Do You Need to SLOW DOWN? [Friday Bullpen Sessions Episode 28]

Hey. Hey. It is Friday. You know what that means? It is time for Friday Bullpen sessions. My name is Andy Neary, and this is episode 28. Today, we're going to answer this simple question. Are you moving too fast? But before we do, want to give a quick shout out to our sponsor, APN Consulting. Listen, there are far too many business owners, entrepreneurs, sales professionals out there right now that are too focused on trying to sell a product or. Or a strategy, and they're forgetting to storytell. At the end of the day, it always comes back to storytelling. It is 2000 years old, and storytelling is as important today as it was 2000 years ago when we sat around a campfire and grunted out our words. So if you know that your stories need to go to the next level, you need to be resonating with your target prospects better than you are today. Let's connect, let's jump on a discovery call. And in addition to every single week, we are running three steps to mastering your brand message to win more business. It's a webinar. Look for details. The next webinar will be coming out next week. Do not miss it if you want to take your storytelling and your message to the next level. All right, let's dive into this week's episode. Hey, are you moving too fast right now? This is a question I posed to you because this is a question that, quite frankly, slapped me in the face last week. Probably going to go a little deeper in this episode than I ever have before. You see, I've had this coaching business now for a little over a year. And on one hand, I am extremely grateful for the growth I've had. But on the other side of the coin, it has come with a lot of work, it has come with long hours. And last week, it all finally caught up to me. The exhaustion I felt both physically and mentally was like I had never experienced before. By the time the weekend rolled around, my entire body hurt.

And given the state of the world that we're in today with the coronavirus and all of the negativity, I was a little concerned. Especially when your body's hurting, you feel like you might have flu like symptoms. Where does your head immediately go today? But at the end of the day, it was exhaustion. I've been super focused every single day, getting up, playing the game every single day. And I absolutely love playing the game. But what I realized last week, and thanks to some colleagues of mine, mentors of mine, my significant other, Amy, I realized I am trying to move too fast right now. Are you trying to do the same? Are you sitting out there right now proud that you're growing, proud that you have a business? But are you also feeling really, physically and mentally tired right now? Listen, it's not hard to feel exhausted right now. Number one, with the fact that we're working in a virtual world, the energy that's coming off of our laptops by sitting on zoom calls all day, that's draining our energy to begin with. Number two, we've got all this negativity surrounding us right now, whether it's coronavirus, the race riots, whatever it might be, we are just filled right now in an atmosphere of negativity, which can also drain our systems. But could it also be that you are just trying to move too fast right now? I remember when I was pitching, whether it was in high school, college, or at the pro level, my success on the mound came down to one thing. My mechanics. If my mechanics were sound, I could make the ball go exactly where I wanted to. I could make the ball go right to the catcher's mitt, the target, my goal, and I could hit that consistently. If my mechanics were in a line, they were sound. But if I started moving too fast, if my wind up was a little too quick, and I tried to hurry up getting the ball to home plate.

It would be a lot tougher for me to hit my zone, my target. The ball would end up going all over the place. The ball would often end up a little far over the plate, not where I wanted it to, which often resulted in a negative.

Result. Right. And so every time I caught myself speeding up my delivery to home plate, I would have to pause, I'd have to take a lap around the mound, maybe talk to myself a little bit.

Wipe the sweat off my forehead, look up at the sky, take a breath, and just remember that I need to slow down. And that's a message that I needed to hear this past week. And it might be a message you are needing to hear right now. Listen, I know if you own your own business, if you're an entrepreneur, you're in sales.

Where your success is 100% based on you. It's based on your activity. It is so easy to get caught in a rut of trying to do too much right now. I've literally been doing this for over a year now. And some of you have been doing this for three years, five years, heck, a decade.

But if there's one thing that the coronavirus pandemic, the lockdown has taught us, is that we need to slow down and I thought I learned my lesson when the pandemic hit. I thought I had slowed down until this last week when that exhaustion, that mental and that physical exhaustion caught up to me. And I realized that I didn't even listen to what the universe was telling me. So my advice to you today is listen. We're all playing an extremely long game. Let's first be grateful that we get to get up every morning and play this game. If you are in a job, a career you have, a business you are absolutely in love with, you are passionate about, be extremely grateful for that because then you can truly say you'll never work another day in your life because it just becomes integrated with your life. But. But do not let it run your life.

Over this past weekend, or last week, I should say I attended a virtual workshop that completely opened my eyes to, number one, realizing how exhausted I am. And number two, it made me realize what the changes I have to make to my business and my life, if I'm going to want it to go in the direction that I want it to go, if I'm going to want that baseball to go right into the catcher's men, hit that target, hit that goal. And that's all about designing your business around your life. Quit designing your life around your business.

Are you having enough fun? Are you planning fun into your days, your weeks? Are you spending enough time with your family and your loved ones? I know I thought I could answer yes to most of these, but up until this past week, I realized a lot of those answers were one damn hard no.

And if you're finding yourself in the same predicament now, now is the time to make the changes. Now is the time to. Before you plan your meetings and all the prospecting and all the business building you have to do every week, start planning the fun in the week as well.

What hours do you want to work? Don't think about the hours you feel you have to work. Again, this is a very long game, and I preach consistency, persistency, and patience. And if you can incorporate those three things into your life and your business, you're going to be damn happy you did. But first, it starts with realizing that you need to slow down, you need to pause, be present, enjoy life.

Have as much fun in your life as you are having in your business.

This is a lesson I need to hear just as much as you do today. So my advice for you today is this, as we end this week.

Number one, again, be grateful. If you have a job, you have a business, you have a career, you are absolutely in love with you, are absolutely passionate about. Be grateful for that. But number two, I want you to start looking at your weekly calendar and I want you to look at the pockets of your calendar and are there times that you are blocking to make sure you are having fun or is it all business? 7am to 7pm and you're literally trying to just fit your life in the pockets around your business. My advice to you today is reverse engineer that, flip that on its head, start designing your business around your life. Because I know that's exactly what I did this week for the first time in a long time and I am going to keep doing that because again, this game is a lot longer than you and I think. So give yourself a little patience, give yourself a little grace and remember to have fun.

So look at your calendar as you start next week and I want you to make sure you are having just as much fun as you are having as in business. And if you do that, you're going to come out next week happier, healthier, more energized and you are going to be ready to grow your business and grow your life. Because you remember when clarity and confidence collide, action happens. So today, take that action and get some fun back in your life. And please, my last ask of you is this. If you are enjoying these episodes the Bullpen Session podcast, please go to itunes, subscribe, get a five star rating and if you know of anybody who could use these messages as well, all I ask is that you share the podcast with them as well. I'd be super grateful if you did. And until we meet again next week, have a great weekend. Remember to slow down and have a little fun. Take care.