Ask Me Anything addresses: Holiday Stress, Being Present, Overcoming Misery of Work

up this kickoff, this week's episode of Ask Me Anything. And what a great, um, kind of time to have this, uh, Ask the Expert— ask, you know, ask— I can't speak today— Ask Me Anything, only because of the fact that we just left November and we're going into the final month of the year and everybody is getting ramped up. Um, for 2022, the new year. So, uh, you've given me some very thought-provoking questions that you really wanted to get some answers to, get some strategies and tips and advice on. And, uh, therefore this should be a good conversation. If you continue to have questions that you haven't been able to get, get addressed, then, uh, feel free to call into me live, 1-818-572-2910. You can go over to Facebook onto our Shedding the Bitch page and post your questions there. Uh, you could even join me, um, on Shedding the Bitch Facebook page. You could join me in our video live stream that we're doing, uh, and you can leave a comment in, in that post as well, which I would see right here through StreamYard. So there's a lot of different ways that you can reach out and make sure that you are getting the support and the help that you need and deserve in order to really continue moving forward. And especially, uh, the questions that you've given me, uh, for this month's episode is really ensuring that you also have a fabulous, fabulous, um, holiday season. So we definitely want to make sure that you're taken care of. I'm just going to glance over at our various spots. Just to make sure that we're not missing anybody. And like I said, if you wanted to speak to me live, you can certainly do that, 1-818-572-2910, or go out onto our Facebook page and leave a post or a question there within either one of the posts that are there, there for the video and/or the audio stream. Okay, um, but before we get started, of course I always have to thank our new and ongoing listeners and viewers. You are certainly helping us to really grow the Shedding the Bitch, uh, podcast and videocast out on our YouTube channel, and we so greatly appreciate that. And it doesn't hurt that you're liking, tweeting, resharing, uh, subscribing— key point, subscribing— you're rating Um, and you're leaving us feedback as far as the topics you want to hear about and the experts you want to learn from. So that's always a beautiful, beautiful thing. So feel free to continue to do so. Um, all right, so let me just glance across the board here. All right, so as we get started, I definitely need to thank our sponsors. Uh, North Georgia Tax Solutions, um, is a full-service tax and a financial services company who, uh, serve small to corporate size clients all around the country. And so if you go to ngtaxsolutions.com, you can learn all about them, Debbie Snelling, who's the leader of that organization, and everything that they do to really help you feel confident and secure in your business and personal financial and tax services, uh, areas. All right, so feel free to reach out at ngtaxsolutions.com. I also want to thank our newest sponsor, Up Top Roofing of Atlanta. Jay and his team are just fabulous. I've been working with him at my home for probably a good 6 or 7 years, and he recently came to me and said, hey, I've been following you and your Shedding the Bitch podcast and videocast for some time now. Would love, love, love to support you. And so he and his team are our latest sponsor, and they provide fabulous, excellent, 10-star, uh, service for any of your roofing and other home services needs. So please reach out to them at up-toproofingofatl@yahoo.com. Um, all right, so today is Ask Me Anything, basically taking your questions, stories, and challenges and trying to give you some tips, advice. Sometimes, sometimes I have to give you some tough love now, um, but it's all in love, it's all in love. Uh, so please be sure to, um, post your questions, call into me, um, and I will do my best, whether it's live right now or when, when I get off. Um, and I will get with you directly is how I go about this. I'll get to you directly with some tips and advice and strategies and recommendations and anything else you might need to address your question. At the same time, I bring them right here into the Shedding the Bitch pod and videocast the first Tuesday of every month because most likely someone else out there is also having that same question or dealing with that same challenge. So today what we're going to talk about are 3 questions which I'll summarize and then we'll break into. One is going to be, uh, which I expected, how to have a stress-free holiday season. Who doesn't want that? Who doesn't want that? So we're going to talk about that. And then at the same time, and it's a great segue, is someone asked me, Bernadette, how can I be present in the moment so I don't lose, you know, this holiday season and everything that it brings with, with me, good, bad, or indifferent? How do I remain present in the moment so I can get the most out of every experience? And then lastly, I want to really provide some guidance for anyone who might be struggling with a work decision or a business decision. And, uh, Sally in this particular case wants to know about what she could be doing to reconcile the fact that she's miserable in the entrepreneurial work that she's