What It Means To Do The Work

[00:00:00] Corey Winter: Hey there, listeners Corey from the Being Boss team here, I have a quick question for you. Do you want to get more out of what we do here at Being Boss? Sure. You like this podcast, but did you know that Emily's recording monthly episodes of Making A Business? The show that follows along as she builds her other business Almanac Supply Co. These episodes are available exclusively to members of the Being Boss club house.

[00:00:23] Along with business workshops, industry specific virtual meetups for designers and product bosses, and more, learn more and sign up for the Being Boss Clubhouse at bangboss.club/community.

[00:00:41] Emily Thompson: 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 in this episode, this 300th episode of the Being Boss podcast, I'm doing a reboot, which apparently we millennials love as I take a look back at and revisit of cornerstone of Being Boss, what it means to do the work.

[00:01:10] You can find all the tools, books, and links we reference on the show notes at www.beingboss.club. And if you like this episode, I think you probably know what to do, right? Subscribe to the show, wherever it is that you're listening to it. And extra points if you share us with a friend.

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[00:02:12] Welcome to episode 300. The team and I spent a lot of time talking about this episode. First we thought maybe we should do another compilation episode. Like we did an episode 100 and Corey who edited that episode all those years ago, it was like, no, thank you. That was an incredibly difficult episode to produce and going over 300 episodes instead of just 100, makes that literally three times harder.

[00:02:42] So that was out of the picture. And then of course we reflected on episode 200, which Kathleen and I recorded live in New Orleans. What I think was our last Being Boss vacation. And though I would love to be in New Orleans right now in front of an audience of my boss friends, that it was not in the cards this time.

[00:03:06] We also considered having a guest for the show, maybe a couple of guests, maybe bringing back a couple of our favorite guests to collaborate with me on this episode, or maybe the most obvious solution. Was it bringing Kathleen back? But I can promise you you'll be hearing from her in a couple of episodes coming up.

[00:03:24] So no fear, but this one, I wanted to do something a little bit different. So it's just me, which isn't really the most different thing in the world. But what I am doing today is unlike anything I have done before I plan on spending the next 30, 45 minutes, we'll see, revisiting an old episode, episode one to be exact, an episode called do the work that I recorded seven years ago and released on the first Tuesday of January, 2015.

[00:04:03] It was 30 minutes of just me and Kathleen on our apple earbud headphones with a microphone beginning, our journey of this podcast, where our goal was to share with you how we were kind of just figuring it out as to what it looked like to be creative entrepreneurs, especially in the online space. That single episode is still our most downloaded episode, followed by an episode about Instagram that we released four years after episode number one.

[00:04:39] So in today's show, I want to take some time to reflect on that initial episode and really you, that manifesto of what it means to do the work for a couple of reasons. One, there was some nuggets in that episode that I think it is very important that we go back to look at and two, to reflect on it through the lens of being seven years deeper into my boss journey.

[00:05:09] So as painful as it was to go back and listen to baby Emily on that scratchy microphone in what is honestly an incredibly nervous voice, which I don't think any of you maybe catch up on, unless you've been with this show for a long time. And you can now tell the difference between nervous Emily and not nervous, Emily, but I was a wreck wreck in that episode.

[00:05:35] But even that listening to all of it, I'll tell you, I love that episode still to this day. As I went back about a week or two ago and relisten to it, while I was actually setting up the new Almanac shop, which is just sort of a mind blowing thing for me to consider, even in the, the sort of, and the, I guess, overarching themes of my journey over the past couple of years, I was blown away by how solid that first episode was.

[00:06:10] As I went back and listened, I literally felt magic in what we were saying. We were relaying some sort of like cosmic downloads or some shit, and it was sure a product of a lot of work that Kathleen and I had done in preparation for launching the podcast in terms of branding and positioning, and really getting in there with what it is that we wanted to say.

[00:06:32] But I am blown away by how some of the things that we were saying in that episode were really the heart, the backbone, which are two different body parts. But hang with me here to what we have said in the 300 episodes that followed it is mind blowing to me that we were that good back then. And that we really had such a solid grasp on what we were doing.

[00:07:01] I've talked many times about how this podcast. And how it was for me a big magic moment. If you're familiar with the book by Elizabeth Gilbert, just the idea of starting this podcast and, and I'm very much so at least, especially now aware of, of the magic and flow that happens when you were aligning yourself with a path that is yours.

[00:07:23] And as I was listening, as I was relistening to that first episode, it would really like the bells were ringing in my head that that was proof of that alignment for me and for us and for really the world that was ready for what we were putting out, both in terms of creative entrepreneurship, becoming a thing, but also.

[00:07:46] That podcasts were becoming a thing. And this medium was growing in a way that it was ready for the kinds of things that we were about to share in the way that we were about to share them. And it's not just the broad stroke concepts or really even the heart of the episode, but also the stories, the tactics, literally the quotes that have followed us from episode one over seven years ago, to conversations that I'm having today.

