5 Mindset Best Practices for Dealing with Sacrifices and Growth

Could you live without a car? Does life not seem complete without cable? Would you get up at 5 am every day if you didn’t have to? Is life going to end if you can’t meet friends for drinks or go out to eat? Way before the Pandemic hit in 2020 I had to make all of these sacrifices. Yes, it was my decision to quit my corporate job and start my business, and at the time, I had no idea what this type of sacrificing would be like. Nor did I know how it would forever change the way I think about everything.

Since 2015, I’ve slowly been embracing my “less is more” mindset and lifestyle.

Truth be told, I honestly have been living “a quarantined” life for the past 5 to 6 years. Mainly because my title went from Visual Merchandising Manager to "Starving Artist with a Dream of becoming CEO". Then 2020 hit and we learned the true meaning of shelter in place and what it means to quarantine. Even though this lifestyle has been issued to the world for our protection and for health reasons, it has taught many of us how to do more with less. We’ve had to sacrifice and appreciate everything we knew to be normal. Like time with family on holidays, planning vacations, and worshiping in a church.

Has this experience helped you value the things you already have?

All of the things we once thought we needed as a daily requirement have resulted in learning to do so many things in a new simplified way.

Even more so now, it may seem a tad bit selfish, even thinking about it, but taking time for yourself is a requirement. That moment when you are finally ready to spread your wings and start stepping out of your comfort zone. You've been thinking about doing that thing that you love and now you have the time, but making this shift can bring a ton of unexpected distractions. But this is the time you have to create habits that will allow you to block out the chaos and remain still in the storm. It can be hard to refocus on all the things that you need to maintain momentum.

How are you maintaining during this time of quarantine and learning how to adjust to this NEW normal?

Things like working from home or trying to make time for yourself may not seem like a possible combination but it can be done.

Mindset Best Practices for Dealing with Sacrifices and Growth during the trasnistion:

Make the Morning and Wake up an hour early every day
Have a schedule and put your tasks on your calendar
Connect with like-minded people who can support your efforts and your dream
Be okay with being alone and quiet (it won’t last long)
Set Goals that you can and want to achieve. Then celebrate the wins.

It may seem a tad bit selfish, but taking time for yourself is a requirement. That moment when you are finally ready to spread your wings and start stepping out of your comfort zone and doing that thing that you love can bring a ton of unexpected distractions. But this is the time you have to create habits that will allow you to block out the chaos and remain still in the storm. It can be hard to refocus on all the things that you need to maintain momentum.

Something I started doing several years ago is maximizing the morning. Having a morning routine is absolutely non-negotiable. It's very important to own your day by getting your mindset prepared for all of the things that you have to show up and be present for that day. By taking this time for myself each day I have 30 minutes to meditate or pray, or just sit back relax and reflect. I know that everyone's schedule is a little bit different, so the morning might not be the best time for you to focus on yourself. But you have to make sure that you are adding this time that works best for your lifestyle.

Being afraid that no one will support your dream and see your vision is absolutely normal. The fear of what others may say or how they may feel about your business has to take a second chair to your living life on purpose. So when you hear that thought creep in that I'm afraid to start my business, you have to remember that no one will ever have anything to say about it if you never start.

When I worked full-time I only could think about what I would do if I didn't have to work for someone else. Being the CEO of my business has allowed me to transform not only my mind but my future. If you are thinking about taking charge of your life and making the transition from working as an employee to becoming the CEO these three steps are something that will take you to the next level.

As I mentioned having a morning routine is essential. Getting up extra early to make time for yourself will allow your mind and body to be centered and balanced for whatever obstacles May Come. Just because you don't have to report in every day and clock in per se, you do still need to keep a schedule of events for your business while you're working from home. This will require you to really pay attention to the time it takes to complete tasks and the time you have available to actually do the work.

It's super easy to get caught up in I don't have to go to work mode but if you don't get up and treat your normal work from home CEO Life is a business. Then you will miss out on the opportunity to start restructuring your day-to-day Life as a CEO. If you're used to working in a crazy office space with people to talk to and complain about and the water cooler conversations about Dancing with the Stars or The Bachelor then you're going to have to really embrace the idea of being alone and how to work on adjusting to that. And it may not be easy. The best thing you can do during this time and transition is to set goals weekly and monthly and quarterly so you can stay on track using your calendar and your morning routine will allow you to make better choices and work out the Kinks before you take ownership of being a CEO.

There will come a time when you will appreciate this time of Solitude because it brought you so much closer to your Greatness.

The moment that I realized that I was actually the CEO of my life and my business, was when I published my book in 2020. What's all the chaos in uncertainty that this particular year brought us, I was able to do a really big thing. This was something that I would not have been able to clearly develop if I were still working as an employee and spending 40 hours a week working for someone else. My second big takeaway from my transition to becoming the CEO of my life is pretty simple.

Stop looking for opportunities and start cre8ting your own.

The time is now and you have to stop consuming and start producing in order to see the results that you want from that only your life and the future. But what you see for your business as well. What do you have to do in order to start disconnecting from the things that consume your time and take away from you becoming the best version of yourself? If you could in the next 30 days take a break from social media consumption or politics and all of the craziness happening in the world you may find yourself reconnecting with the best version of yourself and someone that you've always known was inside and ready to live.

Take a Moment to Appreciate the Sacrifice.

Join me each week for a new episode and a new perspective. Learn how to SHIFT those old thought processes and prepare for the PIVOT to create a major change for your future.