doing. She's struggling and she's considering just kind of letting it go and going back and finding a full-time employed job. So I definitely want to be able to provide some tips and advice in regards to that. Okay, so those are the questions that we have. However, again, 1-818-572-2910 if you want to call in with any questions that you might have or a challenge that you might be having. At the same time, you can go to our Shedding the Bitch Facebook page, Twitter page, as well and post your question there. And I am kind of bouncing back and forth to ensure that we don't miss anyone's questions or comments or challenges. And at the same time, let me just look here. I'm looking in the chat because you can always go to blogtalkradio.com/sheddingthebitchradio for this particular episode, scroll down, and there's a chat function there. Um, and you can always leave your comments there or your questions there as well. Okay, all right, so let's get into this. So the first question that I got was around how to make this a stress-free season, and quite honestly, it comes down to your decision about what it is you want from this holiday season. So it's totally in your control. Now, are there external factors that could come in and sabotage or, or try to sabotage, um, that stress-free experience that you have? Absolutely. But everything that we react to, everything that we, uh, respond to, everything that we do is in our control. Regardless if there's tons of stress coming at us or tons of happiness coming at us, how we respond to, to that is going to be totally in our control. So, um, keeping that in mind, here are a few tips that I would, that I would just focus on. All right, the first one would be set an intention for this holiday season. All right, just like you might set an intention or even a goal for any part of your business or life throughout the year, set an intention of what is it you want to get out of you know, this holiday season. I love Sally's whole question about how do I stay present so I can really get the most out of, you know, the— her experiences throughout the season. Um, it's, you know, it's kind of touching on the same thing, that set an intention. If you want to make this a stress-free, joyful, full experience that you're in this— in Sally's case, present for, then set that intention. It's almost as if you're defining your why and really understanding your why as to why do you want a stress-free holiday season. Well, it sounds obvious, right? But a lot of people don't walk around going, well, I— because I really want to, you know, I really want to fully experience everything throughout the smells, the touches, the the smiles, the glances, the conversations and dialogues, the just the overall experiences. I want to, you know, I want to experience, I want to be there, and I want to be able to walk away and take those memories with us. And, you know, and oftentimes we don't necessarily set an intention. And the next thing you know, you know, January 10th comes around and we look back going, what the hell just happened to the last, you know, 3 months? You know, starting with Thanksgiving, maybe it was Hanukkah, um, going into the new year. So set your intention of what it is you want out of this holiday season. All right, that would be my first thing. Now, a lot of times though, um, what creates a lot of the stress, uh, for individuals, especially if you're parents with kids, let alone if you're also maybe the, the, um, home base for whatever celebration is happening. Um, you might be then responsible for the decorating of the house, the cooking, the preparation, so the hosting, so forth and so on. All of that— shopping for kids— can create a great deal of stress. So what I would also suggest that you do is you come up with a plan and a budget for what it is you're going to do from the start of the season, whatever date that is that you're defining it, through to the end, even post-season, when it comes to those bills coming in or those thank you notes you want to be sending out, or what, you know, the follow-ups that you want to do, um, from, you know, the, the, uh, several months that you were experiencing your holiday season. Plan it and then budget it, especially because, you know, one thing that we are totally in control of And yet we, you know, oftentimes we'll just get weighed down by sometimes regret that we didn't have a budget and we overspent and we spent money we don't have. And now we're going to be kind of raking in the, you know, interest fees and so forth and so on. And that just creates going into a new year that should be like, woohoo, it's a new year. We're kind of like, crap, I don't want— I don't want the 10th of January to come around and I start getting all those bills. So plan and budget and stick with it. Now, as far as when it comes to those of you with young children and Santa Claus, um, you know, you might have conversations with them, you know, even expressing the fact that, you know, Santa Claus may not, you know, bring as many gifts as he has in the past, you know, based on whatever budget it is that you're planning. So, you know, you could— you plan and budget, you could communicate to those around you as far as what that— your plan and your budget is. And then what you want to be able to do is to say no throughout the season. And what I mean by that is say no