[00:08:14] As I listen, I felt like Emily and Kathleen of seven years ago were really showing up to be boss. And yes, as we figured it out, which is one of the things that, I recognize has made this podcast, what it is, but we were also very much so living and working what we were preaching in a way. Just sat really well with me, even as I was a little appalled to hear my voice, like baby voice from so many years ago, it's like, you know, going back and reading old journal entries or old blog posts or whatever, I felt that as I was listening to it, I was still just incredibly impressed with that first episode.

[00:08:56] So maybe you recall it, maybe you want to go back and listen to episode one, if you want to, it's just 30 short minutes, if you want to, you'll hear a difference for sure. And just Kathleen and I, but I'm also going to be going over some of the key points from that episode today and expanding on them.

[00:09:15] So I will quit tooting my own horn or our horn because it was obviously a collective endeavor. And instead, I want to take you on a little journey back to that episode and share with you a few insights, a couple of expansions and additions that I'd like to add along. So over the course of this episode, I'm going to be sharing three topics and kind of quotes from that original episode.

[00:09:40] And I'll be ending this episode with a one topic that I have found has been a common thread through all 300 episodes. And even though it wasn't mentioned in episode number one, it is a big part of doing the work because doing the work is still what Being Boss is all about. All right. The first quote that I want to sort of bring up, because it's one that has really shaped again, this entire podcast, and so much of what we do both here on the show, but also at our events in the community.

[00:10:16] Everything we do at Being Boss was something that Kathleen said in that first episode and I quote "what separates the hobbyists from the professionals when it comes to creative industries is doing the work." Now I will add an asterisk here. I don't think this is just when it comes to creative industries. So what separates the hobbyist from the professionals is doing the work.

[00:10:41] I followed this up with my own little quote that is pretty much doing the work because separates the creatives from the creative entrepreneurs. We have spent years identifying and talking about what it means to be boss, to show up and do the work to turn your passion or creativity into revenue that fuels your life.

[00:11:04] And we have seen and met and talked to folks who are doing it. Sometimes it's fast. Sometimes it's slow, but doing it nonetheless. And the differentiating factor is always the work they put in to make it happen. There is a dedication, a true sort of soul centered devotion to their craft, which is something that we talk about in episode number one.

[00:11:30] And there's also a second piece of that, which I'll get to in a second, but I want to talk about this, like dedication and devotion to your craft, because there's sort of two sides of this, and I'll be expanding upon this throughout the rest of this episode. But one side of this is, you know, the craft of your craft.

[00:11:48] Let's say you're an accountant, you're an artist, you're a Yogi. You were real estate agent. You are an author, you're a podcaster. You are a business coach, a life coach, a soccer coach, whatever it is that you are here doing that is your craft. And in order to be boss in order to show up and do the work you have to put in extra work, consistent driving force, right into cultivating the skill sets you need dedicating yourself to your craft so that you can be great at what it is that you're doing.

[00:12:32] A hobbyist is someone who may be perfectly okay. Knitting the same scarf for, you know, every season for him, every family member, or it may be even a nice pop up at your local craft. Fair. Totally. Okay. Doing that for the rest of forever, there is a dedication chore. There's the bit of dedication and devotion to your craft.

[00:12:55] And like, you are so great at this. But in order to build it into a business, to go from hobbyist to professional, to go from creative to creative entrepreneur, there is an extra dedication and devotion to your craft that is necessary in order for you to make your creativity, or, you know, this passion of yours into an ongoing revenue stream that fuels your life.

[00:13:19] Let's even say you've created a course. Let's say you are an educator and you want to educate whatever, whatever it may be. There is this like sustaining force behind this, this online course, this education that you are building where, where you can dedicate yourself now and make some money now, or you can dedicate yourself for a long period of time and make revenue for that long period of time.

[00:13:48] So there is this direct correlation between your dedication and devotion to your craft and the revenue and longevity, the other, the revenue that this craft is able to make for you. There's also the second part or second part of your craft that we didn't, we really talk about an episode one, but, but one that I do want to, or we didn't like call it by name, but I want to, in this episode, on one hand, there is dedication to your creative or the craft that you're passionate about.

[00:14:26] The second side of this is a devotion to the craft of business. And this is one, obviously we have spent 300 episodes talking about in so many shapes and forms and has really honestly is really my passion in so many ways. And that is looking at being an entrepreneur as a craft that you need to cultivate or devote yourself to.

[00:14:58] So what does it mean to have a brand and truly understand all pieces and parts of it? What does it mean to market your business and to do so effectively and efficiently? What does it mean for you to understand yourself process and what it is that you need to do to turn your thing into cash money for yourself?

[00:15:22] What does it mean to take care of your company, to have to take care of your customers, to create processes that make it easy for you and those who work for you and with you? Do the things in your business efficiently and effectively, there is this sort of double devotion that you have to, that you have to have that makes up the work.

[00:15:46] That is the difference between a hobbyist and a professional. That is the difference between a creative and a creative entrepreneur. And it's a coin that is two two-sided. It is a devotion to both your craft and to the craft of business. There's also this other coin that I want to throw in here that wasn't really talked about in the episode, but I'm going to talk about it now, and that is a dedication or devotion to your journey.

