My Unsubscribe Rate Dropped By 50% - Here Is Why...

Long story short - my kid gave me the Frozen Treatment.

Here is the long story:
This personal experience has a few poignant lessons that I hope, will open up space for you.

If you have been struggling with doing a lot of busywork but getting patchy results; if you feel like you are losing the drive; if you so want to release some blocks but can’t seem to dig your way out; if you are white-knuckling about something but have no idea why; or, if you just want to know what I did to get my recent articles to go gangbuster and halved my weekly newsletter unsubscribe rate – then there is a piece for you.

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When I first got news about our impending move, everything in my business got “out of whack.” Something was pulling me back.

I wanted so badly to do things differently, yet I got sucked back into the “old” (comfortable) way. I was going through the motion… and short on inspiration.

I was white-knuckling onto some old way of thinking that is no longer true to who I want to BE in my business. But I wasn’t able to let go of it.

The misalignment led to distraction, avoidance and numbing out with busywork that lacked focus.

I wrote out a bunch of “marketing projects” that looked good on paper but didn’t tickle me at all. They just made me feel overwhelmed and incompetent.

Then I got curious. Step back and wondered…

The impending shake-up in my personal life is affecting every aspect of my life… part of me wants to hold onto something I “know”, something I can do “with my eyes closed” in other areas of my life for safety. (In this case, in my business.)

I was looking to find comfort in the “what used to be.” I resorted to busywork that gave me the illusion of being productive in my business so I could hold on to some constant and reassurance amidst the change.

When I saw the warning signs of misalignment and distraction, I asked what’s going on at a deeper level? Why was I tensing up? Why was I trying to swim upstream?

What old beliefs and conditionings were coming up? What’s up with that white knuckle gripping and that sound of nail screeching? What is it that I was holding on for dear life?

We all have that little piece in us that resists change; that crave the comfort of certainty, of the predictable.

I realized I could not fight that part of me. It is only negative – defined as fear and resistance – if I judge them to be so.

What if I stop trying to push a boulder up a mountain and do “what’s in front of me,” and let it be “easy”?

(My old conditionings include “I have to work hard and prove that I have earned it.” So I choose some uphill battle when I default to old settings.)

What if I just surrender and stop worrying about the 108 permutations of what could go wrong? What if I stop trying to compensate the uncertainly in one area of my life with being a control freak in another?

What if… I just allow the deck to be cleared?

I dropped all the “big projects” conceived to “keep up the appearance.”

I took the time to clear the deck. Refocus. Make space. Breathe. Appreciate. One foot in front of the other. Let go of the need to over-compensate.

This could be the hardest thing for a Type-A person with a side of FOMO (me!)

Universe started to scream at me. Signs popped up everywhere…

I started running but overdid it… and ended up with Patellar tendonitis.

The body is literal – STOP running, it says. Stop running away from what truly matters. Stop chasing the bring shiny object.

The best remedy is Epsom salt bath… which means I have to SLOW DOWN, sit still, breathe and drink wine ;) for 20 minutes every evening. Jeez, that was news!

I started using essential oils to help with the swelling and inflammation. Turns out the ones that are most helpful are those I use to Release Fears – in particular, the fears of losing control and the fear of being vulnerable!!

I just spent 2.5 hours on the phone with various preschools and movers. All the logistics means I have less time to work on/in my business.

I have to get really clear on what matters. Holding onto busywork as a security blanket simply becomes not possible.

Here is the wildest bit: my kid gave me the Frozen Treatment

My 2.5-yo son never likes Frozen (he goes somewhere else when his brother watches the movie. Normally those two are inseparable.)

One morning he hummed “let it go, let it go…” when I was in the midst of asking myself, “why do I feel stuck? What do I need to release?”

He has NEVER sung that tune before, and he hasn’t since that day.

Trippy, right? I was told to just LET IT GO – doesn’t matter what “it” is!
That was it. Let the old way of doing things go. Doesn’t matter what “it” is that I have to release… because it doesn’t matter!

Often times we rehash and dissect and keep beating the dead horse about what we need to release to “move forward”… but what if we just DECLARE that it’s over and move on?

Why keep digging that hole if all we want is to get the hell out?

“Any energy you’re wasting trying to get “unblocked” or to get rid of something is energy you’re not using to live.” ~ Denise Dee
 
Do I still complain about things being intentionally slow during the cosmic re-juggle? YES! My monkey mind is totally Type A and likes to go 200 mph. There are days when it feels like I am sitting on pins.

What if… I do something different this time and SIT WITH IT?

Discernment and Discipline are the secret weapon to stay on course and counter the lure of busywork.

After sitting in “limbo” for a couple of weeks, a sense of trust and peace washed over me.

The space is emerging, prepping for the next big thing. Inner knowing tells me it will unfold on its own time – strong-arming is only going to add stress and slow the process.

Am I sitting around toiling my thumb? NO! I do what’s in front of me, guided by the sense of a bigger vision, rather than micro-managing every little piece.

(Micro-managing = crimping the flow & possibilities.)

Taking the eyes off “micro-managing” and zooming out has given me a broader perspective…

It is NOT about “doing the thing”… or the “thing.”
It is about tapping into the Energy of the action.

I tossed all the planning, content marketing best practice and “oh, you gotta have a CTA for each post” stuff out the window, and just wrote. Create from the Guts.
(Caution – you have to learn the rules before you break the rules.)

The articles I wrote after this shift went gangbuster.

The unsubscribe rate to my newsletter dropped by half.

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Trust – your Soul won’t get you to sit in the fire if there is nothing good for you at the other end.