How to Cultivate Hobbies as a Creative Entrepreneur

[00:00:00] Hobbies are important for your mental health and overall wellbeing, but as a creative business owner, oftentimes the overlap of fun and work gets it way too gray.  Keep them too gray for too long. And you'll find yourself in a position where you're all work and no play at a global pandemic where your opportunities to play are dwindled down to what you can do within the confines of your four walls, and you maybe have a problem. You're not taking the time to nurture yourself.

[00:00:32]Welcome to being boss, a podcast for creatives, business owners and entrepreneurs who want to take control of their work and live life on their own terms. I'm your host, Emily Thompson. And today I want to steer away from work quite a bit to talk about life. In particular, I want to talk about hobbies and how and why it is that you need to be cultivating hobbies within your life, not your business, so that you can show up as a more well-rounded and fulfilled human being and fuel your business a bit too.

[00:01:07]I was prompted to dive into this episode a couple of weeks ago, whenever I did a CEO Day Kit live with a bunch of bosses in the being boss community and previous purchasers of our CEO day kit. One of the steps of CEO day kit is a section called. Cycles of creation. And in this step, I guide bosses through a process of identifying the different phases of creation and then helping them define what phase they are in in different aspects of their life.

[00:01:43]The defining of the phases gives us a common language and understanding of the parts of these, of this cycle of creation, and then going through these different areas of their life allows them to sort of pause and take a moment to really think about really all the aspects of their life.

[00:02:01] And we go through aspects such as travel, that may be the same for everyone at the moment, but their family, their relationships, their work, their education, their health, and one of those  parts of their life that they look at is theihobbies. And I have done CEO daycare with hundreds, maybe over a thousand bosses at this point.

[00:02:27] And it's not just the beginning of 2021 that has it bosses feeling lost in their hobbies, but really as something that I have seen for years, so it's super common for creative business owners like ourselves  to dedicate so much to our work and to our families. And in some cases, our education, all of these other pieces of our life that we don't stop and nurture sort of the fun aspects of our lives, the interesting parts.

[00:02:57] And I've seen this over the years, but it was really stark for me this year, going through CEO Day Kit live with bosses post 2020, and having an overwhelming majority of the people who were there. In a place where they felt really lost in their hobbies. And I completely understand it. I find myself in that situation quite often as well, but over the years, I have recognized a number of ways in which I can bring some awareness to the imbalance of my work in life and refocus into my hobbies. I've been an entrepreneur for over 12 years. So for me, shifting my mindset, once I can gain the awareness of where I am is shifting my mindset into nurturing myself and diving into my hobbies a bit more for that purpose has become considerably easier.

[00:03:49] So even though I do run two businesses, I've homeschooled my kid for almost 10 years.

[00:03:56]I still have a rich life of hobbies. And so I want to share, uh, some of, some of the things that I've learned with you along the way, because hobbies are an incredibly important part of not necessarily being an entrepreneur, that's a whole other discussion, but really of being a creative, you need to dive into interests that simply fulfill you and bring you joy in order for you to cultivate the creativity that you need to bring into your work so that you can make your living doing the work that you love.

[00:04:31]And if I'm being quite honest with you at taking all of the bosses through CEO day kit earlier this month, I gave them recordings in January. I don't know when this one goes live, maybe first week of February, if I'm not mistaken. So about a month before this goes, live, taking the bosses through. CEO Day Kit.

[00:04:51] And having this conversation about hobbies also really held up a mirror for me. I became very aware really of how much I had been neglecting my hobbies as well.

[00:05:02]Which I sort of alluded to a moment ago. I do have a habit of, or I do tend to toward workaholism quite a bit. And in 2020 in particular, I found myself escaping into my work more often than not. I worked more in 2020 than I have in the past five, six, seven years perhaps. And. That is not who it is that I want to be.

[00:05:29] So. Having this conversation with all the bosses had me really realizing that I needed to, again, practice what it is that I preach. And so I've really been diving back into this myself over the past month to reengage in the hobbies that I find interesting that make my life a little more fun to live that make me want to get up in the morning quite a bit more than maybe coming to record another podcast does. Not to say that I don't love my work, but I certainly enjoy my hobbies a ton too. And so I want to talk about that today. I want to share with you some things that I have learned along the way about cultivating hobbies in my life  around shifting my mindset so that it's easy for me to dedicate myself to my hobbies and share with you some tactics that I have picked up along the way that helped me to really create some boundaries and make some habits in my life that make pursuing my hobbies less like another task on my to-do list and more, just a part of a really rich and fulfilling life.

