Coffee Talk [March 2018]

Hi, love! How’s it going? I hope you’re doing well. I pretty much looked up one of these days and realized I hadn’t posted a Coffee Talk post in quite a bit! Whoops! I really love sharing these old-school, catch up style posts with you. So hopefully you enjoy them, too.

If you’re new to Coffee Talk posts around here, I share 5 things with you each month to either catch you up on what’s going on over here at Sam Vander Wielen LLC or to share really helpful resources for you to run your business.

This month I’m sharing links I love, morning routine tips, a note on setting your own schedule, and a sneak peek at a special project I’m working on for you behind the scenes!

So let’s go!

1 // Links I Love

Simi’s helping all of us realize that if we keep practicing, we too could be The Next American Idol.

Cameron’s reminding us to surrender to chilling instead of doing all the time. This one’s for you if feel go-go-go all the time.

Paige teaches us an awesome visualization technique to help improve our confidence. Who doesn’t need that?!

My dream? To stay in all 7 of these quirky hotels in Amsterdam, my favorite city.

The French’s secret to creating a beautiful boudoir.

How to set work related intentions each AM, with the CEO of Juicero.

2 // Setting Your Own Work Schedule

One of the things that’s been on my mind lately — especially as I realize more and more how non-linear this entrepreneurship thing is — is how as entrepreneurs, we’re in the driver’s seat when it comes to our schedule.

My dear friend Simi wrote in her Facebook community, Beautifully Imperfect, last week about seeing things on our calendar as choices and opportunities, instead of obligations.

One of the things I’m learning to do as an entrepreneur is design and set my weekly schedule to be one that works best for me.

Of course, I consider what’s best for my clients and their needs. But in terms of how I choose what days to have coaching sessions vs. what days are content writing, or what time I start work each morning, or whether I choose to run errands during the day and work later that night — that part’s all up to me.

One of my entrepreneur friends told me the other day that she enjoys slow mornings, but she feels pressured to sit down and get to work by 8:30am or 9am. Sometimes, when we leave the corporate world from entrepreneurship, these old, arbitrary ‘rules’ stick with us for a bit.

You can design your own schedule as an entrepreneur. There are SO many difficult parts about running your own business. You better as heck be taking advantage of the benefits (i.e., setting your own schedule).

I realized a month or two ago that I really enjoy my slow mornings. I like to workout, have coffee, eat breakfast, journal, meditate, etc.

3 // Morning Routines

I thought I’d share my little morning routine with you, in case you’re looking for an idea of something you could do before work each day.

Lately, I wake up and don’t look at my phone or check any notifications when I get up. I can’t tell you just how helpful this has been to how I start my day. I started plugging my phone in wayyyyy across the room from me, and I commit to myself that I won’t check work email (and especially social media) until after I’ve had some quiet time.

I head down to my little cozy nook in my office, complete with a comfy chair, ottoman poof and this lamp from Target (that totally warmed up the space), and quickly open the Insight Timer app on my phone.

I like the guided meditations on Insight! If you’re someone who’s new to meditation, or has tried it before and thought you were “bad” at it, then I’d highly recommend giving some of the guided meditations on Insight a try! I love that A. the app is free and B. you can pick from thousands and thousands of recorded meditations, which you can sort by the amount of time you have to meditate, your goal, or even by topic.

After I meditate for about 10 minutes, I pull out my journal and jot down answers to the following:

• 3 realistic to-do’s I can do today
• 3 things I’m grateful for today
• 3 affirmations I’d like to remind myself of today
• 1 sentence from my future bio

I’m finding that kind of structure really helpful because it feels like a well rounded approach to organizing my mindset in the morning. I’m all about staying flexible — so if there’s a day where free writing feels more in alignment, then I do that. If there’s a day where I only have time for meditation and not journaling (or vice versa), I do that.

Something is better than nothing, at least for me.

On days where I have a little extra time, or I’m willing to make room for it, I spend about 10 extra minutes reading a chapter from a self-development related book. Something like You Are A Badass At Making Money, Think and Grow Rich, Big Magic, or The Fire Starter Sessions.

What’s your morning routine like? If you don’t have one already, start by thinking about what feeling you’re looking for more of in your morning. Is it slowness? Coziness? Motivation? Energy? Start from there and pick activities based around the feeling you’re going for. Try it for at least a few weeks and reflect on whether it’s helping you get where you want to go.

4 // Secret Project

I’m working really hard over here behind the scenes on a big secret project I can’t wait to share with you! All I can say about it right now is that you’re going to LOVE it if you’ve been looking to learn more about the legal info you need to know to run your own online business. Anything from how to pick a name for your business, to what an LLC is, to how to protect your business, handling your 1-on-1 client relationships, all the way down to how to legally protect your online course or group program!

You’ll hear SO much more about it soon, and I can’t wait to share it with you <3