to going over budget, say no to overcommitting yourself with whether it's other people's holiday parties, whether it's what you're signing up to do for your own holiday parties or, you know, holiday celebrations, saying no to kind of work obligations or errand obligations. You know, this is a great time to just kind of scale down, scale back, and find a lot of white space in your week. Find a lot of openings of, you know, empty time that you have for yourself or for what it is that you want to be doing, not what it is that everybody else is expecting of you. All right. And again, whether it's, you know, with a large family, whether it's with children, whether it is with a big job of work, whatever the commitments might be and whatever your life might look like, try to simplify and scale it down. All right. Keep it simple, silly. And really just say, all right, if my intention is to have a stress-free, joyful, present holiday season, what is that going to take? And what decisions do I need to make about it? What plans do I need to put into place? What budget is going to leave me feeling good? Um, and I'm gonna divert for a minute because I saw a poll. It just hit me. I saw the poll on LinkedIn about what, you know, people's budgets were going to be for this, for, for this Christmas. They were specifically asking about, and they didn't even give an option less than $1,000. So the options were, if I remember correctly, um, $1,000 to $2,000, $2,000 to $3,000, $3,000 to $5,000, $5,000 plus.. And now I don't have children, I'll own up to that. Um, but I was sitting there thinking to myself, is it joyful for me? Because many people can afford to without ever, ever fearing a bill, but many people can't. So is, is that going to be— bring me joy to spend $1,000, $2,000, $5,000 during a season on gifts that may or may not last more than the holiday season. And that smile or that hug or that thank you, you know, might be very short-lived. So is it kind of necessary, mandatory, that I make that type of investment, that type of commitment? And if your answer when you ask yourself that question is no, then that comes, comes also to saying no, to feeling as if you have to meet expectations of others, um, in order to feel good about yourself. And therefore, if, if it is a stretch, if it is going to put you in a place that you're going to be regretting those bills in January, um, you know, and if it is going to leave you, um, more lacking a joyful holiday season, then this is also going to be a time to keep it simple, silly, and to kind of forget what expectations other people have, including those around you, including those you love, including those children. And do something, do something original, do something different, do something creative that will leave everyone happy and full, fulfilled and complete at the end of the season. Because nothing's worse than going into a new year just burdened, um, with decisions and actions, um, that you truly, truly didn't, didn't feel and didn't, um, enjoy. Okay, um, so set an intention, plan and budget, say no, and really be thoughtful to that. Uh, keep it simple silly. So the KISS method. And then again, be present. And we're going to touch on this with, uh, Sally's question, but to be present, just to slow down, get still, and really just take in every encounter, every event, every experience, every conversation, um, that is happening with you, around you, for you, so then you can walk away with great memories and, and a great, um, sense of joy coming out of this very chaotic, crazy, but fun-filled, joyful time. All right, um, okay, so those are some tips, um, in regards to how you can really kind of have a stress-free holiday season. Now, of course, I should mention, I should throw in here that seemed to have been an accident outside my window somewhere. Okay. It's a, sorry about that. I just wanted to make sure like something wasn't falling on top of my, my head. So that also means that Apart from saying no and setting an intention and doing planning and budgeting, and, and a lot of that is for you, but it's also for maybe your family unit as well. Also take time to have some self-care throughout the season. Take some time to step away and get some reading done or get some journaling done, meditation, yoga, time at the gym, time with friends, you know, maybe a massage, pedicure, manicure, but not in the chaos of reacting in, you know, in preparation for something, but more so that it's again intentional and it's well planned out. Yes, I am going to, um, you know, on this day and this date, or at least this week and the following week, I'm going to X, and it's just for me in order for me to get my head and, and mind and body in a great place to take in the holiday season. So So I didn't want to overlook that as we were talking about how to have a stress-free holiday season, because a lot of it starts with you. And just like they say in an airplane, put the mask on yourself first before helping others. Take care of yourself first and everyone else will be taken care of as well. Okay. All right. I'm just going to jump around here for just a second, just to make sure of any questions or chatter. Is happening. All right, so the next question, like I had mentioned, um, is a great segue from that first, and it's all about how do I— um, let me make sure I get the— get it right— how