[00:06:36]So let's dive into it. Let's talk about hobbies. First. What I want to do is bring to you some awareness. I have a simple question for you. I want you to pause me if you would like, but otherwise take a second to consider your answer to this question.

[00:06:56]What activities do you invest your time, money or energy into that has little reward other than personal enjoyment. I'll ask it again. What activities do you currently invest your time, money and or energy into that has little reward other than personal enjoyment.

[00:07:22] If you're struggling to come up with any, you need some hobbies and it's likely that several of you are realizing that you have a big a hole here and that's completely understandable. I don't want you to feel guilty or shame or anything. If you don't have anything to say. Fill in that blank with, or to answer that question with, but I do want you to become very aware that it's likely that you are not doing anything in your life, unless there is some sort of reward it is for someone else, or it is for your business.

[00:07:56]If you do have a couple of things that you feel that you answered that question with, congratulations, you are a well-rounded boss and you were totally doing it, especially in a time when people are seriously struggling with cultivating some hobbies. And I will say, I know, actually there are a lot of people who are really cultivating, amazing hobbies right now.

[00:08:15] Feel free to raise your hand. If you got into the bread making phase of the pandemic.

[00:08:22]A very large portion of our society found themselves with some extra time on their hands and the ability to cultivate some hobbies for themselves. But in my experience, in the Being Boss community, especially talking to creative business owners, most of us have found no more time. If anything, we have less time to put into ourselves in terms of hobbies or just fun things that we want to do.

[00:08:47] So if you have had time or if you have been able to maintain your focus or bring your focus back to your hobbies. Congratulations. , but if you haven't know that that's what I'm here to talk about today. Um, or also just bringing to you some awareness of some things that you can do for bringing some fun into your life even if you are insanely busy.

[00:09:10]We oftentimes talk about here, this idea that one of our sort of definitions for being a boss is practicing is being a lifelong learner to consistently be investing in yourself and learning new things and doing new things. And for me, picking up hobbies or really engaging in the hobbies that I already have, I don't necessarily need any more.

[00:09:32] And I think you'll see proof of that in just a moment.

[00:09:35]But engaging in your hobbies is a way for you to be a lifelong learner in a way that doesn't necessarily have any direct correlation to your work. Meaning there is a lightness and a funness that comes from engaging in these activities that you don't get whenever you're learning a new piece of software or you're reading your next business book or whatever it may be. There is a different quality that comes from hobbies then learning something new for the purpose of your business or professional career.

[00:10:06]Which brings me into the mindset section of this episode, where I want to talk about the mindset of hobbies, especially within creative entrepreneurs, because I often find that creatives can be quite creative and how it is that they talk themselves in and out of doing things. And I have seen and heard bosses get quite creative with how it is that they make sense of not investing in hobbies or time for themselves.

[00:10:36] And there is a sort of interesting correlation here, I think between self care and hobbies. I think that engaging in hobbies is a type of self care, but I don't think that all self care is a hobby. So I do want to sort of make that distinction. And sort of in a class of its own hobbies, but it is a form of self care and those self care has become so popular over the past couple of years.

[00:11:03] And I'm glad it has because entrepreneurs and business owners in particular struggle with taking care of themselves, hobbies is a piece of that. And just as you can talk yourself out of going to that yoga class or taking that walk or spending an evening doing that facial or whatever, for the purpose of self care.

[00:11:27] I've also heard many a boss talk themselves out of engaging in their hobbies, that things that bring them so much joy. So one of the sort of lies that I hear bosses telling themselves is that their resources, their time, money or energy are better spent elsewhere. And I do think that in the short term, sometimes you're probably right.

[00:11:52] However, none of us are here to live for the next five, 10, 15 minutes or hour or day or week. We are all here for the purpose of building for ourselves, a life that we truly want to live and hobbies are an important part of that. They are an important part of building a well-rounded life. One of the, sort of pictures that I always bring up for myself whenever I'm considering topics like this is the idea of their retiring CEO, this old, I always imagined him and I'll dude, but whatever. Um, who has a bank full of cash is retiring, but has no life to enjoy because he has dedicated his entire life to his work but has no life to speak of. And so he's reached retirement, he's reached the finish line of his career and there is nothing left for him. And this CEO keeps me straight. He keeps me on the path of building a live so that whenever I retire, I actually want to be more excited about living my life because I have cultivated hobbies and relationships, and I'm in a place where I love all of these things.