[00:16:17] That's something that we're going to be diving into a lot more throughout the rest of this episode. But I also think that is an important piece of differentiating hobbyists from professionals of differentiating creatives from creative entrepreneurs is hobbyists or creatives tend to be very in the now.

[00:16:38] And I'm just, I'm going to create this thing. I mean, I'm also imagining creatives with like shiny object syndrome, right. This idea of like consistently being distracted by the thing you want to do now, of the skill you want to learn now of, the scarf you want to knit in that. Versus professionals or creative entrepreneurs are really dedicating themselves to a longer journey of gaining a wider perspective of time and their place in their current journey in terms of what they need to be learning.

[00:17:11] And maybe the thing you want and you need to be learning or doing are completely aligned. And if that's the case, high five, those are the magical moments of life, for sure. But there is this sort of responsibility to work with what it is that you are creating to line things up to align yourself with the places in your journey that you need to be in in order to realize a longer term vision.

[00:17:38] That is, that is what makes the difference between people who are creating for now or creating for something bigger or in the future versus someone who, or, and in addition to someone who is a hobbyist versus someone with the viewpoints of a professional. So that's the first one I really want to dive into here is a sort of expansion on this idea that doing the work is what separates hobbyists from professionals.

[00:18:06] It's what separates creatives from creative entrepreneurs and that little definition of what doing the work means in this context is three parts. It is a dedication to doing two cultivating to learning your craft. As well as the craft of doing business, as well as dedicating yourself to this overarching journey that you are on as a creative, as agreed of entrepreneur, as a professional, as a human being as however it is that you identify yourself and seeing a more holistic view of your journey than just what's on your to-do list today, or the shiny object that has you enthralled with this moment.

[00:18:57] So that's number one, hope that wasn't hard for anyone to hear, but if it was check yourself, because that one, that one can be a bit of a, a bit of a mindset shift for some folks. The second one is what I'm going to dive into. Probably pretty deep. This is a quote for me from that first episode. And it goes something like this, doing the work is everything between the wanting and the having.

[00:19:29] And another part of this episode, a couple seconds later actually sort of reword this quote in a different way. Doing the work is all the things that come between wanting something and having some. So obviously the first episode that we did for this podcast was doing the work episode. Number one, but if you go back and listen to that episode, we did not end that episode with what has sort of become our, is it our call sign?

[00:19:57] How do you, what is it called when you end something? I need someone here to fill in my blank. We have since ended all episodes, actually don't know which episode we started doing this with, but for the last 390 episodes, I'm sure, excuse me, 290 episodes. I'm sure we have ended the podcast with do the work be boss.

[00:20:19] So obviously we had an inkling that doing the work was going to be an important part of what we talked about here. We named our first episode that and explored the topic in our first episode, but we weren't really sure that it would literally become a component of every single episode we ever did. And by that, I mean, ending every episode with do the work be boss, it is how we have come to define what it means to be boss.

[00:20:45] Someone who is doing the work is Being Boss. This podcast turned into a whole journey of understanding the vastness that makes up doing the work. And that one, quote one, which I guess is two sentences rephrased doing the work is everything between wanting and having has been the. Sentence, we have explored through 300 episodes.

[00:21:18] However, at that point I did not understand the vastness of what it means to do the work. I know I say everything between wanting and having, and everything sounds all encompassing, but I had no idea what everything meant really, whenever I said that so many years ago, but I'll tell you it's haunted me.

[00:21:41] And in like, like a friendly ghost, like a Casper hauntings sort of situation where the journey that I have taken, and then I know Kathleen has taken as well throughout this entire process is really understanding the definition of everything between not wanting and having. And there's a couple of things that I really want to break down for you here to bring some clarity to.

[00:22:07] What it is that we've learned about this single sentence. First, I want to dive into this idea of wanting if you've ever heard me speak live. You've likely heard me break down this next sentence. It's one of my favorite maxims of Being Boss. We have a couple of them around here Being Bosses, you know, being in it together, Being Boss is knowing that you've got this.

[00:22:30] One of my favorites is Being Boss is owning who you are, knowing what you want, actually making it happen. I love that because it's, it's, it's incredibly definitive. And it, if you've ever heard me do my live, talk around what it means to be boss, you've heard me dive into each of those parts, owning who you are, knowing what you want and actually making it happen, in a way that brings a ton of clarity and shows you really just how deep and meaningful that single sentence is.

[00:23:01] But right there, sandwich in the middle is knowing what. You want, which is the first part of our sort of episode one quote here, and that doing the work is everything between wanting and having, wanting is something that we have explored extensively over the past three hundred, two hundred and ninety nine, I guess, episodes.

[00:23:23] And wanting isn't simple, wanting requires a lot of things from you in order to really know what it is that you want in a way that's going to allow you to show up and work for it. First and foremost, it requires self-awareness what do you want? Right. There is a lot of self-awareness that is required for simply wanting something, truly wanting something.

