090. What I Learned on Vacation

Welcome. I am marketing expert and business coach Melissa Kellogg Lueck. And this is the Doing Business Like a Woman podcast, where we are exploring and teaching you how women are reinventing the way business is done and money is made to help you create greater impact and financial freedom one business at a time. Well, hello, my friends. How's it going? I hope you're doing well. I am just getting back from vacation. I've missed you. I've missed you all and wanted to record this message for you and come on and talk about what I've learned on vacation and the vacation part of my vacation. Because part of my vacation, the first part was going to a conference in Dallas, the E. Women Network annual Icon Conference, which was amazing. And I will share more at another time about what I learned there. But then from there I went with my family or I met my family in Buffalo, New York, and my husband and my kiddos and we drove up to our family cottage. My mother's side of the family has a cottage in eastern Ontario and it is in the woods. And there was very little, if any, cell signal, no WI fi, no tv. It was just kind of like being in the woods. And it was glorious. And so we spent a lot, it was a lot of family time playing with kids and playing in the lake and coaching and doing all that kind of stuff. Just kind of like hearkening back to my youth sounds so funny, but that's how you know you're old when you talk about, like hearkening back to your youth. Right. But it was fun to, for my kids to kind of experience a summer vacation. I mean, we go camping and stuff, so we do that. But this vacation was very much an experience for them. Kind of like how I grew up and doing my summers with my grandparents and staying in this cottage with my family. And so it was really fun. We had a great time. But I also had some time to really to read and to journal and to sit on the porch and with my coffee in the morning, just looking at the lake and the sunshine, dancing off the water and listening to the birds and the squirrels and the, the breeze in the trees. And just I learned a lot just from doing that. And so I wanted to share that with you what I learned. And I think it will really help. Help all of us, me included. Right. I'm putting into practice what I learned and I feel like it's really going to set me up and set you up for success and so much more joy in our businesses for the this year and going forward. And so, yeah, I had lots of time to read, just listen to God's voice, the voice of the spirit of my business. And waking up at night, there was a lot of times when I couldn't sleep at night, and I feel like that is such a sweet time for me to just kind of tune in to my thoughts. And I feel so much more open and relaxed in the nighttime. And so rather than shaming myself for waking up and not being able to go to sleep at night, I just kind of tune in and ask myself questions and listen. And so some of this learning came out of that as well. And then also it just so happens, and this seems to happen when I'm on vacation for extended period. I just so happen to be reading a book, starting. Started a book called Regenerative Business, how to align your business with nature for more Abundance, Fulfillment and Impact by Samantha Garcia. And it's so interesting because this book is all about, like, nature and business and how they relate to each other. And so here I am, like, sitting in nature and thinking about my business, and then I pick up this book and I'm like, oh, my gosh, it's all so beautiful how it all comes together. So I wanted to share some of that with you. And this might be kind of a stream of consciousness type episode, but I think, I know it will be super impactful for you. So some of the things that came to me, I think the overarching theme is around accepting, learning to accept what is. And I know that's a concept that Byron Katie teaches that there's so much power in accepting what is. And, and then I was thinking about that around nature and because I feel like in our businesses so often we're like, forcing things, like trying to hustle and force, you know, clients to say yes to us or business to come to us or contacts or. And I think there's so much power in just allowing the cycles of business, the cycles of life, and allowing our business to just organically grow. And so one of the things that came to me is, like, around trees. I was in the forest, and so you're thinking seeing a lot of trees, and some trees are taller, smaller. These trees are. I should call her. I should be, you know, closer to the water or whatever it is. The trees are just there, right? They know, they're not worried about their growth or they're not judging how small or how tall they are. They know that it takes hundreds of years to grow, and they're just growing their entire lives, right? The. The life of that tree. They're not like, okay, well, once I get to be, you know, 30ft high, then I'm gonna be a real tree. Like, they know they're a tree and they know they're always going to be growing. And so I was thinking about that, like, in regards to our. To my business and myself, it's like my business is always going to be growing. I am always going to be growing as long as I choose to. Right? I could choose to. To not grow, but I have chosen a life and a business of growth. And so I'm always going to be growing. My business is always going to be growing. And so there's going to be times where the business is growing faster. There's going to be times when the business is growing slower. Just like the trees. Like, in times of drought, they're not going to grow as fast. In times of lots of moisture and sun, they're going to grow faster. But it doesn't mean the growth ever really stops. There's always growth happening, right? So it's like