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If you live in the Midwest or on the East Coast and are used to shoveling snow on a regular basis… I apologize in advance if this sounds lame.
Here in Seattle, getting 12″+ of snow is an EPIC event, worthy of 24/7 news coverage, social media hashtags (#snowpocalypse) and is the first 10 minutes of every conversation.
My kids have now missed 4 1/2 days of school and no one has killed each other.. #winning.
I’m hopeful school will reopen tomorrow, but even if it doesn’t… it’s all good. I was reminded of a few lessons that really apply to business over the last week:
Make A Plan
When I was in my mid 20’s and living in my first apartment by myself in a really hilly part of Seattle, we had a super bad snowstorm, followed by torrential rains. I usually had the following in my fridge at that time; milk, beer and maybe some carrots or a couple of containers of yogurt. I was so lucky that I could walk to a store and get what I needed, otherwise I would have been hosed. Or lost 10 lbs. Or both.
Now that I have a family, we needed to prepare. I may not have cleared out the produce section at our local grocery store, but I got lots of things that we could eat in case the power went out and stocked up our freezer. And plenty of ingredients to do some baking projects with the kids.
Same goes for my business. If I had no plan, I’d have no map getting me to where I want to be. I take time to plan every week – sometimes it’s only 30 minutes, but it helps me to stay focused on the outcome I want.
Downtime is Good
Having the kids home all the time forced me to slow down, play outside, go sledding, have fun, read a book, do a puzzle. I feel really relaxed (and maybe even a little creative).
Working all the time isn’t good for you – make time for play/white space – you may be amazed by the innovative ideas you come up with!
Community
Impromptu dinner parties, kiddo play dates and snow hill meet ups are so much easier when we aren’t all distracted by our everyday life.
We’ve had a blast with friends and neighbors and it makes me so grateful for my awesome community in my neighborhood. I know if we need help getting a car out or need to borrow something, one of our neighbors has our back.
Likewise with our BAM community – every month, women are coming together to connect, and really get to know each other and be of support. It’s been great to have more online events, so that the helpful spirit of the women can be experienced by more women across the country.
Gratitude
Every day, I’ve been so grateful that we’ve kept our power on. Almost 100,000 people in the area are not so lucky. I’m grateful for our safety and having an All-Wheel Drive car. And I’m grateful for having a home where we sleep warm and safe at night. So many people don’t have the basics.
I practice gratitude in my business, too – every day I write down the little things and the big things I’m grateful for and it continues to bring me more good.
I’d love to hear your favorite housebound strategies – feel free to share them in our Community Facebook Group (it’s free to join)!