[00:23:47] And if you truly want something that is yours, there's something else that wanting requires wanting requires a destruction of learn definitions of success and an understanding of your definition of success. So if you came from a family that, you know, gave you the expectations of being, you know, rich and married with a full family and a huge pension plan, but that is not your definition of success.

[00:24:14] Then you need to unlearn their impose definitions of success and gain a fresh understanding of your definition of success. We've talked about this many times over the course of the show. We'll include some, some resources for you around defining success in the show notes of this episode. But this is an important part of wanting of truly wanting something that should be yours is not only requiring a self-awareness, but a destruction of those learned definitions of success, so that you can have a true, full understanding of what you define success.

[00:24:56] As you also have to have an accepted sense of worthiness for what you want. It's easy to like say you want something, but it can be really difficult for some people to truly in their soul. I want something from a place of, they are worthy of it and not muddied up by this idea that you shouldn't have it, or you can't want it, or you shouldn't be wanting it or whatever it may be.

[00:25:24] There is a sense of worthiness that we all must gain, that we all must work on gaining in order to truly own and accept and truly want the things that we want. And in addition to all of those things, I told you, wandering is really a hard job. It can really be a difficult thing to truly want something.

[00:25:49] And to understand that desire, you also have to have the ability to commit to it, which is the doing the work part that comes next. So wanting requires a lot of things. And that self-awareness piece is something that we explore probably the most often. And we do a lot in the podcast too. But whenever I say we, these days on the podcast here, no that I'm mostly talking in fact about conversations we're having in the Being Boss community.

[00:26:24] We're in Monday meetups in the clubhouse, we're doing full moon circles and clubhouse converse in, excuse me, new moon circles and that clubhouse conversation. We're showing up for coworking and these sorts of things. And we are having conversations all the time. And I cannot tell you how often self-awareness is the undertone of the things that we're discussing in that space.

[00:26:52] That is such a core of what it means to be boss. And it is the work that we are all doing all of the time. So that's wanting next comes doing the work.

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[00:27:54] We're honestly just scratching the surface and HubSpot's capabilities, but it's really nice to know that we're set up in a system that has the features we'll need as well. We track the contact information for all of our wholesale stockists and leads and HubSpot. There's so much data that we can add for each stockist, not just email and address, but any personal notes.

[00:28:13] The last time they ordered or special requirements, when it's time to reach out to our accounts, we can filter so that we're sending more personalized messages to each store. And that is super helpful. My HubSpot CRM platform helps my business. They connected learn more about how I can do the same for yours at hubspot.com.

[00:28:35] Emily Thompson: And as I said in that cute little quote earlier, that just flew out of my mouth seven years ago, doing the work is basically everything else. And it includes. So many things it's not just showing up and writing an email or designing the thing, or, you know, talking to a client or delivering thing. It is everything is defining, researching, learning, planning, cultivating it's molding through conversations.

[00:29:02] It is actually showing up and doing a lot of doing for sure. But it also is reviewing and analyzing it's testing and changing. It's doing it again. There's a lot of mindset stuff that happens in doing the work it's getting out of your own way. It's working through your fraudy feelings. There's also things like setting up boundaries and embracing habits and routines that support you.

[00:29:24] And then there are also the very practical parts of doing the. And if you're doing the work in a boss way, you're also resting and living and exploring and recharging and celebrating. You're engaging with your work with your life, with the world around you. The work is everything. It is inner work. It is outer work.

[00:29:48] And so you want something. I think you do all of this stuff. And granted, in order to get the having that comes after the wanting and the doing the work, the doing the work has to be pretty particular, right? The defining and researching and learning and planning. Those things have to be around you achieving the thing that you want and setting a roadmap.

[00:30:13] It's making a to-do list. It's making the connections that you need. It's gathering your tools, it's cultivating your craft, right? It's doing all of that work so that you are so that doing the work is aligning you from what you want. To what you want, right? So there's wanting, there's doing the work and then there's having, and having almost requires its own set of work as well.

[00:30:44] There's pausing required, definitely appreciating and showing gratitude, embracing, sharing, and inspiring. And this show, this show has been an exploration and a practice of all of these things. And as I've dove into this, obviously I've learned some things along the way that I want to share with you.

[00:31:06] Because whenever I say, you know, episode one, do the work 30 minutes, easy peasy. Here's what it means. Characteristics you need whatever. It may be 300 episodes later. Here's really what I've learned about doing the work, that whole picture, right? Wanting, doing the work. Having Being Boss requires discipline and dedication period is not for the faint of heart.

[00:31:32] I have met, I would say easily. Every 10 people, I meet four of them. Three of them have natural Being Boss tendencies. Right? Have the ability to come innately with a capacity to dedicate themselves to the path that we define as Being Boss. It's not, it's not innate in everybody by any means. I would say three that's three out of 10, another 2, 3, 4 can get there.

[00:32:06] And actually everyone can get there. 2, 3, 4 are going to get there in this lifetime. And again is, I'm basically pulling numbers in my ass, but I'm also just sharing you, sharing with you. My experience, the rest of that 10 have a lot of work to do to get to a place where they can start this path. So know that if you are here and you're doing it, you are, you identify as Being Boss high five boss, because you are one of few.

