Permission to Pause as an Entrepreneur
I share with you this month from a place of choosing to pause to reflect and to bring more awareness. Navigating this life doesn’t come with its own rule book. I am learning more and more that in order for me to find my own way I must fully trust myself and I must allow my path to unfold in its own natural pattern.
I have been thinking about how important it is to check in with ourselves continuously and to choose to do things our own beautiful way. Figuring out this way in is part of the practice and process and can be extremely challenging. How do I know what my own way is when I have been trained by society, my family and culture to do it all a specific way. It can be hard to come into our own personal discernment and to figure out what truly feels aligned. I speak about this often because I believe it is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves.
So why is it so hard to take a pause?
The biggest fears we face our often our income and visibility. If I pause if I take break what will people think? Will I be relevant and how will I support myself?
Why is it so hard to take a pause when you work for yourself ? Well first let’s be honest no one is there to tell you to take a pause. Often times when we have a boss or work with other people they may encourage us to take a break or a pause but when you are working for yourself it always feels like there is something to do or accomplish and it can feel near impossible to take a pause. How do you take a pause from something that you are so passionate about and that requires you to show up continually?
I am going to be straightforward you just do and you must give yourself full permission to do it as often as you need to.
We are human beings and we are not expected to produce and be productive every moment. We all require a break. So you are going to know when you need a break AND it requires you to listen to yourself. To trust your intuition and to pause so you know what it feels like. To give yourself space to try and experience it so you understand the benefits. Taking a pause in your business cannot just be a hypothetical thought it requires you to take action to practice it so you notice how it feels for you. Maybe it isn’t actually as scary as you thought it would be. Maybe it gives you the space you needed to see and explore things from a different perspective or viewpoint. Maybe you realize it is not the right time and so you dive back in. Either way you are receiving the experiencing for yourself and in this practice and process you are gaining trust.
I thought it might be helpful to share some of the ways I have noticed for myself and with clients when they have come to a place where they feel they need a pause.
Here are some examples:
You are not motivated by the work you are doing and find yourself restless
You are feeling like everything is forced and there is no natural flow to the work you are doing.
You are comparing yourself continuously to the what other people in your industry are doing and creating judgments or viewing yourself as less worthy.
These are just a few indicators. One of the biggest indicators I have found for myself is the voice I hear inside that says, slow down or even stop. And if you are anything like me you have learned to ignore it. I have found myself often thinking this equates with laziness or lack of motivation. Why do I think I need a pause and how is that even possible. That old belief system of if we want things to work we must work hard and often but inside we know this is not true. This is just the path to burnout. We require rest and time away. We require a recharging.
It is one of the only ways we get to actually get perspective. When we step away from something when we give ourself the opportunity to pause we are able to get clear. Trusting ourselves is key and if we don’t honor the pause and give ourselves permission to take a stop we can actually harm the relationship of trust within ourselves. You know whether you really trust yourself or you don’t. If you are not listening to yourself and acting upon it then you are not really trusting yourself, it is that simple. Honoring yourself and giving yourself what you need is a continuous practice.
So let’s move into the biggest obstacle most of us face around taking a pause and that is fear. Fear of income loss and fear of visibility. I would say these are both honest and real fears.
If my income is dependent on how much I work and I choose to willing take a pause how will I support myself. Well the first thing I would say is be honest with yourself. Are you living paycheck to paycheck or do you have money saved. Is it really true that you would not be able to support yourself during a pause. If it is you may need to ask for help or explore options for yourself if you truly require a pause at this time. I do believe it is still entirely possible. Another option may be to work more and save so you can plan for a future pause and not have money be a driver.
Often times we have a fear around money that is not entirely true. It is okay to tap into your savings to give yourself a break. And it is okay to not contribute to your savings for a short time. Having perspective and and ultimately trusting yourself is most important. When we approach taking a break from a place of fear we immediately welcome in scarcity. The idea that it won’t be possible and that it won’t work out. Remember what I said earlier part of taking a break is having the experience for yourself. Seeing how you feel during the break. Evaluating your feelings and emotions and asking yourself if it was really the right time. Only you will know this for yourself and in order to do this you must at least try.
I want to provide a few ways to financially prepare yourself that may be helpful:
Understand the minimum amount of money required for you to live and feel supported during your break.
Prepare yourself by saving a small amount of money each month that can be used as emergency fund for taking a break or a pause
Ask those you trust and love in your life how they may be able to support you during this time
Most importantly have faith in your decision and trust your process for moving forward
One of the other equally challenging obstacles is our fear of visibility of being forgotten. This seems ridiculous when I say it out loud but for so many entrepreneur being seen is critical. We live in a world of social media and immediate gratification and the idea that if I am not visible in every single moment people will forget about me and they will find someone else. And the truth is maybe they will but there are many others that will not and will find a way to reach out. Giving yourself permission to take a pause and not be visible does not prevent the right people from finding and connecting with you it is simply not true. This has been the most challenging for me. I often feel the pressure to continue to show up and be seen and come back to that place of wondering what will happen if I am not. What will people think. Will I still get clients? What I have learned from own experience is that people find you when they are ready whether you are visible or not. The right people the right opportunities will find you. Taking a break and a pause does not stop this from happening.
Some ways I found that work for this:
Be clear with yourself on why you need to take a pause and honor it.
Practice releasing the false narrative that being visible 100 percent of time is even possible.
Find a balance point for yourself that feels supportive when it comes to visibility.
Have trust that the right people will find you when they are ready.
I have chosen to take breaks in my business at many different times. If I am being honest I listened to the voice inside that told me it was time. I listened to my intuition and I trusted it. Some of these breaks have given me fresh perspective and inspired creativity and some of these breaks have given me fear and uncertainty. What I know for sure is that I needed to experience them fully each and every time. I needed to learn for myself what I needed and why. My own experience mattered fully and completely. Most importantly I needed to learn to come back to the trust in myself.
To honor my humanness and to realize that my productivity and my pushing through was not going to change the outcome.
I hope you take time to pause when the time is right for you.
Let me know what resonates with you below!