Ep 20: Your work is a movement

[00:00:00] Heidi: Hi, my beautiful introvert friend. Welcome to episode number 20. This is the 1st of September, and I am so excited for the podcast and for really my business this month and what I'm going to be bringing to you. I just have I'm coming off of a long weekend where I've had a staycation slashed, a self-lead CEO retreat. While my husband's have been traveling. Where I have a really focused on on strategies for my business. Really thinking about. The movement behind it and how I can best serve you. And combine all of my skills that I have because I have a lot of, a lot of things that I do. I haven't shared. That much with you. I have a whole other business and I'm working on combining them to really create something unique and awesome for you to support you in your work in your soul led work. So today I'm going to talk about work as a movement work as not just a way to make a living, not just as a tool for personal growth, because it is one of the most amazing. But also as a way for us to change our culture. I think a lot of people I don't work in, in traditional work. I, and I actually almost never have. But I hear a lot from my clients and other people just how difficult it is to, to fit in and accept, accept that this is the way that that work has done, because we don't want to do it that way because. We are ready to work in a way that that is regenerative, that instead of feeling extractive and exhausting, and like we're just exchanging labor for. Four numbers in our account that we are really doing something that feeds our souls and the, and everyone around us in a way that is much deeper in a way that is sacred. So this episode is for you. If you are one of those people that you feel like you do not fit into the traditional structures of work, it's not doing it for you. May be you are working for yourself already. Or you're considering it and you're looking for inspiration and insight and some practical questions to help get this process moving in your mind. 


[00:02:50] For September, this is the kind of stuff that. That we're going to be talking about. And in fact, I am going to also be continuing the conversation on Instagram. It's not a place that I've hung out a whole lot, so I am excited to make a home there. You can find me at Heidi dot Jan Dell, and I'll share that in the show notes. I am going to be exploring videos and posts and just, just try and have fun, be creative and really get deep into this. Topic of work for introverts unconventional people. 


[00:03:29] All right. So I want to start with the idea of, of work being a means for self evolution, for personal growth. A lot of my clients work for themselves or are solo preneurs or have a small team. 


[00:03:47] Being in business for yourself is very challenging there. And in order to, to be willing to experience these challenges whether it's like fight the financial stress, learning how to create a viable product that people want to pay you for consistently so that you have income and you can relax and sleep at night. Organizing all of the, all of the many things. The clients, your finances, the admin, like there's, you know, there can be a lot there. Being willing to, to do this versus working at a job or someone else takes care of that for you. It takes, it takes desire. It takes vision. It takes having a mission and being willing to try to expand your sense of self, of what you think you're capable of. To step into the unknown to discomfort, to learn new skills. And it is one of the most amazing journeys of growth really that you can go on it for me, it has been a tremendous one and continues to still be. 


[00:05:03] I've worked for myself for over 20 years. And I, you know, in that time I've, I've, I've been a solopreneur. Been in a partnership, had a team. It's ebbed and flowed. And at every, you know, every phase, there is always something. A new difficulty or a familiar pattern like self doubt that comes up, but in a new way where I'm being asked that in order to move through this, I need to show up. I need to find resources. I need to be willing to continue and sometimes. It's led to major pivots. Sometimes it's meant for me to come back to myself. 


[00:05:52] So when work is primary transactional, where you're trading time for money and your heart is not behind that. That can, that can be very hard to sustain for the long haul. And, maybe if you're paid an insane amount, like that will might compensate because that will give you access to other things, other opportunities where you can explore and express what's on your heart. 


[00:06:22] But what I really want to move into is that your work. Is an extension of who you are into the world. And that when you can find aligned soul led work, when you can create it for yourself. That like you spent a third of your life working. That that creates an impact. Resonance within you. That makes the whole experience of work. So much more profound and secret. And that, that energy that affects, you know, energetically yes. That affects those, that, that come into contact with you. But that as a, as a component of. Not a component, but I don't want to use brick, but like a brick in the wall. That's just, what's coming to me right now. That is like the whole totality of, of work that you've influenced those, those around you. And that, that influences them to be more like YouTube, like you model for them. And potentially they then move from transactional work to this whole lead work and it ripples out and creates larger and larger changes because we need to change. We need to change the way that we do business. We need to change the way that we think about, about money. And I mean, I don't want to like go on a tangent here, but the work that you do is one of the most profound and powerful ways that, that you can do this. And it's not so much about what the work is. You don't have to be working in a nonprofit. But it's about it being an extension of your heart, of your purpose. And in order to access that. So the thing is, is that we are modeled a certain way of work that is extractive. And there's an, and like, this is how you do things. This is how you manage communication. This is how you plan projects. this is like you work for 40 hours a week. And if you do anything differently, you feel guilt and shame. I mean, this was me. Totally. I felt guilty about taking a nap. I mean, I tell people that I take naps, especially if people who work in professional and. Career jobs and they're just kind of look at me like, I'm crazy, right? It's like, what can you even do that? And like, yes, of course, we are human beings. We like, these are things that we need. dApps to me are part of doing business. Self care is part of my work, because if I am not. Nourished. If I'm not resource, I don't show up the same way. Right. And like this it's like, this takes a switch, this, like, we don't learn this right. From the culture. We actually have to learn it through our own experience. And hopefully by listening to podcasts, by finding content like this. That shows us that we can do it differently. So that's what your work is about. It's about your journey of showing how work can be done differently. No matter what that work is in a way that is more human centered. We saw during COVID that you cannot separate the whole humanity, whole like human part of yourself from your work. Like you take it with you. It's just, we, we try, oftentimes we have this professional mask that we are told that we need to have. In order to be quote unquote professional. And, and that involves us ignoring a lot of our mental and physical health needs. 