[00:32:41] If you were here and you were like, you're dedicating yourself to it, high five, you are also one of few. And I'd say everyone else, you probably like, just because you're here, you have the capacity, get to work, discipline, dedication. Those things are required to do this and I'll get into why. Another thing that happens as you are here, especially if you are new on your journey, this may be maybe helpful for you is that you learn to trust the process.

[00:33:18] Those first couple of years of discipline and dedication and wanting and doing the work and having, I mean, it's like, there's a lot, there's a lot that happens there and it can get really easy to get in your own way. But what I have found, and I find this with bosses who are 10 years into, you know, working for themselves for, you know, claiming their responsibilities and showing up in those like 10 years of bossing it out, you get to this place where it's easy for you to step into the flow of the process.

[00:33:49] It's not so hard. And I say hard like that, cause it's hard. It's not, not hard. You know, that's right. It's not, not hard. It is hard, but it's not as hard. It's easier to, it takes. Less effort. How about that? It takes less effort. It's still hard work, but it's easier to step into the flow when you learn to trust the process.

[00:34:19] A really great example of this came up the other day. I mean, I've been working for myself for 12, 13 years now. I think something like that, David, my life and business partner has been working for himself for, we started Almanac four years ago, I guess, a little over four years ago. So like in some terms and some definitions of the word still a baby.

[00:34:47] And as we have embarked on opening up a new retail store, if I don't have I shared this year, I've shared it on making a business in the community. I can't remember who I've told and who I haven't told at Almanac. We are currently as of recording this in the process of moving from our small shop, literally half a block away into a shop that is three times the size, and this is maybe my biggest business endeavor yet.

[00:35:12] Can I say that? I think I can very easily. And truthfully say that for sure. There is a lot happening our to do lists are massive. There's so many things that so many people involved with it too. It's a very complex project we've been doing build-outs and just all kinds of things is there's a lot of things happening, a lot of things happening.

[00:35:32] And for a baby boss, it could be overwhelming. And David recently expressed to me some overwhelm. As we were getting ready one morning. David's like a very optimistic, cheery guy. That's a little annoying. Sometimes I love him for it. But I noticed something was off and I was like, dude, what's up? And he was like, just so much to do today.

[00:35:54] And I was like, yeah, it's like you stressed about, I get, sometimes he likes to wear his shoulders, his earrings. It's like your shoulders. And he was like, yeah, I just see so much. And I was like, I can tell you're stressed. I'll tell you. I'm not. It's like we're showing up today to do the exact same things.

[00:36:15] And so there is a bit of a choice here. Like you can, you can be stressed. That's fine. I was like, but I know that my job today is just to show up. If I show up. And that is where it starts for everyone. I have learned to trust the process in a way that if I show up everything else, just going to fall into place.

[00:36:41] And granted there's a ton of work that goes, like, I know that me showing up means me showing up to plan me, showing up to have these meetings, me showing up to move the furniture, me showing up. But like, if I like, all I need to worry about right now is showing up and I just got to put my shoes on, go get in the car, go to the shop.

[00:36:56] And if I, if I can just do that and then that to do list is one thing long show up, right. If I can do that. Everything else will happen. And so there has, there is this mindset shift. There's this mindset difference between me 12 years into it. I trust the process. I know I just got to show up and all the things are going to happen and I'm going to be there to do them because I'm fully shown up.

[00:37:21] I haven't just like shown up. I'm standing there. I showed, have my energies into my attention. Isn't it? My, my actions are in it. I just have to show up David four years into it is incredibly stressed out by the length of the to-do list. He is less trusting of the process he's getting there. We've lots of talks about it and he's doing, he's doing great.

[00:37:47] He's doing great. But there is a mindset difference there. One of just trusting the process and knowing that all I have to do is fully show up and things get done, things get done. So that's another thing that I've learned around this, doing the work process. Another one is. It's effing hard. Y'all, it's hard, but it is a hundred percent worth it.

[00:38:13] If you are aligned fully showing up and doing the work and really, truly working towards your version of success, the outcome is worth it. Here's another slightly harder truth about it. It's never over, never similar situation or like in relation to the shop that we are opening at a friend show up the other day.

[00:38:38] We, as of recording this, we should be opening the shop and oh my God, like 12 days. Ohhh. Okay. Still not nervous. I'm fine. I'm fine. No. So we're opening the shop in about two weeks. Frank came over the other day. And she was like, she was like, are you so excited about, by getting the shop open and the way she was asking, it was like, you know, the end of the race.

[00:39:03] Right. And I was like, Hmm, sure. I guess. And really the shop opening is not the end. The shop opening is actually just a major milestone in what is a very large project. That's not going to be over for a minute, not until it is fully functional and does not need me every day. That will make me excited.

[00:39:26] That's going to be such a great day. When not only is it open, but it is otherwise fully functional and not in need of any energy from me, we're probably at least a month to 60 days away from that. And so there is a mindset shift there of like someone who is not their own business owner. Thinking about, you know, this major milestone is the end and you're done and high five and let's go have drinks and like, hold my mindset is one that truly understands that that is just one more milestone in a long line of milestones.