[00:13:07] I am here to do work. To live a life that I want, not just work all the time, and I want you to do that for yourself as well, but that is something that requires investment of your resources, your time, money, and energy right now into living the life that you want to live so that you have the life there.

[00:13:26] Whenever it is time for you to retire, if possible, if it's even a thing anymore, we won't go down that road. Um, or for you to supplement a full career. With a full life, you can have both. Also hobbies have benefits that span your personal experience, depending on the hobby, of course, hobbies can be beneficial for your physical health.

[00:13:51] They can be beneficial for your mental and emotional wellbeing, your creativity, your social life. You probably can't say that about your work. I know for me working, sitting here in this. The swivel chair doesn't do much for my physical health sitting and staring at computer at my computer all day does not do a whole lot for my emotional wellbeing, nor does it do great things for my IRL social life though I will say. The being boss community. It has been so amazing in the past year of lockdown and having the connections that I can have through my computer with real human beings all over the world. So I will sort of asterisk that with, but my computer actually really does a lot for my social life. You knew that we'd be saying that now.

[00:14:38] Hmm. Interesting. So hobbies really do have a ton of benefits that span your entire life in a way that work really doesn't have. As such. I do not believe that hobbies are a waste of time. They are just as much an investment in your future as writing that next email campaign or creating that next social media post or whatever the next thing is on your to-do list. Pursuing a hobby is a long-term investment in yourself, more so than any single thing that is probably on your to-do list right now.

[00:15:19]And I'm telling you all of these things, because I do want you to understand, to really grasp, to take your mindset to that next level, where you understand that your time, money, and energy, though. It is in very though it is very important for you to invest that into your business. Because you are your business.

[00:15:39] It is just as important, if not more so important to invest that in yourself, to invest it in pursuing hobbies that you find interesting. I can flip the switch whenever I am being too much of a workaholic and I'm working way too much whenever I bring whenever I can gain that awareness. And that for me happens in a couple of ways.

[00:16:00] One, I track my time, which is something I talk about all the time. I literally have quantitative data that shows me how much time I am working. And so I, every couple of weeks, we'll go back through my past couple of weeks of time tracking to see how much I'm working. And if I am working, I don't like to work over 35 hours a week.

[00:16:24] Personally, my brain starts going quite a bit slower after 35 hours. It is not a good use of my time. But in 2020, I worked between 40 and 45 hours almost every single week, all year. So gaining that awareness made me realize that I need to flip that switch. I also watch my energy very carefully, or whenever I'm talking to friends, if the only thing I have to talk about is work.

[00:16:54] I know that it is bringing me the awareness that I need, that I am falling back into some pretty hardcore and deep seated workaholic tendencies that I have. And I need to flip the switch. I need to refocus on my hobbies and it's easy for me to do this because I don't need to be convinced of the benefits I am well aware once I see it happening, it is not a problem for me to go back to two trade hours of work, four hours of hobbies, because I've seen the benefits in myself time and time again in both my work and my life.

[00:17:31]For example, hiking is one of my favorite sort of physical hobbies. It makes me feel amazing in my body. And I love being outside, especially in the forest. And so it's not just like a physical and sort of visual, visually happy experience that I'm having. I also know that it combats the strain that I experienced from sitting in this level chair all day, also being in the woods, reduces my stress levels.

[00:17:58] And literally it makes my brain happy

[00:18:01]back when I could, I always thought of a traveling as a hobby of mine. And one of the things that I personally love about it is that it diversifies my perception of the world. It expands my ideas of what I think is possible. And though I love that for my personal sort of conversations. I also absolutely know the benefits that it has for me, being able to create better content for you.

[00:18:28]I also personally, what am I slow at crafty things? Cause I am a maker through and through is I do love to hate to sew. Say love to hate to, cause that would probably explain more about that in a minute. Um, but sewing for me is a fun hobby where I get to. Make something with my hands. I am creating my dream wardrobe.

[00:18:52] Some of my favorite pieces of clothing are things that I have made myself using the patterns and the fabrics that I most want to use. But I also know that it's good for my brain and playing to solve a problem to literally put a puzzle together. And so one of my favorite brain exercises, I also really love to cook and bake and make cocktails.

[00:19:13] And it makes me just sort of personally feel like a bad-ass Alchemist. And I'm a total foodie who literally just wants to eat all the time. So there is just like some personal enjoyment in there as well. Well, but I also know that for me, it is a hard core practice and creativity because you better bet that I freestyle all the time.

[00:19:33] Even if I have a recipe, I based, I don't think I've ever actually followed a recipe to a T ever in my entire life. So it is very creatively fulfilling for me to cook and bake and make cocktails.