to be present in the moment. So how can I be present in the moment? And I'll add from the first question, so I can really take in and enjoy, uh, this holiday season, but actually anytime, um, you know, going forward, just how to be present. Well, I was thinking about this the other day as I was driving up to play pickleball. Um, I've been working on being present for a good couple of years now. I didn't really even think about, you know, the work that it takes and the intention that's required in order to really be present, really be right now, nowhere else mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, nowhere else but right here, right now. And I, you know, I would hear about, you know, being present and, um, um, Eckhart Tolle's book, um, you know, um, be, uh, present now. But I just never really connected with it until this past year and a half, 2 years, I would say. And the one thing I recognized, and the one thing I go back to on a regular basis— so it would be my first tip, uh, to Sally around this— is an easy way to practice what it feels like, looks like, means to be present is, um, I was driving up to play pickleball one morning, and one of the locations I have to play is about a 25-minute drive, and it's just highway, just highway. So of course, how many of you have been able to kind of like get in your car, get behind the wheel, get on the highway, and it's like cruise control, and you get somewhere and go, I don't even know how I got here, because you were lost in your thoughts and in whatever was going on between your two ears. And I am, you know, guilty of that time and time and time and time and time and time and time again. But one exercise that I do very simply in order to really practice being present is when I am doing that type of drive, or I'm doing anything that kind of is, is almost singular you know, here, you know, driving up a highway is just really singular. You're right there. Um, you know, I turn off music so that's not a distraction anymore. Um, if it's sunny out, because I am having eye problems right now, so that came to mind, I, I pull down the visor so, you know, it's kind of shaded and it takes out any kind of agitation from any extra light that's going on. But what I'll do is I will just get still, even though I'm, you know, hands on the wheel driving. And I will just really pay attention to the cars driving by, to where they're situated. Not only because, you know, to ensure that they are not hitting me or that I'm not hitting them, but more so just, okay, what kind of cars are on the road? What color are they? How fast or slow are they moving? What are the billboards along the highway and what do they really say? What do they really mean? What are they trying to convey? You know, you know, what buildings are going up and construction is happening and, you know, there's tons of new roads and off-ramps going in all around Atlanta. But, you know, so where's this new road going to lead? And so I just really kind of internalized my, my drive and use my drive to kind of really be present to pick out out, like, read the highway sign, um, and pay attention to, to, um, kind of what, um, other, other activities are happening around. It could be a plane flying over, it could be a, um, it could be a crash on the side of the road without, you know, kind of causing issue on with— for me, but at least like, you know, kind of be Cognizant, present in regards to what it is that you're experiencing. And this just happened the other day where I was feeling very much in my head and I was driving up to Pickleball. So I just said, okay, wait, pull back, pay attention. What street, you know, what, or what road sign is coming up? What exit is coming up? What cars are around me? Um, you know, what is basically happening around me? What am I thinking? What am I not thinking? Um, and really focusing it on the drive again, just to kind of be right there and be present. So one tip I would provide is use kind of driving down the street, um, you know, as a way of reining in and taking away all the distractions of really focusing on what it is you're doing at that moment in time. It could be the same as Right now I'm sitting here at this, at this desk looking into this camera, talking with you about this subject. And apart from the only agitation and distraction right now are the lights that are irritating my eyes right now, and I'm forcing myself to keep my eyes open and wide. Is, you know, that's all I'm, you know, kind of that's distracting me apart from being very present with you right now in this moment and only focusing on what it is I need to get done right now and for the next how many minutes. So again, you know, there's a lot of different, different events and activities and experiences that you have in any given day. And what you just want to do is kind of just get still, get quiet, and just pay attention to what it is you're doing and what it is you should be doing. And, you know, remove everything else that might be noise around that. So then you could just focus on that person across the table. You could focus on the work that you have in front of you. You could focus on your necklace falling off. You could just be very present and experience what's happening with you, to you, for you right now. All right. Um, and, and what I would also say is, um, touching on the person