102 | Feeling Burned Out or Overwhelmed? The Importance of Intentional Rest in Your Business
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[00:00:00] Okay friends. So I would love to know, have you ever, and I'm sure the answer is either yes. Or you will ever feel burned out in your business where you're just like, oh my gosh, I don't think I can do this anymore. But I feel like I have to, or else I'm going to fall behind, or I'm never going to achieve my goals or I'm not going to keep up with so-and-so who's off running in their business or, you know, enter excuse.
Right? Like we all, I think hit this time or point in our businesses, whether it is burnout or whether it's just overwhelmed, because maybe you have like me been in a season of just kind of turmoil for me. It's been grief. If you've been listening to this podcast, you know, That I lost one of my very best friends. Last month and it, it has not been easy.
And I, through this journey have really wanted to lean into the hard things and to feel the pain, even if it really sucks. But trying [00:01:00] to balance that and navigate that and take on the big dreams that I know the Lord has put on my heart. I know that they're there for a reason, and I know that they are there to impact you.
And there are things that I still feel like he is calling me to. However, I feel like. And maybe you can relate to this or maybe one day you will, and maybe you'll stumble upon this podcast even far down in the future. Where you hit that period of overwhelm. Or maybe it's overthinking. Like that is, I'm the queen of ever thinking.
I don't know if you're that way, but for me, like I can work myself into an overthinking spiral about every decision or any decision that I can make. And so if you're feeling that way or if you've ever felt that way, this is the podcast for you because I'm their friend. First of all, I'm walking through this journey with you.
However, I really feel like the message that I'm going to share today is something that, of course I need. But hopefully it can be the answer to what you're feeling, even if it's not the answer that you want to hear. And that is my friend. You've got to [00:02:00] rest. You've got to take some time intentionally. To basically. Fuel yourself because I mean, Do you resonate with the fact that sometimes you just feel like you're out of gas, like literally your car has come to a spreader, which that's the reason why I have not posted a podcast for the last two weeks is I never have a shortage of ideas.
In fact, I still have a ton of ideas and I've even like put some podcasts, interview requests out there for people who said yes, but haven't quite booked in yet. And for once I, I literally just felt out of gas. I felt like I didn't have the fuel that I needed that I always have had. And then I've kind of taken advantage of, right?
Because just like, if you run out of gas in your car, you kind of took advantage of the fact that you had the gas in your car to begin with. Right. And so, you know, the, I think that analogy of running out of gas is very relevant, whether it is burnout because you've been working yourself to the bone, which was not really my. I experienced, I only worked my business about 20 hours a week. I have [00:03:00] for the last probably year and a half or more. Really leaned into getting my direction and my ideas and all of the things from the Lord and staying aligned with him. ~Uh, ~but I've been there before where the overwork has led me to the feelings of burnout and running out of gas. But for me, you know, in this season, having walked through, you know, this, this period of grief and entering into something. That I feel like the Lord is really inviting me into something, you know, kind of big for 20, 24. I actually, I'm getting teary eyed, just thinking about this, but actually have already done some of the pre-work for my cultivate, what matters power sheets, which you guys. No, I am obsessed with power sheets.
This is my seventh. I think seventh, if not eighth year doing them. And if you haven't heard of it, I will put a link. You can actually get a 10% off discount by using the link in my,~ uh, ~in the show notes of this, of this podcast or in this YouTube, if you're watching it on YouTube, but power sheets are really how I get clear on where I am.
And [00:04:00] it has an evaluation of all the different areas of your life. And some of them were pretty low in my life because I think that anytime you get hit with something like, you know, a death or maybe it's a cancer diagnosis or a sickness or a marriage struggle, you know, when you get hit by these really hard things, or maybe it's money, They can bring you to your knees and you can feel like some areas that you maybe thought were okay, that you've kind of like just glossed over or pretended were fine. Kind of get uncovered and you realize it's not okay.
And you need a minute. And so I am just here to tell you that that's kind of where I am. That's that's, that's where I am in my business. You know, I realized I've been with St for seven years coming in January, which is kind of hard to believe. And in those seven years, I have been what we consider a jogger or a runner, or if you've been listening to this podcast and Eagle soaring on wings, like Eagles. I'm really relying on the Lord. [00:05:00] But the lessons that I'm going to learn in the three ways that you can incorporate rest that we're going to talk about today, have come from the fact that even the Lord, even God who created the universe rested even Jesus, who came to this earth to lead all of us, to where we are and to save us from. You know, the depths of despair that our sin brings us to every single day.