[00:19:47]So, whereas doing things in your business and putting your time, money and energy has not really like the singular purpose of enriching your business because enriching your business will allow you to get paid and make impact and all of these things that enrich your life. I find hobbies really do the exact same, but opposite.

[00:20:08] So they are really enriching to your life, but they allow you to bring things into your professional life as well. They are just as much an investment in, or they are just as much a wise investment of your resources as whatever it is that you are doing in your work. And I am saying this also very specifically, I'm talking to the being boss crowd, obviously that's, who's listening to this.

[00:20:35] Um, I know that there are, you know, age groups and generations, and also just like just general people peppered everywhere. Actually, I won't make the generalization of generations. Cause that is bullshit. I am hardcore millennial and don't fit within most definitions of what a millennial is. So feel free to like scratch that part of what I just said, but.

[00:20:57]Whereas many people in the world are not showing up and doing the work on the extent or to the extent that we do, we do. And so what we need to do, whereas some people probably need to invest more in their, you know, sort of professional or, um, sort of outward impacts. They're making what the on the world or in the world bosses are in a different camp.

[00:21:20] We actually need to focus a little bit more on ourselves sometimes. That's really, that's really what it is that I want you to do with this. And I will say too, I have never regretted dedicating myself to a hobby. There have been plenty of business things that I have regretted and not necessarily regretted.

[00:21:36] I, I do. I, I try to live by this idea that I do not and will not regret anything. I try to make decisions very mindfully and put my, put my time, energy and money into things that, um, that I will be proud of either. However, they shape up. However, Business is not a science, you are not just going to get it right.

[00:22:02] There are things that I have done. There are things that I've spent time on in my business that I know were a waste of time, money and resources. I have never really felt that about a hobby because I'm just going at something that I'm interested in. So hopefully with all of that, I have reversed anyone that has a mindset that the resources, um, that you have, your time money, your energy are better spent elsewhere, not in a hobby because they are.

[00:22:28] They're very, well-spent in pursuing a hobby, another mindset that I occasionally come up against with bosses. Um, and it's a mindset it's also kind of factor, but it's also just a mindset is that hobbies and work are the same thing. And as agreed of, it's likely that you have turned a hobby into your business. And if you find yourself in this position, then you now have the next task of finding new hobbies because your work and your hobbies should not have a like complete and utter overlap.

[00:23:08]It is absolutely wonderful if you have turned a hobby into your business, but if that is the case, it is time for you to pursue other interests as hobbies and keep your work as work. You can still have fun. Enjoy it. Please do, but also engage in other interests as hobbies.

[00:23:28]Because there is a very important distinction that needs to be made within yourself around something that you are doing for work and something that you are just doing for your personal enjoyment. Now I will say obviously there is overlap and I have a really fun example of this that I do want to talk about, because I have created a distinction for myself between something that is kind of work and something that is also something that I just enjoy.

[00:23:58] And that for me is cooking, cooking and especially these days I am cooking literally three meals a day. Seven days a week and that's a bit of a lie. I do. I meal plan like a boss. It's kind of one of my superpowers. I am able to create really intricate meal plans that has as reutilizing ingredients and having leftovers, like all of these things.

[00:24:23] I'm I really do have an ability for maximizing my meal planning in a way. But I'm not actually cooking three meals a day, seven days a week, but I am cooking a lot. It is a ongoing task on my to-do list. It is not something that I absolutely love. I don't like cooking that much. I don't particularly love meal planning.

[00:24:45] It just is my zone of genius and our household in both cases. And so I do it. I also, like I said, I'm a foodie, so I want to eat really good food. And I can make really good food. So there is some overlap there. However, cooking is a hobby of mine. Whenever it's Tuesday night and I'm just making that recipe that's fast and easy, and that we're going to eat on for three days.

[00:25:09] That's not hobby cooking for me, that is task cooking. I am just showing up and doing the work and eating it and moving on with my life. It's not something where I get very excited about it. Sometimes I can actually get kind of grumpy about it if I'm being quite honest. Um, and I struggle, I struggle with it because I do enjoy cooking so much that sometimes the mundane miss of cooking, as much as I do sort of harms the enjoyment that I get out of the actual cooking. So I have worked really hard, especially over the past couple of months, almost freaking year now, and really awesome. So the course of my entire adult life, where I am feeding myself and my family, but also really do enjoy cooking to create a distinction between tasks, cooking and hobby cooking.

