work.  This one sounds totally dumb, but as much as I might fantasize about sitting in bed while working, or hanging out on the couch, I am nowhere near as productive when I work from those places as when I work from a desk.  So I’m sitting in my home office, at a desk, typing this as we speak.  It’s where I’ve been working all morning, and I’ve gotten a lot more done today and the last couple days since switching to using my desk than I had in the past by just working on things wherever.

* I do my best when I wake up early and start work before others are awake and demanding attention.  Lately, as some of you know, I’ve been doing the #Last90Days challenge designed by Rachel and Dave Hollis of the Hollis Co., which is based on the idea of living the last 90 days of the year with as much intention as you usually devote to the first 30 days of the year.  One thing that they’re spot on about (among many) is the benefit of having time to yourself in the morning before the kids wake up, or before other co-workers are around or what have you.  I’ve worked like this for years when I was at my full-time job, getting to work at 7 am and really cherishing that hour or so before others arrived.  Unfortunately over the years, people caught on to how awesome that is, and so I rarely had 7 am to myself, or if I had anything, it was 7-7:30 am, because my other co-workers started getting to work earlier as well!  Having that bit of time to myself to think and work on important projects gave me a serious edge.  Rachel and Dave speak about how precious the morning time is for productivity, and they mention waking up an hour earlier than everyone else so you have some time to yourself in the morning.  That time can be spent on meditation, filling out the Start Today journal prompts (around gratitude and your goals), on exercise, or whatever you’d like.  Now that I have my insights about how I need structure, to wake up early, and to push exercise to later in the day, I use my time to fill out the journal prompts, to meditate or pray, and then I can choose to read, to have some tea (or both), or just take my time in the shower even, without little kids busting in on me in the shower.  Once I’m showered and ready, then having that precious extra time as well in the morning when I’m first working, can be some of the most productive time in the morning.

* It’s important to create and keep structure.  While certain days may be different, such as the weekend, or for me days when I treat patients, each day needs to have structure, especially when you are an entrepreneur and need to work on some important projects.  So give yourself a set schedule, and stick to it, just like you were having to report to an employer.  I know I’m way more productive when I do this, versus allowing whatever comes up to derail me.

* It’s okay to relax sometimes.  One of the narratives I had been telling myself for the last three weeks or so is that I feel like I’m “wasting time” and not doing “enough,” whatever that is.  I have been on full-throttle for most of my life.  I’ve been working for 30 years, and usually doing other things beyond working as well, like attending school, raising kids, or what have you.  It’s been a challenge for me to just relax and be okay if I don’t “do much” on a given day.  When I’m not achieving some kind of measurable goal, it doesn’t mean I don’t have value.  I do feel the pressure of time and the things I need to do while I’m alive on this planet, AND, it’s okay to just enjoy a day with my kids, or spend an evening reading a book that I love.  I’ll be honest and say that I’m still trying to figure out what the best balance of that is, like many high-achievers and people who balance a lot in this life.  But I know it’s important to not feel guilty on a day that I devote just to relaxing.  When you’re an entrepreneur, this can be harder to decipher than those who work full-time and just turn off for the weekend; cut yourself some slack, and relax.

* Find a mantra to help you through the times when you doubt yourself or things get tough.  I recently have been reading Gabby Bernstein’s new book, Super Attractor, and in it she speaks about the benefit of having a mantra or saying to bring you back to love when you find yourself in fear.  To put it in a more straight forward way, when things get rough, or I find myself going back to thoughts that really don’t serve me, I repeat a mantra in my head, or out loud, as many times as I need to, in order to feel better.  My current mantra is I am happy, I am healthy, and everything is working out for me.  God’s got this.  It reminds me that things are going well for me, and helps me live into that, and to let go of the worry about how any of my goals will come to pass.  If God’s “got this” then I don’t need to spend time fretting about the details or wondering how long it will take.  I just have to live into the fact that I am taken care of, and I have the basics of what I need.  Your mantra may be something completely different.  Find a saying or phrase that brings you joy.  I repeat my phrase when I notice I am in a state of fear or another lower vibration, and it brings me out after repeating it a few times.  I feel peaceful in knowing that my phrase is the truth, and I am tended.

* Have clear boundaries.  Boundaries are one of those lessons that comes up for each of us many times in our lives, in different ways.  I’ve had my share of tough boundary lessons.  One that I’ve come into more fully since leaving my full-time work has been around what I am and am not willing to discuss with friends and family, for the protection of my own mental health.  Friends and family are often only asking about you because they love you and are concerned, but if they constantly ask you about things or want to discuss matters that do not support your health and well-being, then you need to be clear with them about that and let them know that you appreciate their support, but it does not serve you to discuss that matter now.  While this is not the case for me, the easiest thing to come to mind is if you lose a job, and friends and family are constantly asking you about when you will get another job, this may contribute to your worry and keep you in a state of fear when you were feeling hopeful and optimistic.  Family can be supportive of course, but if you find that it’s doing more harm than good, tell them you appreciate them asking, but from now on, you’d like to refrain from discussing it, and that you will tell them as soon as you get an update about your situation.  Then you can focus your energy on manifesting that dream job, in imagining the best outcome, and in taking positive steps towards your goals.

These are just a few of the lessons I’ve learned about myself over the last five weeks, and I know that many of you may feel the same, or have a similar experience.  I’d love to hear your stories!  Feel free to share in the comments below.

xo,

Jen