Can I Swim?

No squats, no lunges, no jogging!”

My doctor's orders were clear. “Stay off that ankle!”

“Can I go swimming?” I asked with hope.

“Yes! Swimming is okay,” he said. 

This is the epitome of the “what can I do” attitude that I work on with my clients. Maybe I can’t walk around the City right now, or take a cardio kickboxing class, but I can certainly tread water and even “jog” in the pool, getting my daily exercise in by doing one of my favorite activities anyway. A win/win.

You have to get creative. When you feel like all you can do is tread water in your business, just keep moving. And eventually, that treading turns to swimming and even into diving. 

Simply ask yourself, how can I make this work? What CAN I do? There are always options. 

Sometimes, it’s a change in direction that’s needed. When you are walking around a pool and the water is all flowing in one direction and things seem so in sync, that’s what your day-to-day business life might feel like. 

As long as everything is moving well, no need to shake it up, right? 

Well, that could be the answer, but sometimes, it might actually be time to go against the current, try something new or make a change, which is hard at first, but everything ends up flowing nicely again in the end. And the resistance to it is all up to you. You can push through or you can let it push you back the other way. 

When you look in the water, sometimes you can see your reflection and August is a great month to do some reflections in your business. What are you working on? Is it moving along? What is stopping you? What challenges keep coming up? Where do you need to adjust or change course? Are you playing big or small? 

Here are three things I suggest to get on your calendar for August:

-Schedule 1:1 calls with anyone that has been on your follow-up list for the past few months, sometimes life gets busy and this is the time to jump back in and take action.

-Reconnect with your team, remember the value in your people, see if you can help them in an way as you all move forward in your business together. This is an opportunity to do 1:1 meetings without an agenda to check in on the person, not just their responsibility in their role.  

-Take some days for mental health breaks - go to the spa, visit family, sit on the beach, read on your porch, savor coffee at a local shop, buy a new pair of shoes, whatever brings you joy, it is the time when we slow down that great ideas and opportunities often present themselves.