Right? Like even he rested even he took time to sleep and to, to get himself together, to pray, to reflect, to prepare for all of the things that, that he was called to. And so, I don't know about you guys, but if God and Jesus can rest or need rest, or even if the land itself like literally fields and trees and flowers and things like that, like if, if our earth needs rest, don't you. I think that we, as God's most precious creations need that same rest as well. I know I do. And so I kind of took the time over the [00:06:00] last couple of weeks to kind of be like, okay, Lord, ~um,~ you know, Give me the idea for the podcast and it get us not for the lack of ideas, but I don't ever hit record on this without feeling fully prepared. Feeling fully inspired and fully called do use the name of the podcast. To step into something that, that I believe can serve the people that are listening so that it's worth your time. And when I didn't have that, or even when I sat down to try to record an episode and the words or the something just felt stuck, I was kind of like, okay, well, what. What are you trying to tell me, Lord.
And so, thankfully I remembered a book that, ~uh, ~one of the gals at the conference that I've talked about a couple of times on here, it's called, she speaks. And she actually, ironically is the one that inspired me to step back into social media. Her name's Jennifer Dukes, Lee, and I'm praying that I can interview her on this podcast. ~Um,~ in the coming new year, I'm excited about that, but I'm reading her book called growing slow. And you guys, I feel like I say this a lot, but it's truly one of the best books I have ever [00:07:00] read.
And I think. The reason it's one of the best books I've ever read is because I've really feel like it is perfectly timed for me in this season. ~Uh, ~feeling called to something bigger to feeling, feeling like I've been given this inspiration, the stream. You know, this. Vision for what's possible by, by just leaning on the Lord.
And again, storing in, in, you know, 20, 24. But yet, I feel like the only way that I can prepare myself for that is to enter into this season of rest and reflection and preparation for what is to come. And so for that reason, before I get into my three ways that you can incorporate rest into your business and that practical application from the lesson that I'm learning, literally, as we speak. I wanted to tell you that I am going to be taking the next few weeks. Likely through the end of the year though, I might pop back up the last week of December.
No promises. We'll see. ~Um, ~but certainly through the advent season, which starts December [00:08:00] 3rd. And goes through Christmas, December 25th. During that season, I am going to be taking a break from the daily rhythms that I do in my business. So, or weekly, if you will, because I put a podcast every week, I put a YouTube. ~Uh, video, uh, ~my, your St.
Mama YouTube video. And this is the craziest thing you guys have to go if you're not already following by your St. Mama at YouTube channel, which I also post the episodes. To the cops lead podcast on there. So you could even be watching it on that channel and you're like, yeah, that's how I found you, Heather. But if you're not yet following me over there, go follow me because I just had the craziest revelation as I was waiting for my computer to restart. ~Um, ~I downloaded the new update on it right before I hit record on this podcast.
And you guys, I decided to impromptu record. Kind of a mind blowing. I'm actually not going to give it away because I could do an entire podcast episode and will on what I share in that YouTube video, but just, just go check it out. Okay. But I will be taking a break after that video. And after this podcast on putting out the [00:09:00] consistent content. I will take a break from, well, let's be honest.
I have not been consistently posting on social media and I still don't really know what that looks like. So I might not post a thing on there. I don't know. My puzzle is something, but I'm not going to do it from a place of expectation or from a place of I've put this mental structure in place that I need to follow. And it doesn't mean that I'm not going to work over the next season.
In fact, I'm probably gonna be doing a lot of internal work and I'm going to be doing things like budgets for both my business and personal so that I can equip myself and be prepared to enter into 2024 with a clear mind and a clear snapshot of which apps I need, which subscriptions I should continue.
Do I do the annual subscription? Do I do the daily subscription or the week monthly? Monthly? ~Uh, ~you know, and is the cost savings, beneficial, all of those things like budgeting, ~um,~ you know, really looking at how I'm spending my time, how I'm spending my money and what kind of expectations I'm putting on myself and my business.