[00:25:59] And I think I've kind of done a good job. So during the week, my task cooking is just, like I said, it's very utilitarian. I mean, it's very tasty usually, but it's very utilitarian. It's not very special. It's usually going to be recipes that I've done over and over and over again that are basic enough, but very tasty and easy enough to implement and not super special.

[00:26:23] That is my task cooking. My hobby cooking is a completely different animal. This usually takes place on the weekends for me. So that's what I'm doing, my hobby cooking. And it usually involves some special recipe or utilizing some special ingredient that I'm excited to use or. Dessert. I don't do a lot of dessert during the week. We just eat and move on. Um, but on the weekends, I am pretty good about making a very tasty dessert, or just making a very tasty something. That for me is a whole different activity where I'm waking up in the morning on Saturday. And I'm thinking about it. As soon as I wake up, I'm very excited about cooking this thing today.

[00:27:07] I plan my entire day more or less about or around giving myself a good amount of time to really show up and, um, and give myself to this exercise of whatever this hobby cooking is that I'm doing that day. It's not something that I'm rushing through that I'm just trying to get on the table so we can move on to the next thing.

[00:27:29] It is a whole experience in itself and creating this distinction between my hobby cooking and my tasks cooking has really allowed me to show up for both of them in the ways that they need to be shown up for. And so, you know, if you are someone who has made a business out of your hobby or like me, you, or in your life, you just is a task that you're having to do on an ongoing basis. There is a way for you to separate the hobby of the thing and the task of the thing by making the hobby part significantly more special by being, bringing more mindfulness to it, um, to have a bit more fun, to bring more intention into, into the hobby.

[00:28:16] So I do want to share that because I do know again, You have started a knitting business. You are an artist. You are, you know, a jewelry maker. You've turned a hobby into a business. Sometimes it can be hard to pursue the hobby, right. Uh, but it's not impossible. I will say that and also cooking's not my only hobby. Right. Um, podcasting is not a hobby. Let's see ya. I wonder if I have any work in life sort of hobby business overlaps. Actually, sometimes I feel like sophomore year is kind of hobby of mine. I could spend days just playing with software software that I'm going to use in business or not going to use in business.

[00:28:59] Um, And sometimes I'm hobby looking for sure. Sometimes I'm hobby looking for the purpose of business. And there is a distinction I'm not sitting at my desk, hanging out with software all day while I'm working, I'm doing it on the weekends. And I will get to that in a minute for me. Hobbies happen on the weekends, but back to this mindset around hobbies and work being the same thing, if that is the case for you, one creates and distinction.

[00:29:25] If you want to keep your work as a hobby as well. And two is you should still find some more hobbies. You should have other things that you were doing that are enriching to your life  that have literally nothing to do with work whatsoever.

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[00:30:20]okay. Now that you've tackled the mindset around pursuing your hobbies, let's get practical into how it is that you actually show up for your hobbies. I want to talk about some boundaries and habits that you can create for yourself to make it easier for you to put your attention into the hobbies that you're choosing for yourself.

[00:30:47] So we'll start with some boundaries. And as I feel like we always say one of the best tactics I have is for you to put them on your calendar. Hiking is a hobby that I mentioned. That is something that I love to do, but I am notorious for one for getting that. I said, I want to go hiking or to actually just doing it.

[00:31:13] But the way that I get around that is that I put it on my calendar. So hiking is something that I usually do on Friday mornings. I love the fact that I can.

[00:31:24]Go hiking during the week, because on the weekends, the trails are always significantly more crowded, but if I can go like early morning or even mid morning on a weekday, sometimes I can hike a trail and literally be the only person on it. And that's my favorite.

[00:31:40]However, Workaholic here. It's really easy for me to get to Friday morning and think, Oh, I really could, you know, answer some emails or get ahead on that task or catch up on something else. Unless I put it on my calendar and if it's on my calendar, I'm going to show up for it. That for me is a boundary that I'm able to create for myself, but also for my family and my team, David and I, my partner, and I share a calendar so he can see when I'm scheduling a hike and he either decide to go with me or know that I'm not going to be around for that time slot.

[00:32:17]I'm able to create some boundaries around that time so that I am able to show up and actually do the thing that I want to do  because  I am also very good at talking myself out of doing the thing that I actually want to do, but if it's on my calendar, I'm going to do it.

[00:32:33]Another thing that you must must, must, must do is you must remove distractions. This looks different for everyone, depending on who you are, the hobby it is that you're pursuing whatever it may be. Just like you would, if you were sitting down to work on a client project or getting in on a client call or really focusing on something in your business, you will, you know, turn off your email or remove your phone or tell people not to disturb you or whatever it may be.