accepting that our growth is what it is and not judging it as not enough. And so what if we could just be more like a tree and accept where we are in our growth and just continue growing? Right? And I just feel like there's. For me, there was just so much like that acceptance. And I have grown a lot. Like, even if I just look back five years, it's like I have come a long way and really just taking time to appreciate how much growth that we all have had and how much we have been through and still continue growing through it. Right? Yes. Maybe I would like to grow faster. I would like to, you know, make more money or whatever it is. But listen, can we accept what is. I have built a business I love. I have clients I adore, and I'm able to also attend to my family and have great relationships and be with my family and my kiddos and take vacations. Like, it's pretty darn good, right? So that was one of the things. And then another thing that I get caught up a lot in worry. I love worrying. And worrying is like expecting bad things to happen in advance or making the bad things happen in advance. Like experiencing bad things in advance. This is really what it is. And so as I was sitting there on the porch with my coffee and hearing the birds, I'm like, it came to me that birds sing at all times. They sing all day long, right? Whether they've eaten yet or not eaten yet, whether they know whether where their next meal is coming from or not, they're still singing. And so I don't know if they worry. I doubt they do because they don't have a prefrontal cortex, right? That's kind of what is required to worry because if you don't have a prefrontal cortex like humans do, you can't really plan ahead. So they just are singing at all times without worry. And so that was kind of the, you know, a message that, that came through to me. Like, just be like a bird and sing my truth, my joy, my service. Let's get out there and serve and sing and just don't worry about it. Like the word. The birds don't worry where their next meal is coming from. They just know it's coming, right? And so how can I be more like a bird and just focus on serving and singing and forget about the rest? Forget about the worry part, right? And then there's the, my thoughts about the water and the lake. Like I, my zodiac sign is a Pisces. And so I'm a water person, right? And I always have loved the water. The water being near water is something that is so soothing and important to me. And so as I'm sitting there thinking about the lake and like the lake is the lake no matter the season. And so I was thinking about this like in terms of my business, like my business is my business, it's taken on a life of its own. It's a self sustaining entity for the most part. I mean, if I wasn't in it, it, you know, wouldn't run. But that's what I'm working on as I'm growing, right? We're all working on that. But the lake is not worried if it's going to cease being a lake when the water level drops because of a drought or when winter comes and it freezes over, it's still a lake, right? And so thinking about that in terms of my business, like my business is always going to be my business. It's always going to be a business as long as we continue to do what it takes to keep it running, right? And so as long as it keeps raining and as long as water keeps flowing into this lake, it's going to be a lake. Even if sometimes the water level might be lower, sometimes it might be higher, sometimes it might be frozen. So those are some of the, the things that came to me. And then I was reading this book and so it's, it is funny to me that I always seem to end up reading the book that I most need at the time that I'M reading it. Right. So this is the book I most needed to read when I was surrounded by this beautiful forest environment. And so like I said, it's called Regenerative Business. A regenerative business is, is one that. So this is a quote from the book. A regenerative business is one that allows us to make our mark on the world without having to fix anything about our messy and dark human nature. Because after all, nature too contains messes and darkness. And so I love that it's like, goes back to that, accepting what is. Yes, we have messy parts, we have dark parts, we have beautiful parts, we have all the parts. And so we can just accept that of ourselves and of our business, it doesn't have to be perfect. And we don't have to be perfect and still go out and be a beautiful forest or be a beautiful lake. Right. Or be a beautiful bird. Yeah. So you can see kind of this theme of accepting what is right and, and really coming to a place of gratitude with where we are now and what we have now. And yes, we want to grow and have more, but we can also strive for that while also appreciating what we already have. So this book also says that regeneration and creating a regenerative business is when you leave a place better than when you got there. It creates fertile ground within so you can unearth and express your sole purpose. It stewards a version of you that's fully in bloom. It's creative, healing and intentional and it births a better world for future generations. And I love that picture. That is really the kind of business that I have, that I am building, that I want to build. And so many of us have experienced or worked or been part of businesses that were not regenerative, that were more like taking and, and conquest. And you know, this really is, for me, part of doing business like a woman is having a regenerative business that leaves the world a better place than when I created it. Right. So. And so in doing that, this book talks about in Nature Design Systems, I have another quote here. I quote that in Nature Design Systems everything has a role and everything has a consciousness. So it's the same thing in our