And are [00:10:00] they really impactful and effective? On achieving the results that I want my business. And so I'm doing all this, of course, I'll be finishing my power sheets and setting my goals for 2024, which you guys know I will be sharing on here. And I might, especially if you guys want me to, and you can let me know in the call to lead community over on telegram, or you can text me,~ um, ~at 9 1 2 4 0 5 8 9 1 2.
You can text me if you want. ~Um, ~I might be bringing back the goal-setting workshop. It might be in the new year, just because again, I am trying to kind of release any expectations of it. But I figure, Hey, if it's something that works for me, I know you guys liked it last year. And I would love the opportunity to bring it back.
So maybe let me know what you think in the community or in, ~um,~ Just by texting me and staying connected, you can text the word connect to, that's probably the easiest way to do it. So anyways, Just text me and let me know what you think about that goal setting workshop idea, but the idea behind this is just to exemplify the number three that I'll get to in our three ways that you [00:11:00] can. Incorporate intentional rest into your business.
So without further ado, here are the three ways. So the first one is the Sabbath. So the Sabbath is something that I think people get a little bit of a misconception. ~Um, ~certainly you could have been raised, like, for example, in the Mormon or LDS faith, where this is natural to you. You're, you know, you have grown up not even shopping on. ~Um, ~Sundays so that not only are you not working, you're not even expecting other people to work or serve you, or maybe you're a Chick-fil-A fan.
And you've been inspired by Chick-fil-A being closed on Sunday, which is pretty crazy because they're like the best, not just tasting, but the best performing fast food restaurant and the highest growing. Which I think is a blessing from the Lord from that obedience that is lined out in scripture. But what I'm going to tell you about the Sabbath, which is essentially just taking a day of rest.
So in the Bible, in the old Testament, like in the time of Jesus, it was on a Saturday, interestingly enough. Of course now a lot of us take it on a Sunday because [00:12:00] that's the day we attend church. And, you know, that's a day for, you know, resting with our family and it is something that, ~um, ~again is beautifully outlined in scripture. But what it's not is, it's not a rule or some kind of law that if you don't follow it, that the Lord is going to condemn you. That's the whole purpose of the freedom in Christ is that he came to abolish the law.
So I don't want you to think about the Sabbath or taking a day of rest, whether it's a Saturday or a Sunday or a Monday or a Wednesday or whatever that looks like to, you know, for you and your schedule. Because again, pastors take a sabot, but it's not on a Sunday because they obviously have to work on a Sunday.
So they take it elsewhere. Or I know that I've even heard. ~Um, ~what's the. Football player, Tim Tebow. I think it was, is he the one? I think he came and spoke at our church one time. I think it's him. If it's not him, it's somebody like that that says that, you know, he obviously plays football on Sundays, he's in the NFL, but he finds another day in that week to take the Sabbath. But don't look at the Sabbath as a rule [00:13:00] instead, look at it as a gift. It's a gift for you to stop. To not set those expectations of having to do anything that you don't want to do, because some things look like work for us.
Like for example, actually like organizing and I don't actually hate like doing laundry or grocery shopping, which is weird. I feel like the Lord's changed my heart's on, on some of those things. So that doesn't feel like work to me on a Sunday, but it might be exactly what feels like work to you on a Sunday. Right. But I learned this actually for my St.
Mama that you've heard. She is. And in the Mormon faith. So this is something that has been exemplified, you know, in her life from the beginning. But I remember being so inspired at the beginning of my St journey and the fact that she took Sundays off intentionally. And so I remember feeling like, as I watched her grow her business and doing that, I'm like, what freedom. You know, too, there's so much beauty in that freedom of being able to do it.
And so now for, I'd say the last couple of years, I have honored the Sabbath pretty well, but it wasn't until our church did a [00:14:00] sermon specifically on the Sabbath where I was like, all right, Lord, it's time. Let me do it because my daughter kind of convicted me of it. And so I have honored the Sabbath to the extent that I do not check messages. ~Um, ~I do not look at my back office or pull up my downline list.
I don't check my podcasts downloads. I'm do not work on Sundays and it is so freeing and it gives me so much fuel again, to take on the week. So the first way for you to find rest in your business is the Sabbath. The second way is to take intentional breaks. Or fast, if you want to call it. In your business.