[00:33:07] Do the exact same thing for your hobbies, remove distractions so that you can focus.

[00:33:14]Here's a very real-world and recent example I can give of this exact same thing for myself. So I love to read, I have loved to read since I was a little kid. I remember one summer whenever I was probably, Oh my goodness. I was probably 11, 12, 13. I think I read like 45. 50 books that summer or something most of which were within like a two, three week period.

[00:33:42] Love reading, voracious reader have been my entire life. There have been a couple of times in my professional life where that has ebbed and flowed. And that for me is another one of those awareness pieces. I know that I'm working too much if I'm not reading enough.

[00:33:56]I'm not making time. I'm not making the brain space that I need to read and learn new things and dive into, you know, some fiction books or whatever it may be.

[00:34:08]And I was also a pretty early adopter, I think of Kindle books. So I remember reading Kindle books whenever my daughter who will soon be a teenager. I remember whenever she was a baby and my arms, and I was rocking her in her rocking chair and giving her a nap, reading on my iPod touch before there were even I-phones or before I had an iPhone, at least reading my books on the Kindle app many, many years ago.

[00:34:42]And so I now will mix my reading between real physical books, because you just can't replicate that and reading books on my phone, and I have done this for years. It's been fine enough. I will say. The past four years or so, I've struggled with reading more than I have in my entire life, um, for many different reasons, but I have found myself much more able to focus on books lately in a way that I haven't been able to do in years.

[00:35:11] And it has been fantastic. However, reading them on my Kindle app on my phone, I've been catching myself, reading a chapter and then scrolling through Instagram or looking at my email and I don't even know how I got there. Like I was just reading my book. How did I get in the mail app? What just happened?

[00:35:33] And so I've found this happening so much lately that I finally decided to look into getting a Kindle e-reader.

[00:35:41]Early adopter. I think of the Kindle app extremely late adopter of the Kindle. E-reader it is what it is. We all operate in our own ways, but I wanted to be able to read my books without the distraction of the entirety of the internet, also in my palm at the exact same time. So I got the reader. I remember I was talking on, uh, we were actually doing a C-suite virtual retreat and, um, and I was talking to some bosses about if they had an E reader and what they were thinking about it, and all of them were totally on board. Um, and we're really sharing that. The benefits that they saw in it were exactly what I was seeking. The ability to just focus on reading the thing and having quick and easy access to literally millions and millions of bucks. The internet still fascinates me guys still completely and utterly fascinates me.

[00:36:36] So I have gotten my Kindle. . I've been using it for a couple of weeks and I have absolutely removed the distraction that has kept me from being the voracious reader that I am, and always, truly want to be and have been able to read several books in the past couple of weeks because I've removed distractions.

[00:36:56] I was very intentional about taking the action to remove distraction, then have been able to dive into my hobby of reading in a much more focused and impactful way. And that's what I want for you as well. So be very mindful of what is distracting you from really engaging in your hobbies and the way that you truly want to and fix it.

[00:37:20] Remove the distractions.

[00:37:22]Another way that you can create some very important boundaries around your hobbies is just set expectations for the people who are impacted by your hobbies. And so for me, when this is reading, I will very intentionally in the evening tell my family, like I'm going to read. And they know because I've told them before that, whenever I say that, that means to leave me alone, unless you're bleeding or throwing up, because I'm going to engage in my hobby of reading.

[00:37:50]I also mentioned a moment ago, how literally just putting it on my calendar will set the expectations for my family, that I will be out or otherwise. Predisposed, whenever I'm going hiking, because I put it on my calendar. I also, I mentioned earlier my habit of sewing, um, or my hobby of sewing. It's not a habit by any means a hobby.

[00:38:12] I, sew only a couple of times a year. I mentioned that I love it slash hate it because, uh, I get really angry when I, when I so really, really angry. Like I'm not an angry person. Like I might get flared up occasionally and a little mouthy, but rarely do I get just angry, especially angry as I get when I, so I've done some Instagram stories around this in the past where.

[00:38:39] And it's like my alter ego. Um, my alter ego is an angry seamstress. Um, I just, I love the act of doing it. I love the act of making things and of being creative. I love the outcome. I love having a finished piece of clothing that I made myself. It always feels very special and amazing, and I always love it so much. That damn sewing machine. It is not just mine. I've had a couple of them and is just sewing machines. They always get jammed, right when I'm in the middle of a long haul or like, you know, it's been so good until those last couple of stitches and then it gets jammed or I run out of bobbin thread or whatever it may be anyway. My family knows. I set the expectation just whenever, just by getting out the sewing machine, my entire family knows what's about to happen and they should probably flee the house.