[00:40:09] And does that diminish my excitement? No. And I told her, I was like, yes, I'm super stoked about getting the shot. That's going to be a great day. Are you kidding me? That is going to be such a great day, but it's not about. The to-do list is never over. Once this hustle is done, there will be a next one.

[00:40:24] Hopefully it will be a life one or a rest one or whatever it may be. But whenever you choose this path, you don't, you rarely get a season off. Right. And that's, I have the energy to do it. I'm excited. I chose this, et cetera, et cetera, but it's never really over. Another thing that I'm consistently realizing is every time I do have business sort of tucked away and it's like flowing and doing what it needs to do, that's when life stuff happens, that's when the work moves to another sector of my being.

[00:40:57] And so I've just gained this, understanding that like, you know, there's no like end it and go on vacation. Unless one day I sell one of these companies. I mean that sure. That is a, that is a little more over, but then guys, I'm not going to just sit on my ass. I'm going to do something else. It's never over.

[00:41:17] I will also say that it gets easier. It really does get easier, becomes second nature. It becomes an adopted mindset in a way of being this idea of doing the work. Right. I have so many stories about opening the shop. It literally is consuming so much of what I'm doing these days, and I really am enjoying it a ton, but I was, actually at like a planning commission meeting recently, don't ask for the city.

[00:41:45] I was at this meeting and saw a neighbor friend. And, he was talking like, we were doing some things for planning commission. It's a whole thing. And he was like, so what are you up to? And I was like, actually, we're moving the shop. We're like supposed to be opening at the end of the month. And he's like, oh, you must be a wreck right now.

[00:42:00] And I was like, oh no, I'm not, I'm not a wreck. I'm actually fine. I'm just going to work. It's doing the work is. How I am. It is my adopted mindset doing something big doesn't wreck me because I'm always doing and not in a sense that I'm addicted to doing or whatever. I'm a boss, right. I'm here doing things.

[00:42:32] I also recently had someone who was shocked that we were moving into a bigger space. They're like, wow, you two big things. And it was like, they were not quite taken aback, but there was like equal parts, taken aback and impressed. I think I'm going to read it that way. While you do big things, I was like, yeah, I do.

[00:42:54] Thank you. I give her recognizing that it is a way of being, and it's easy for me. It is second nature. It's just who I am and what I do. And so, you know, if you had told me seven years ago that you're about to open this shop, I'd be like, are you shitting me? How, but as you go through the journey, things happen, you grow, your capacity to do.

[00:43:22] And not it maybe not necessarily increases. I don't want to say that one day you'll be, you know, building a rocket to the moon in a day or anything like that, but it becomes second nature to show up and do the work. And therefore it is easier and it is your way of being. So if you are struggling with it now, practice it, practice it.

[00:43:43] And it will become who you are, practice it healthily, and it will become who you are in the best way possible.

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[00:44:34] And it might be just the solution you're looking for to invoice your customers, track your expenses and manage your books. Try FreshBooks free for 30 days, no credit card required. Go to freshbooks.com/beingboss to get started today.

[00:44:52] The third piece of this episode of episode, number one that I want to talk about is not necessarily a quote, but something that Kathleen and I dove into in the course of that episode that I want to bring in here, because I think it's incredibly important to touch on again. And that is this idea that you have to learn what doing the work looks like for you, the journey of the baby boss.

[00:45:14] And if you're new here, please remember that I didn't call you baby bosses first, you called yourself that that is a name that baby bosses gave themselves years ago. So if that offends you in any way, shape or form consult the baby bosses, it also just generally fits. And I do not mean that in any sort of demeaning way at all, restart going again.

[00:45:38] The journey of the baby boss is to define what you want, which we just talked about and to find your flow, to find what works for you to, to figure out what it looks like for you to do the work. This is where that journey of self-awareness really comes in here. This is why self-awareness is so much of what we talk about.

[00:46:05] This is figuring out what it is that you want, how, and when you work best, where do you need more support and what it looks like for you to show up day after day or week after week to do your work and remember doing your work as both practicing, cultivating, devoting yourself to both your creative or, you know, craft of passion, as well as that of business, as well as to this sort of broader journey that you are on as a human being it's to figure out what doing the work looks like for you.

[00:46:45] And when I talk about where you need more support, one of the things that Kathleen said in that first episode, I sort of highlighted out and was, have been thinking about a lot over the past week. One of the things that she states is that the hardest part for her is getting started. I know many bosses who identify with this sometimes just getting started is the hardest part.

[00:47:07] You know, they say the hardest part about working out is like, you know, putting on your shoes and going out the door. I've heard stories of like, you know, showing up to a yoga class and then being like, good job. You did the hardest part today. You're here. Like sometimes the hardest part is getting started.