And so that might look like my friend, Jackie Richards, who took a month off of social media about, I guess, a year and a half ago. It could look like you. ~Um, ~you know, maybe fasting from a certain aspect of your business for a certain seasons. It could look like you taking a break from doing the weekly trainings that you do for your team. But taking time, whether it's for a week or one week out of the month or [00:15:00] one month out of the year or whatever that looks like taking the time to, to set an intentional break for your business. Can be a huge way for you to get rest kind of reset and really think like, okay, wait, is this thing that I'm doing something that I actually need to be doing?
Is it contributing towards my team? Or towards the growth in my personal business, or is this some kind of expectation that I'm doing because somebody else does it or because I'm the only one who's even expecting myself to do this. Right. Like even for this podcast, I'm like, you guys probably didn't even know that I didn't do a podcast, but yet here I am like, oh gosh, like I didn't do a podcast who knows?
Right. Like we put these expectations on ourselves and it's okay to take a break. Okay. And it's even better when it can be done intentionally. And so that's, the number two way is to take an intentional break or an intentional fast kind of like I'm doing for this advent season, right. I'm intentionally going to be not doing any kind of content creation or setting those expectations. For my business so that I can take that time that I'd be spinning to [00:16:00] really prepare, reflect, and renew for the next year. Okay.
The last one. And this is what I've been going through. This is maybe what some of you guys listening to this are going through or something that you will go through in your business. And that is a season of like grief, a season of pain. A season of heartbreak, a season of illness. A season of maybe you have a newborn that is premature and you're having to drive back and forth and stay at the Ronald McDonald house, you know, with, with your, your preemie twins or something along those lines. We all, if you haven't had them, you are going to experience these really difficult seasons.
You might have that cancer diagnosis where you've got to do the chemo, the radiation. You might have that time where you are going through a divorce or maybe you're, you know, have a, a season with your job. That's really, really tough where there's layoffs, but you're still there. And you've got to do the job of three people.
You're going to have certain seasons in your life where you've got to give [00:17:00] yourself permission to realize that that's the beautiful aspect of this business model is you can take a break. And you can come back to it and you can feel refreshed. I am so excited that I literally got a text from one of my suite teams who is one of the most amazing leaders I have met in this business who has been walking through one of these seasons over the last few months.
And she put her head down, focused on the Lord, focused on her family and focused on her health during that season. And she sent me a text saying, Hey, I'm ready to take baby steps to get back into this today. And I'm like, yes. This is amazing. I would love to help you do that. And her timing could not be more perfect.
Well, I guess it's not perfect if I'm, but that's a bird example. It's like me not putting the mental constraints. I'm here to serve. Like I'm still here, you know, to help her in that, in that season that she's exiting so that she can now step back into the freedom of this business. And it kind of hit me and thinking about her situation and my situation. And the fact that I'm operating out of this obedience [00:18:00] and knew I was recording this podcast.
And then I was tempted to check my phone during my little Bible reading this morning, but I did it. But what was the first message after being obedient to him and getting caught back up on my daily Bible recap, reading 107 days in baby. Yes, I'm loving it. But I was so like thrilled when I looked and I saw this leader that wants to step back into this because it's like, what a blessing for her, what a blessing for me.
And we know where those blessings. Things come from. When we are obedient into what the Lord is calling us to do, even if it's in something that seems completely out of the ordinary, which is taking a rest or a break in your business. So. Having said all that. Just to tell you guys again, to set expectations.
I won't be putting new content out through likely the rest of the year, but I do encourage you. This is a great time. If you're new to the podcast and you want to go get caught back up again. I think this is episode 102, and so there's been a hundred over a hundred episodes that you can go back and listen to.
And I will [00:19:00] drop a link. In the show notes or in the description here on YouTube of the top 10 or 20? I don't know. I haven't made the list yet, but the top 10 or 20. Episodes from the beginning so that you can not necessarily have to listen from the beginning, but you can listen to the ones that seem to be hitting and resonating the most and find inspiration from those.
And so thank you guys for your grace. Thank you guys for listening. If you've even made it through this far, thank you for subscribing and reviewing and doing all the things to support me in this, because it really is something that I feel is a calling from the Lord and it is something I absolutely will continue doing. ~Um, ~in the new year.
So I hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas, a wonderful advent season and a very happy new year. And I will see you guys again in 2024, and I already have some ideas for the things that we're going to be doing and discussing and all the things so get excited and I'm grateful for all of you. Love you so much. Bye.