[00:39:35] Yeah. And they also know that we're not going to be eating dinner at the dinner table for a couple of days because it's going to be covered in thread and fabric and, and me yelling at things. Um, so there, there just are expectations that you need to set to give you the ability to focus and engage in your hobbies in the same way that you do for your business.

[00:39:56] If your kids would never walk in on you on a client call, you should set the same expectations for when you are diving into your next watercolor project or whatever it may be set expectations for the people impacted by your hobbies, that you have the ability to show up for your hobbies in a way that allows you to really dive in.

[00:40:19]I want to sort of start wrapping this up ish. Um, and really finish off with some habits with developing some habits around your hobbies so it just is easier for you to show up for your hobbies. I know that having another thing on your to-do list is difficult. Don't I know it. So let's make it as easy as possible.

[00:40:43] One of the ways that you can most effectively do this, I believe is to make your hobbies recurring. So I mentioned earlier, I like to hike on Fridays. That's something I don't do it quite every week, but I, every week I consider am I going to hike on Friday morning is probably going to be hiking morning. I'd say one to two to three times a month. It absolutely is.

[00:41:02]I've designated Friday mornings is hiking mornings. I have the habit of asking myself every Monday morning or Sunday evening when I am planning my week if Friday is going to be a hiking day or not. I've created this a weekly habit for myself. I also read almost every single morning. I get up in the morning and before anyone is out of bed, whenever everyone is still sleeping and I'm up because I'm that person. I open up my Kindle these days, or grab a book from my bedside table and I read for about an hour every single morning.

[00:41:38]And then I also mentioned earlier how my weekends are my hobby times. That's when I'm really diving into any and all the things I'm gardening, which is very much so a hobby of mine, especially in the correct seasons currently winter, I need to do some pruning and I'm like, not even trying to do that right now. Too cold, uh, pruning will come very soon. Um, but especially in the gardening months, that's one of my hobbies that I cannot wait to dive into every single weekend. I also mentioned earlier around cooking something special in my hobby. Cooking happens on the weekends because I can dedicate as much time to it as I want.

[00:42:18]Weekends are also the time when I will dedicate an entire Sunday evening to reading a book, to diving into my book more so than I do just the hour in the morning. Weekends are a time for hobbies and it's not just myself. It's my entire family. That's when we were all doing our hobby stuff. And I love it. We're all like little busy bees diving into our separate and sometimes combined hobbies.

[00:42:43] I find it to be very activating, very energizing, but also so chill and fun because we're all just doing the things that we want to do. You also may have times of the year when you are diving into hobbies. I've mentioned around here a couple of times, astrology is one of my hobbies. I, um, am a bit of an astrology nerd, but I'm not looking at astrology all the time.

[00:43:03] I'm not reading my horoscope every single week or anything like that. What I do is every year around really between Thanksgiving and Christmas, um, I get my like year ahead, astrology  booklet and I read it for the year ahead. So it's funny. I've, I've started associating the holiday season for me with astrology, which is a ton of fun. It's just a time of year. Every year that I get really deep into astrology. I'm usually reading some supplemental astrology books or learning about something new, whatever it may be during that time. And then it is sprinkled throughout the entire year. I also do a lot of astrology reading in the morning as well before anyone gets up. I do have a little habit of, um, of checking, checking, big transits and stuff of my family members in the morning before anyone wakes up and then they'll wake up and I tell them interesting things over breakfast. They probably think I'm nuts. So, but it's fine. And I love it. So astrology is one of those habits that I really only dive into hardcore once a year and just sort of pepper engaging with it um, a little more sparsely, sparsely parsley. Now, a little, I don't want to sparsely. Is that the word that sounds weird when I say it out loud, whatever, throughout the entire year. So make them recurring, whatever that looks like for you. and then another great way to make it easy, easier for you to engage in your hobbies is to include others in your hobbies.

[00:44:31] So I'm cooking for my family. I mean, I would. Would I make less chocolate cakes, if it was only for me  that is a question that is the question of this episode. Um, or do I make more chocolate cakes? Because I'm also feeding my family chocolate cakes. That's I'm going to have to think on that one. I don't know that that's a true statement.

[00:44:52] Um, But I definitely get them to help me sometimes, sometimes it's a family activity on a Saturday to work together, to, to cook something together. Um, also hiking is something that I will do alone sometimes at all. So very much so like to spend time in nature with my kid, I find that that's a time when it's easiest for us to relate and engage with each other.

