Setting Yourself Up for Success

If you’ve read my blog for a while you may know that I call my tribe Soul Rebels. The name came to me during a mastermind session with my own coach and peers a couple of years ago. My coach asked who in the room was a rebel and I was the only one who didn’t raise my hand. She called me on it and made me realize that I was a rebel (freedom loving non-conformist) hiding behind responsibility.

You see all my life I had been the responsible person in my family, at school, at work. I took on that role because I feared what my life might be like without the order and structure. To me responsibility and freedom were opposites and if I’m being quite honest I was afraid of being free (I still am to some extent). I thought what if I love freedom so much that I just run away and never come back?

At the same time I’ve rejected anything that felt too restricting or boring like working a 9-5 job or committing to, well, anything. I know I contradict myself – it’s complicated, but can you relate? In the end I found myself in a state of Chaotic Responsibility. Chaotic Responsibility is the practice of rushing to deal with external problems as they arise in order to feel valuable and productive. This type of responsibility does not move you forward toward your dreams. Instead it gives you some of the highs of freedom and some of the stability of responsibility but it’s really neither.

But there is hope. I’m discovering ways to intentionally be both free and responsible and create success in life and business.

Build structures and systems to support your life so all you have to do is flow.

It’s all about embracing and balancing structure and flow, responsibility and freedom. I’ve been working at creating my own ritual (system) that allows me to get sh*t done while choosing what I want to include in my life.

You may own your own business or work for someone else. You may be a stay at home mom or a single nomad. The Soul Rebel Success Ritual will help you to align yourself with your activity at hand so you can achieve better results.

Soul Rebel Success Ritual

1. Visualize – Spend a few moments visualizing your long term goal or big dream. Really feel as many details as you can and get excited about your future. Then switch to visualizing yourself at the end of today. See yourself completing tasks and feeling accomplished.
2. Prioritize – There are many ways to prioritize your to do list. I prefer to use the Kanban method because it gets all my lists out of my head and presents them as options. Then each day I am free to intentionally choose which projects are most important.
3. Get present – This is a process of removing distractions so you can focus on being productive. Consider all your five senses and your environment and find ways to align them. For instance I love using Focus@will with my headphones to focus my mind. I might work at a clean table with fresh flowers or go to a coffee shop to get away from personal distractions like dishes and laundry.
4. Flow – Let your creativity loose and just do your thing. It’s important to not censor yourself in the creative process. You can go back later to edit your work, but for now just let your soul express itself.
5. Break and Celebrate – The mind can only focus on one thing for so long before it loses efficiency. So I take a break every half hour or so to do something completely different. If I’ve been on the computer then I get up and do something active for about 5-10 minutes. If I’ve been doing a physical activity then I allow myself a few moments to sit and do something in a mental space. At this time I allow myself a treat (whatever that may be) to celebrate.
6. Flow again – In order to keep momentum going, get back to the creative mode and start flowing again. The more you express yourself in a project the more inspiration will come to you. Trust me.

Everyone is different. Your path to success may look different but a good balance of structure and flow is sure to get you there. What structures and rituals do you have to achieve success in your life or business? Or if you don’t currently have any, what about today’s post might you be encouraged to start? Share below!

This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 5