across the, across the table from you or across the phone from you or across the Zoom from you, whatever the case might be, is another way to really, uh, practice and bring yourself to being present is to listen to understand. As opposed to respond. That's a great, great way to really ensure that you're being present in the experience that you're having with that other part— person, or even a party of people— is to just really focusing on listening. Listening to understand, not getting in your head to say, okay, what am I going to say next? What question am I going to ask about this? Um, how am I going to agree with it or disagree with it? How am I going to put my— put myself and insert myself into this thing that I'm hearing about so then, you know, the attention's put on me? Remove all of that and just simply sit and listen to understand what you're being told. And that will also— you'll all of a sudden find yourself like Oh my gosh, I am actually right here right now. I'm not in my head, I'm not even in my heart. I'm just, I'm just right here right now. And it just feels so— I don't even know the word I'm looking for right now, but it's just so real. Not surreal. It's just so real, so tangible. So alive because I am— I've removed everything else around me and I'm just focused on, on what is happening right now. So if you want to, um, practice being present, I, I'll be the first to say it didn't come easily or naturally to me. Over the last year and a half, 2 years that I've been practicing it. I use those things like my drive or sitting at my desk or even sitting on the couch, whether I'm, you know, maybe watching TV or playing with Coco or doing some work, you know, I'm out with friends. I just kind of bring myself into really intentionally being self-aware that I want to be present and experience exactly what is happening. So I'm not losing— you're not losing so much time in your life because you're not fully present and experiencing it. And then the next thing you know, you know, um, you know, come January 10th, you look back going, oh my gosh, where did— where did the whole holiday season go? Like, what did I do? What did I feel? What did I experience? You can experience it and take it with you by really practicing being present. So I invite you to, to tackle that. Um, okay. So our last question so far doesn't mean that you can't be calling in, and I'm going to check that line as a matter of fact, because I don't have Deborah with me. Um, but I will check that line to see if anything is happening in our chat room. Um, but if you, uh, at any point in time, not just when we're live, have a question or a story or a challenge that you need help with, you can always go to especially Shedding the Bitch on Facebook and post your question there. You can DM me, uh, you can even go to LinkedIn, which is where a majority of you come, uh, to reach out to me and send me a note. And post your question, story, or challenge, and I will certainly, certainly get back with you, um, in regards to it with some tips and advice, some recommendations, some strategies, whatever the case might be. Sometimes, sometimes tough love. All right, um, okay, so our last question for the moment, um, is a question regarding which, you know, always pains me is regarding, uh, I'm realizing that entrepreneurship isn't for me. What do I do? Now, one thing that really jumped out at me when it came to this question is something I experienced, uh, 12 years ago when I left corporate and I was going to go out on my own. Um, I immediately— I, I would say within a month I immediately, I hired a business broker, I hired a franchise consultant, and then I hired just a, um, a business coach that could actually help me kind of evaluate what it is that I want to do and where I would best fit and so forth and so on. Um, now a business broker would be, uh, was out there looking for a business that I could buy that already existed, and then I would just, you know, be purchasing it. The franchise consultant, the same. What franchises are out there that I could be, um, that I could be, uh, considering to purchase to make whatever business it is that I wanted to do, um, much easier? Because franchises, they're, they're there because they have proven systems and frameworks and methodologies and processes that basically, you know, they hand you a box maybe not literally, but they hand you a box and you're set to go in establishing a business. And then they might have a support and infrastructure in order to really ensure that you're successful. So, and then the business coach was predominantly sitting me down, going through, you know, what it is that I would want to do and how it is I would want to do it, and therefore give me advice and direction as far as making that decision. What type of business I would want to start. So, um, the one thing that I loved about the franchising due diligence I was doing, and this is the first tip that I would give anyone if they are struggling with either making the decision to go out on your own, or you went out on your own, you're trying to decide if you made the right decision. Decision. Uh, what they do is they actually send you through a series of assessments to determine if you're a good fit, not only for franchising but for entrepreneurship. Now, the difference between those two, which I won't spend a lot on