[00:45:13] Um, and also. Sometimes David will come, or my friends will come, um, porch sitting is a hobby of mine. If it were a sport, I would be an Olympic gold medalist. And though I can porch sit all day by myself and be perfectly fine with that because total introvert here, I also love to porch sit with my friends.

[00:45:33]And you can do the same thing. It may, maybe you want to join a knitting circle or a book club or whatever it may be fine people to either do a, do your hobbies with, or to hold you accountable or do it for someone. I mean, I'm so aware of how there is a limit to how many scarves one can knit themselves. So knit for other people. Find a cause to give your scarves to whatever it may be, include others in your hobbies, and it will be easier for you to show up and do them too. And then finally, Is the most important habit of them all. And it's a habit you have already cultivated because you are a boss, you are here listening, doing the thing, and that is for you to show up and do the work.

[00:46:22] But the exact same bossiness bus behind your hobbies that you do behind your work, and you will be able to cultivate some very interesting things in yourself. You will be able to accomplish things that really have nothing to do with your work, but that you might surprisingly find more fulfilling than anything that you get paid to do.

[00:46:46] I will end  this episode with a little story that, um, actually took place at the making make time to shine. Remember what was called the make time to shine conference that we had in April of 2020.  One of the sessions at that event, it was, my friend was with my friend Maya toll, who came and did an intuitive writing workshop.

[00:47:10] And she made us write our obituary, which I didn't know was coming until she said it. And I was like, what? I will also say that I have a personal. Goal to never have anyone cry at my events and someone always cries. It's fine. We're all emotional creatives. I am highly empathic. So like I get it. That's probably really why I don't want anyone to cry because I'll cry if they cry.

[00:47:36] Um, but I, I'm not here to host events like that. I want to have parties and there is always someone who cries at the party. I get it. Um, but it's never my intention to have these like really big emotional cry fests, basically. That's what I'm saying. But this was kind of a cry Fest. At least it was for me, thankfully, we were all behind our computers and not in the same room together because I probably would not have been prepared with enough tissues, but we wrote our obituaries and the purpose of this exercise was to have us thinking about the things in our life that we most wanted to be known for. And there were, there were no prompts. There were no, like, you know, think about this this time and this time and consider these parts of your life. It was just, just spend this time, writing your obituary. And so we did, and then Maia posed the questions that, um, that had us reflecting on our obituary, one of which being, you know, Really?

[00:48:34] What did you write about what were the milestones? What were, what were the things that you most wanted to be known for? And I looked back at mine and I had this amazing realization that nothing in my obituary had anything to do with my work. Nothing. And like here I was hosting an event for work where, you know, and all of my friends are bosses. Um, we are a family of bosses. Like my work is very much, my work in life are the same thing. Um, 90% of the time, more or less. However, in my obituary that I wrote for myself, it had nothing to do about work. It wasn't about me being able to host amazing events for creative professionals. It was that I wanted to be known for hosting a really great dinner party and it wasn't that I was known for having, you know, a podcast with over 10 million downloads. It was that I wanted to be known by my neighbors as being a nice person. And I remember that being a point of realization for me that really hit home and really rang true in that I was doing that. I have for many years and in my early years of entrepreneurship, less so, I mean, we all are very in up to our eyeballs and our business as we are getting started, but I have always been very intentional at cultivating hobbies and relationships outside of work, or really do in a lot of ways, blend with work that has me working to build my life. And that is what I really want for you as well. I want you to create the impact. I want you to build the business. I want you to make the money and meet them out stones and, and achieve your goals and all of those things. But what I really want for you to do is whenever it is time for you to retire, to walk seamlessly and easily and to a life that you truly can enjoy, because you've done all the work so that you just have to walk into it.

[00:50:37]And then your obituary can obviously can say whatever it is that you want to say. And if you want to write your own obituary, I love that for you. Totally. Maybe we should all just write our own obituaries. I love that. Um, but really I hope that this episode has sparked something within you, to dive back into your hobbies.

[00:50:57] If you're anything like most creatives that I know you have a closet somewhere filled with crafts. So start there or pick up a book and read it just for fun and go from there. Invest in yourself by engaging in your hobbies and you'll feel the benefits through your life and work. And know that the most practical advice that I can give you is for you to put it on your calendar.

[00:51:20] And if you do need help with that, I will always recommend by time management training, which you can find at beingboss.club/time, or you'll find a link in the show notes@beingboss.club. And until next time do the work be boss.