No, You Don’t Need To Do “All The Things,”

I have a confession to make: I often fall into the trap of believing I have to do “all of the things.” You know, the things that I’m good at doing, the things that will grow my business, the things related to marketing and creating. I want to connect with my readers and followers, rebuild my brand, deliver fantastic content on a regular basis.
All the things.

But here’s the problem – I am one human. I actually can’t do all the things while I am also working another job I enjoy, being a mindful parent to my remarkable children, and be a committed wife to the most supportive husband anyone could want.

So, what do I do?

In the past (as recently as Sunday, actually), I would feel guilty when I couldn’t do all the things; I would engage in a lot of negative self-talk, wonder why I wasn’t enough in some way and descend into a dark hole. I would promptly pull myself out (most of the time), but I want to stop jumping in the pit altogether.

Over the past seven months or so, I have been working on this skill, learning how to release my perceived “failures” and disengage from the negative self-talk, etc. This past weekend I started to see the benefit of the work.

After an inspiring event Sunday, I was again confronted with the feeling that I need to do “all the things.” No one is feeding me this message except me. Part of this is related to a common phenomenon among creative and gifted humans – the belief that your “gifts” belong to the world and you are obligated to share them all continuously. Part of this is a by-product of limiting beliefs and ego.

As the feelings rolled around in my head, I resisted the urge to descend the rabbit hole. Instead, I got quiet and still. I opened my mind and leaned in.

An amazing thing happened as soon as I stopped all resistance to my feelings and leaned in –

Clarity.

I knew what I wanted to do, be; I understood who I am at the soul level:

I am a writer, thinker, storyteller, changemaker.
I believe in the power of writing to heal the soul. And I believe in coaching others to find their voice through writing.
THIS is why I am here – to inspire others toward their authentic voice. And I am going to do this through writing stories that both entertain and enlighten, books that teach and inspire, workshops and events that ignite and influence, and coaching that holds the sacred space for others to find their unique path.

I am focusing first and foremost on writing – whether it is here on my blogs, or in my many books I want to create this year. Second to that are my speaking engagements and online workshops, and third is my coaching for giftedness/intensity and writing. That’s it.

I may sound that this means I am still doing all the things. But I don’t think that’s true. There is clarity to what I am willing to engage in now, guiding thoughts around how I will build my business and cultivate my creative life.

And this makes all of the difference.

How do you resist the belief that you must do “all the things,” all the time?