[00:47:20] Sometimes it's not, sometimes the hardest part is finishing right. Like is ending the thing is wrapping up the project and, and sending it on its way of actually closing the books on that thing that you've been working on. Sometimes the hardest part is pulling in the assistance you need, right? Asking for help delegating what it is that you're doing to people who are better at it than you.

[00:47:42] One of the key pieces of this self-awareness is to identify where you need support and more importantly, understanding what the hardest part is for you. So it's both knowing how, and when you work best, but knowing how and when and where you have the hardest time doing the work and getting the support you need to help you overcome those hardest parts.

[00:48:05] One of the most tactical things I'm going to share in this episode is this is the idea of time-tracking one of the things that I get bosses to do all the time. Especially when they are struggling with some self-awareness around what doing the work looks like for them, how it is, they can optimize the time that they are spending in not for the purpose of just ever optimizing, but like stop wasting time.

[00:48:26] Right. Get closer to your goal faster, right. Is doing some time tracking. I did a really great training on how I time track. You can find it beingboss.club/time. I have my team doing this. I have, newbie bosses doing this. I have bosses who've been in business 10 years who come up and they're like, I'm struggling time track for a minute.

[00:48:47] See what happens time tracking is really great when you were just getting started. It's also really great. When you were shifting how you work, maybe you're pivoting, you're offering in your business. Maybe you were in a new working environment. Maybe you're now working from home or you've gotten an office you're trying

[00:49:00] co-working maybe you have more of a team or less of a team. Maybe you just want to get better at what you do. Time tracking is the best tactic I have for helping you learn what doing the work looks like for you. And honestly, over the past 300 episodes, this podcast and every event or conversation or workshop or whatever we've done in the community, it has been filled with the stories of how hundreds of bosses, of creative entrepreneurs, of thought leaders, writers, actors, you name it, do the work.

[00:49:34] And here's the cool thing. No two are the same. We have delivered a smorgasbord of tactics, of viewpoints, of tools, of how of examples, of how it is that other people do the work, which means it's generally just up to you to figure out what that means for you. And also understanding that it changes. We all go through seasons of life.

[00:49:58] We all work differently at different times, which is why this is something we all need to be consistently conscious of. How do we do the work and what do we need to support us in getting it done? And there is some magic here with working hard to gain some self-awareness around what it means for you to do the work.

[00:50:17] And that is that it becomes easier for you to find your flow and to learn, to trust the process, which is what I talked about earlier. You learn to operate on a higher level. You work more effectively and more efficiently, and you can just show up, like I was talking about earlier and things just generally come to you.

[00:50:34] As you are gaining, self-awareness, it's easier for you to align yourself to the things that you should be doing, and in the way you should be doing them. And everything happens considerably more easily. So now that I have totally blown my time expectations out of the water, I do want to go through, one last section.

[00:50:55] Those were the three pieces of information that I wanted to share from episode one. So that you could sort of have a recap and an update on some things that, we shared in that first episode, the first one was this idea that what separates the hobbyist from the professionals or the creatives from the creative entrepreneurs is doing the work.

[00:51:15] It is an imperative part of showing up and Being Boss, as we define it, also doing the work is everything between wanting and having and by everything. I mean, everything has really come to mean literally everything. And that an important part of doing the work is learning what it looks like for you to do the work.

[00:51:35] All of these things require a lot of self-awareness, which is really at the core of what we do. So this last I mentioned, I want to add, and you can think of this as like, if I were to take everything that we talked about in episode, number one and put it in a, in a cultural we'll call it stirred up, make a fun brew while you get out of it.

[00:51:53] Is this last piece that I want to talk about it, something that we have explored for years, both officially and unofficially. We've talked about it very specifically on podcast, but it has also infiltrated itself into most boss conversations I have ever had at some point or another. And that is this idea of what it looks like to expand your capacity for success because you all, this is just another layer of doing the work.

[00:52:19] So expanding your capacity or your container for success. And our 300 episodes, we have chatted with industry heavy hitters like Brooke Castillo and Chalene Johnson specifically about what it means to expand your capacity for success. We've also explored some woo practices for expanding your capacity for success.

[00:52:38] We heard from Kelly Knight about some Kundalini yoga practices to assist with this, as well as Pamela chin with meditation at mindset practices at both of our gatherings, which are virtual events, the recordings of which are available to clubhouse members. And I've also had countless conversations, private conversations with bosses around what it means to move to the next level, to up-level to imagine what you want next to work for what you want next to operate at that higher level.

[00:53:11] I actually just last week had a conversation with my friends at Tasha and Erica, who you heard from an episode number 296, we were on Marco Polo talking about, again, what it means to expand your capacity for success, to optimize your container, to put more of what you want in it. So that, and you do that by taking what you don't want out of it.

[00:53:34] And you're therefore able to hold more success and you're able to call it in as well as holy guys. This is, this is the thing that Kathleen and I have been obsessed with since episode number one, each in our own ways. And it's something that we continue to explore separately together, even, and this, to do this work as entrepreneurs and especially online entrepreneurs, you cannot only focus on doing the work right now.

