The philosophy of giving is at the very core of HeartCore Business. In fact, generosity is something that our founder Shanda Sumpter believes is one of the most powerful forces in life.
At the same time, many people—especially service-based entrepreneurs like coaches and healers—give so much that they don’t take care of themselves. They end up grinding themselves down to the ground, working 24/7 and robbing themselves of what’s really important: people and experiences.
Listen to Shanda Sumpter’s talk with Craig Ballantyne to learn more about this paradox of generosity.
What we mean when we say, “giving too much,” it’s not about giving in general. It’s about how you’re giving—how you’re spending your time. It’s 100-percent possible to be generous without getting drained. Here’s how…
1. Designate a Time to Answer Communications.
Whether your clients email you or send you videos, or your team members post questions for you in a project management software, create—and stick to—times when you answer them.
2. Work in blocks.
A recent guest on “Coffee With Shanda,” Craig Ballantyne, says 90-minute blocks of time are important. You’d be surprised at how much you can get done in a short amount of time when you’re focusing on a single task for a set block of time.
Stick to your schedule so everyone you work with knows what to expect, and so that you can gain the momentum necessary to make working in blocks as efficient as possible.
3. Optimize your natural schedule.
If you have a long commute, consider taking ride-share service or public transportation and using the time you would be driving to answer emails. On the other side, if you do your best work or take calls in the car, but have a short commute, create a slightly longer drive so you can optimize your time.
4. Give Your Brain Time to Work on the Really Important Things.
If you know you’re most creative or most productive from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., make that your creative time. Block it out ruthlessly. Don’t journal, or meditate, or answer emails, or text, or work out during that time.
Do the work that requires your brain power.
5. Work on Saturday Mornings.
Say what? This is another tip from Craig Ballantyne, who calls this a “sneaky trick of success.” He said that if you want to break that $100,000 mark, you’ve got to put some time in on Saturday mornings.
Think about it: It’s the least-distracted time of the week. Nobody bothers you, you don’t have emails to check, nobody texts you … and that’s when the magic is made.
6. Plan Your Day the Night Before.
When you plan your day the night before, you can get up and start going right away. And, to take this a little deeper, make your path easier.
For example, if you plan to write a chapter of your book on a Monday, then on Sunday night, write out a few bullet points about what you plan to write. Then, instead of waking up to a blank document, you wake up to a few cues and the writing flows!
7. Align Your Actions with Your Vision.
The vision is the first step. You can’t have a properly-structured calendar until you’ve clearly articulated your vision. So many people say they want a certain thing, but the actions they actually take—the way they actually spend their time—don’t align with that vision of what they say they want. Live as your best self. Walk your walk.
You can build in your business, your family time, and your personal time. It’s all about having a vision and making sure that we take actions that align with that vision.