businesses, right. That everything has a role. And I just love that idea of thinking about our business in terms of like a nature designed system. And so connecting to. This is another quote. Connecting to and having a relationship with our wildness is what can bring, is what will bring. I'm sorry, I'm misquoting. Is what will bring about your most fertile thoughts, creativity and Ideas, unquote. So as there are wild parts of nature too, right? And so we can have wild parts of us. And as she talks in this book about discovering our wild parts and that that's where often our best thoughts, creativity and ideas come from. And so I think about that in terms of our marketing, right? And she says, and I quote, moving your body is a huge part of this process. It will keep your internal rivers flowing and brush away those stagnant areas that are collecting leaves. Remember that our bodies are a reflection of earth. Our bodies are these brilliant devices that we can use to change the world. Strengthening our bodies strengthens our spiritual connection and our brains. So unquote. So if we are natural beings, right? Created and part of nature, and then we create businesses, then our businesses are also nature design systems. So in thinking about that, respecting some of the laws of nature will help us to create a more sustainable, regenerative, joyful, I feel like business, right? Successful business too. And so, and she talks about that in this book and, and that what I love the part that she talks about, just as nature is full, is full of cycles and seasons, our businesses can also be full of cycles and seasons. And I'm going to quote her here, quote, just look at the Pando aspen forest in Utah, which is 80,000 years old. The oldest organism in the world. Individual trees and plants and animals and leaves will die and be reborn within that larger organism, but the whole continues on and thrives and grows. So that goes back to what I was saying about the lake, right? The lake is always going to be the lake and all the fish in it and all the organisms that are in it. And it's the same thing with this aspen forest. But there's things that are being birthed and dying and changing within this organism. So there's all these cycles and seasons going on at all times. And it's the same for us in, in internally and in our businesses. And it's all okay, it's all natural, right? And we can accept those things and, and still create a wildly successful business. So I just really, I haven't finished this book. I'm only part of the way in it. But she also and talks about the cycle of the rose bushes, right? And she says, I quote, your business is the entire rose bush that goes through the seasons and produces new blossoms year after year, even after a snowy winter. So whatever season that you are in, in your business, I just want to encourage you to just accept it. Accept where it is, right? Learn to accept what is. And, and also it's like the season of our lives, right? Like accepting what is. And I know my grammar is not going to be correct here, but I just want to make a point with this, that accepting what is, is accepting what is the hours I have to work, accepting what is the level I'm willing to invest in my business, accepting what is, all the actions that I'm willing to take to market my business, to reach and to serve my people, and making all of that fine and okay for the season that you're in, and then learning to accept what is the business that comes from that. Right? So I'm just going to wrap up with this. And I think this is such a powerful thought. And I quote, a lot of business owners want to hustle all the time because they're more comfortable in action than in faith, unquote. I think that is such a powerful idea that we can have faith that the season that we're in, the place that we are in, in our business is the cycle is exactly where we're supposed to be. And if we're instead focusing on how far we've come and having gratitude for how much we've accomplished and for all the beautiful clients that we have had and the beautiful interactions and the transformative cycles and seasons that we've been through, rather than thinking about what we haven't yet created or what we haven't yet made, or the money we haven't yet earned or whatever, if we instead think about all that we have already gained then and learned and grown, then we can feel so much more successful. And that feeling of success also for me is brings joy, right? For all of that, thinking about that, for all of that, then when we focus on that, that's what we're going to create more of in our businesses and in our lives. So I just want to encourage you that we don't always know exactly how long it's going to take to get to where we want to go, but it is also possible to accept and to be joyful where we are right now. Okay? So that's what I have for you today, my friends. I hope this has been a helpful and inspiring and uplifting episode. And going through this type of work of planning your business in this regenerative way and accepting what is and building from there is something that I do with my clients, and I would love to take you through this as well. If you could use my help, reach out to me. Let's get on a call and chat about it and see really how we can create more success. And more joy for you in your business. All right my friends, hope you have a great rest of your day, your week and I will talk to you next time. Bye. If you like this podcast, then you have got to sign up for my free on demand video training. Grow your sales doing what you love where I teach you in depth my simple process that you can implement right away to harness your mindset and your skills to grow your sales to whatever level you want. So go grab that now. The link is in the show notes and I'll see you next time.