the franchising aspect, but I definitely want her to focus on the entrepreneurial side of it. But from a franchising perspective, Uh, somebody who buys into a franchise, like I said, they pretty much hand you a box with a brand of their franchise, of the business, um, of the standard practices and procedures and operations that they want you to follow, um, as well as the products and services that go along with it and any kind of intellectual property that you might need. You're basically handed everything, to then go and start that business. So there isn't a lot of room for kind of creating your own business. There's not a lot of, um, innovation you could be doing in that structure because franchising is proven. You know, that business has created a proven, established success model, and they've packaged it up and they offer it out as a way of getting into business for yourself easily. Um, now that's not for everybody, you know. For that person who's truly an entrepreneur, who loves to create, who loves to test, who loves to, you know, innovate, it might not be a good fit for them. Um, so that's why I just absolutely love how they do that type of assessment in order for you to understand that from the get-go. So the first thing that I would talk to her about is, um, and anyone who may be struggling with, oh, I started this business and now I'm not really happy with it, is whether or not, um, you know, you really did an assessment and really understand whether or not entrepreneurship is for you. Um, and it may not even be a franchise, so we're even going to kind of put that aside for now. But the one thing I find 9.5 out of 10 new business owners don't really think about or recognize, or they, they just don't know what they don't know when they start their business, is the fact that— forget you're the, you're the singular person taking care of everything when you first start. Unless you have the money to invest to all of a sudden have the team from the very beginning, 99% of business owners start as solopreneurs, and therefore they're responsible for every function within a business. Now, the biggest function that a good majority of you, even when you're new, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years into your business— because I work with predominantly 3-plus years of business owners, um, the, the primary thing that most struggle with is the selling. And I'll back selling up all the way from, you know, prospecting, lead gen, all the way into selling, asking for the sale, and closing the sale. And a good majority don't really consider that when they decide to go out on their own. Now there's not, you know, it doesn't mean that you can hire a salesperson from the very beginning to do that work for you, but like I said, the good majority, you know, are solopreneurs at the beginning and then they start hiring as they're growing. Um, so what I really would want someone who's struggling about realizing that entrepreneurship might not be for them is I would really want them to look at Um, did they do the due diligence of whether or not working for themselves, um, was kind of in their DNA? Okay, not to say it can't be learned, but is in their DNA. And if they haven't, then before they throw it away, I would have them do that. I would have them, you know, go through a process of doing due diligence to really understand what is it about entrepreneurship that they were attracted to. What is it about entrepreneurship that creates a struggle for them? What is it about entrepreneurship, being on their own, that they see as opportunities but also see as major roadblocks? The next thing I would have them do is, of all of those answers, what do they feel that they can, can solve and take care of, even invest in? But what can't they? And maybe the can't is because they really don't want to. Um, because if they don't want to, that'll give them an indication that, yeah, maybe this isn't for me. But if they want to, they just don't know how to, or they don't have the money to— well, that's— that can be solved. That can be solved. So then I would want them to really kind of think about, um, of what it is that they're doing. Do they no longer have a, you know, an aching for it? Because trust me when I say, any business owner will tell you, you know, you have to ache for what it is that you do to keep going every day. Because we all have— I don't care how successful you are, um, we all have highs and we have lows, we have struggles and we have easy journeys. Um, but we need to have an aching to do what we do in order to keep going through all of that. So I would, you know, really want to make sure that she kind of considers what's changed since she started the business, since, you know, she's been going on. Is it just because the fact that it's not happening the way she expected? Okay, well, that's solvable too, because the next question I would ask is, all right, so what have you done? What ha— what did you need to do? What haven't you done? All right, so what ha— you know Or what did you need to do? What have you done? What haven't you done? Because again, it can be solved if you're not doing what's needed to build the business that you want and to keep you from struggling and to keep you from kind of all of a sudden disliking what you're doing. Well then, let's solve it, okay? As opposed to walk away from