[00:10:27] And making all kinds of other compromises when it comes to how we live, the rest of our lives are raise our families, spend our time. And how, yeah. It, your work affects all of the rest of your life. 


[00:10:46] So, what I want to offer is that your work is this journey of leaning into this idea of, of work as an extension of your soul. As a movement that can transform culture. Like you don't just. I think this, and then you're living at the next day. There is this process. Of, of, of, of shedding these old ways of thinking, and then old ways of doing, if you are an entrepreneur and you have control over how you spend your time. Then there's a lot of experimentation that you can do, but I see it in myself all of the time where I. I am starting to feel some dissonance, like maybe I see myself overworking. And when I step back and look at, okay, why am I overworking? Like, what is this expectation here? Where is it coming from? So it's not coming from me because my body is telling me that I don't want to be overworking, but there is this expectation that I have taken on that is coming through. That it's from the culture, right? So by me, stopping. Pausing creating awareness and then a strategy to change it, to get more in alignment with what is true for me. And center my wellbeing then I actually, I'm not just creating change in my own business, but I am becoming an example for other people. So that then we can make this happen on a bigger scale. 


[00:12:32] 


[00:12:32] Heidi: Okay, so let's take a second to bring this down to earth. Because at the end of the day, you do need to make money. You do need to survive in this crazy world that we have. So, how do you change? How do you move into soul led work? How do you move into a way of working that it feels regenerative for you? 


[00:13:05] So the first thing I want you to do, or I want to invite you to do. Is ask yourself about the bigger picture of work. So like who defines the expectations of work? For me. Where does that come from? What structures, what traditions does that come from? Who modeled work for me? Where did I learn to work this way? Was it in school? Was it from the movies watching high powered executives, work 80 hours and drive fancy cars. And how does all of this. Influence my expectations for myself. How does it influence. The way that I think that I should work. And when I work this way, What happens? How do I feel? If you know what your soul aligned work is, how does the way that I am working now relate to my soul aligned work, relate to. My vision or mission of work. Relate to work as an extension and expansion of everything that I am. If you are still exploring an understanding what your heart led work. Means for you. You. Can you, you don't have to have clarity on this yet. But rather. Invite yourself to become open to the possibility of something. More deeply satisfying something more deeply impactful. And you might imagine. Mentally logically what that could be. It's like, if I could do anything, what would I love to do? Or it might be through feelings. Like how would I feel if I was doing. My soul led work. If I, if I. Was in regenerative work. You know, what would be different? I would feel more calm, confident at ease. Powerful. It just identifying those feelings can help you too. Then have a signpost internal signposts of what to move towards. Because when you feel. A pulled, when you feel those emotions available to use through a particular activity or something that's inspiring you, then you can take action and move towards. 


[00:15:59] And then how can I create this? What is one step I can take today. What is my larger strategy to create this in the next month, in the next quarter, in the next six. Months. 


[00:16:15] What can I do to make my business regenerative? What does this mean for me? 


[00:16:24] So I've been thinking about how to help you to do this. 


[00:16:28] I've designed a six month success strategy for soul aligned entrepreneurs. And this is a strategy that we develop together that will help to lead you through the next six months. It is for folks who have been in business for enough of a time that you are successfully selling consistently. And your product works, people are buying it. And now you are at capacity that you're, you feel like you might be overwhelmed. You might be feeling disorganized, the systems and processes. 


[00:17:10] If you have them. That you've been using are not really. Fitting this next phase of your business, this next phase of yourself. And some of the way that you're working might be being informed by these external expectations. And you're really ready to readjust, to realign, to figure out like how, how you want to show up and then create the systems and processes in your business to support that. So this strategy it's going to help you get super clear on what to focus on with your precious time. And. We'll provide you with recommendations for the softwares, the processes, all of the things that you need to get your strategy into place so that you can experience the benefit of at. So I will be sharing more about this on Instagram. I don't have a sales page yet, but I'm working on it. Again, this is just the result of this amazing weekend of creativity that I have had. So. The website is always the last thing to come into place. So I will be definitely sharing that with you. If you have questions, please reach out. I will be offering this in September only because in October I will be going to Brazil and working halftime. And want to be sure I have everyone lined up and scheduled by the time that I get on the plane. All right, friends. Thank you so much for tuning in today to staying to the end. I am so grateful to have you here. I appreciate you. Take care and I'll see you next week.