[00:54:09] You also need to be doing the work for later. This sort of ties back up to that first point. I was talking about, you know, there's that, you know, coin of dedicating yourself to both your craft and a business, but then also your journey. This is part of that journey work that I was talking about. And it includes things like learning new tactics and technologies, which is, you know, just kind of the hard part.

[00:54:31] I think of online businesses. There's always so many new tactics and technologies, a reason why I really love opening a physical store and physical space because things move a little bit more slowly in the real world. You also need to be continuing to do your inner work, to overcome your faulty feelings, your own roadblocks, get out of your own way, work through those deeper shadows that you are here in this lifetime to work through so that you can continue to expand and, or really just meet your capacity for success.

[00:55:04] And then generally upleveling, like who here has felt a gross upleveling, right? There is upleveling at every new upgrade or change or evolution in your life. And it happens over and over and over literally forever. This journey has taught me anything it's like, is this is life, right? This is the life work.

[00:55:29] And I know that that idea can be really triggering for somebody. And all honesty. It is a little bit for me too, especially after the past couple of years that we've had, but for those of us who choose this path, we have chosen this path where leaders, we are here to serve the communities that we are here to serve, however, big or small.

[00:55:52] And we're here to live the lives of we're accepting more responsibility than most. So this is the work that we are here to do. We, as bosses are continuously doing this broader, more holistic work to prepare ourselves for achieving what we are here to achieve both in the short term and in the longterm.

[00:56:15] And does that sound exhausting? Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Yes. But if you'd asked me seven years ago, if I ever thought that this show would make it to 300 episodes, not counting a couple hundred, minisodes several dozen episodes of making a business, a couple handfuls of vacations and meetups and mastermind retreats, speaking engagements, a book which just celebrated its fourth birthday and is available

[00:56:39] wherever books are sold and countless new boss friends, a business partnership that dissolved, but a friendship that I hold dear than ever and more coming from that one little divine episode filled with nervous laughter I might have thought you were nuts. And I certainly would not have understood the amount of work that I would have had to have shown up for both inner and outer.

[00:57:05] And I'm talking work that I have shared with you and work that some of you will never see. I would not have believed. And as I sit here, recording this episode, knowing what's happening at Almanac, the business that we're building, they're literally moving into a physical space. That's filled with crystals and candles and gorgeous things.

[00:57:27] This is where the worth that comes in guys. This is where the worth it comes in. And this idea that I don't actually want it to end. I don't want this like, process of showing up and doing the work and uncovering and learning and doing to end because this life is rad. It's really rad. It feels aligned. I am being who I am.

[00:57:54] And maybe your being who you are is more than what I'm doing. I love that for you. Maybe it's less. I love that for you. Everyone is defining it for themselves, but we're all also just showing up and doing the work and understanding that this is a life, a lifelong life, right. That we have claimed for ourselves.

[00:58:12] And I'll tell you too, the biggest reward of all of this, and I'm not even being fluffy here as you, in terms of the work that we are doing here at Being Boss, hearing from those of you who have been listening since day one, who God bless you have binged the show to get caught up. You've launched your side hustle who have gone full time, who have started a family while running your business who have made money and bought houses and gone on epic adventures.

[00:58:39] Knowing that my work has inspired you to do your work is what this is all about. And honestly, Kathleen and I did not have a clue what we'd be inspiring whenever we recorded that episode seven years ago, but oh my God, am I so glad that we did? And it is my honor to continue this beyond 300 episodes that is work.

[00:59:02] I am happy to claim for myself. No, you have it. Our reboot of episode, number one, do the work over seven years and 300 episodes later. I look forward to continue helping you do the work while I continue exploring that topic for myself and through the creative business owners that I chat with here on the show.

[00:59:26] And those of you who have joined me in the Being Boss community. And I will end this 300 episode with a really big, thank you. Thank you to our listeners for supporting this work by showing up and tuning in and engaging for those of you who have dove deeper than the podcast with an extra, thank you to anyone who has shared the show with a friend.

[00:59:48] Thank you to my boss, friends beginning, and certainly not ending with Kathleen and includes each of you that I've had the pleasure of sharing a conversation and sometimes more with also thank you to the brands and specifically the people behind those brands that we have worked with over the years. It is their support that keeps the show running and has added a layer of this experience

[01:00:10] for me, that has been unexpected and truly rewarding and last, but so far from least thank you to my team and everyone who has worked with me to build the show as audience in this community and the special thanks to Corey who has been right here with me every step of the way. And now that 300 has done.

[01:00:30] I cannot wait to see what happens next.

[01:00:35] All right boss, because you're here. I know you want to be a better creative at business owner, which means I've got something for you each week. The team at Being Boss is scouring the news, the best entrepreneurial publications and updates and releases of the apps and tools that run our businesses and is curating it all into a weekly email that delivers the must know tips and tactics in the realms of mindset, money and productivity.

[01:00:58] This email is called Brewed. We brew it up for you each week to give you the insight you need to make decisions and move forward in your creative business. Check it out now and sign up for yourself at beingboss.club/brewed. That's beingboss.club/B R E W E D. Now until next time do the work, be boss.