it. Now, what, you know, the next thing I would do is have them really consider What, um, what motivation do they have for potentially putting it aside and taking on a new job, uh, an employed job, I should call it? Because again, life changes, priorities change, and sometimes situations call us to kind of walk away from what it is we really wanna be doing, even temporarily, in order to X, Y, and Z— take care of the family, pay the bills, get out of debt, be able to, you know, go back to school, whatever the— whatever the why is. And it may change the priorities of what it is that we're doing when we're doing it. So again, you know, no, I'm not here to judge. No one should be judging anybody, but they want to take a really hard look at You know, what's changed? Is there something now that is saying that I need more stability, certainty? I need more, um, more of, of a foundation with an employed job than being out on my own. Yes, I can solve all the problems that I may or may not have within, in the business that I have, even, even still loving it. I might even just like it right now, but know that I could be loving it again if I took care of some things. But maybe you're, you're in a situation where, with all that said, I need something different right now, and therefore I'm not writing it off, you know, forever. I just need to do this now. And again, with— without judgment. That is something that they need to ask, consider, and make a decision on. All right. Um, and then, you know, I certainly would want someone who is struggling about their entrepreneurial journey, considering going and finding employment. I would then also really, you know, ask them, okay, so what is it you want to be doing in a in an employed position with a salary, what is it you want to be doing? Because what you don't want to do is go from one misery to another. Um, because you might think, well, I'm going from not having stability with a consistent paycheck to having a consistent paycheck. But trust me when I say, not all money is good money. It could be very painful money, stressful money, miserable money. Um, and you know, after taxes and everything else, it could be little money. So again, you really want to ensure that whatever decision is made, if you are considering a change, what do you want that change to look like? And really understand it because you want to ensure that if you're going after an employee job, for instance, in this case, that you're finding one that you really want, that is going to give you all— if not all, but majority of what it is that you need right now at this point in time of your life. So do the work to really understand kind of where you are, where you want to go, what you need to do to get there, um, and you know, the rest should take care of itself. And if the decision is yes, I'm going to put my entrepreneurial journey aside with the option to come back to it because of this, you know, short or long-term decision that I need to make. Well, then that's, that's your decision, and, and you won't have to struggle about it if you just take time to really understand why are you unhappy, what has changed since you went on that journey, um, and where do you need to go, and you know what you need to do to get there. Okay, um, so I hope that is helpful, uh, to anyone when it comes to, um, kind of what, what it is. I'm not sure why I brought that up. What it is that, um, you might be, you might be dealing with and working on and needing to make decisions about. Okay, um, but let me just take a look and ensure because I am open to answering as many questions as you provide and you want to give, um, and ensure that you have what you need as you move forward. Um, but it doesn't look like we do. Um, so, uh, I will leave you with Just know that anytime you do have a question or a challenge, or you want to share your story, then, you know, kind of swallow your pride, be okay with asking for help and support. Recognize that we all, every single one of us, need someone or a group to, uh, to lean on and to get, get the answers, get the tips, get their advice, get the recommendations, get the strategies, get the tough love that, uh, is needed in order to move forward. You're not in this alone, um, no matter how, how much you may feel, uh, all the— all it takes is reaching out and seeking someone's support. And I just know within the Shedding the Bitch community, you always have us here to help you with whatever you need in order to, um, help you create riches in your work and your life. All right. Now this is the last Ask Me Anything episode of 2021. Can you believe it? But we will continue with this as we move forward into the new year. And so please continue to come out onto the Shedding the Bitch Facebook page, Twitter page, or send me messages on LinkedIn as you always do. With what, what you might be confronted with, and, uh, allow me and even my network of experts to help. Because if I can't answer it, I'm going to find someone who can. So again, don't hesitate to reach out and get your support. And I will see you very soon back here on another episode of Shedding the Pitch Radio, Tuesday of next week, as a matter of fact. Um, so for NG Tax Solutions, for Up Top Roofing of Atlanta. And for everyone within the Shedding the Bitch community, have a rich and prosperous week, and I'll talk with you soon. Bye.