Episode 718: Embrace the Season You’re In (Mindset & Self-Care)

EBT718 – Embrace the Season You’re In

Intro  00:01

Hey food bloggers. Thank you so much for joining me in this mindset and self-care focused episode here on Eat Blog Talk. One of the reasons I started a blog talk was to hold a space to talk about the importance of mindset and self-care. Being an entrepreneur can be a lot. If we are not taking care of ourselves, then getting actionable information about SEO Pinterest or whatever else is all moot. I will meet you back here every Wednesday to discuss various mindset and self-care topics. So you have the energy and space to tackle the rest.

[00:00:33]   

Hello awesome people. How are you doing today? Welcome to this mindset focused episode of Eat Blog Talk. So happy you’re here as always today. I would love to talk to you about something that can so sneak up on me and I’m assuming this is the case for you as well. At times, especially around this time of year when we are about midway through the year, we feel like expectations start creeping in.

[00:01:01]   

Maybe we start feeling the pressure of Q4 coming up and we feel like we’ve been doing our best for so long. Maybe since the start of the year we’ve just been pushing and going and doing, but suddenly we realize that things aren’t where we want them to be. Maybe our traffic is down or our energy feels really drained, or motivation is out the window, so we start questioning where we’re at and what we’re doing.

[00:01:32]   

Maybe we hear voices in our heads like what is wrong with me? What have I done? What have I done wrong? And the truth is, probably nothing is wrong with us and we haven’t done anything wrong. We just might be in a new season and that is not something that we need to fix.

[00:01:50]   

It’s something that we need to honor. So this episode is going to be about going with the flow and surrendering, accepting things instead of fighting what is. It’s about recognizing that dips are not always signs of danger. Sometimes they are invitations from the divine or God, or a higher power of some sort of so let’s talk through a few points on this topic so you can feel better about things as we’re going into the last part of the year.

[00:02:30]   

Number one, you are not a machine. None of us are machines. We unfortunately live in a world that honors and worships hustle and glorifies that constant output and movement. We honor more traffic, more content, more momentum, more everything, all the time. It’s so easy to internalize the belief that if we’re not growing in visible, measurable ways, that we must be doing something wrong.

[00:03:02]   

But if you Think about nature. I always try to go back to nature because it’s like the gold standard. Obviously, nature does not hustle all year round. Trees go through seasons and plants and flowers where they lose their leaves and petals. Bears and other animals hibernate, flowers close at night. The earth rests.

[00:03:28]   

We all rest at night. So why do we expect ourselves to be on all the time? It’s kind of ridiculous if you think about it. You are not a machine. You are a cyclical, living, intuitive being. And like all other living things, you move through seasons. You move through seasons of blooming, dormancy, reflection, momentum.

[00:03:56]   

And none of these seasons are wrong. They’re all just part of the cycle. For me, I am starting a new season, starting literally tomorrow. I’ve been in a full, generous season of serving, giving, loving, showing up for others in big ways. Recently. It’s been honestly the most beautiful and meaningful thing. It feels really good.

[00:04:22]   

My heart feels full. But I can feel things winding down. I can’t keep this up forever. My body, my soul, and my mind, they are all craving restoration at the moment. So tomorrow, my family and I are taking a spontaneous road trip to Ohio, something that just kind of popped up. And then we come home for a few days.

[00:04:46]   

And after that, we start our big RV adventure into the mountains in Montana. And all of this is something that I just know my soul needs. And I know it’s going to help me recalibrate and recharge after this really plentiful season of give, give, giving. So I don’t feel like I’m falling behind at all.

[00:05:10]   

This is part of my cycle. I absolutely must reset and rest if I want to ever go through a season again of giving and loving and serving, which I will. Let’s move on to number two, which is resisting the season brings more suffering. Here’s what tends to happen. When we hit a dip in creativity or traffic or money or energy, we start to panic.

[00:05:34]   

Maybe we spiral a little bit and we start telling ourselves stories like maybe I’ve lost my spark or everyone else is doing better than I am, or this must mean I’m failing or falling behind. But what if these stories aren’t true at all? What if the dip is actually our bodies, our souls whispering to us?

[00:05:57]   

It’s simply time to pause. What if any drop in momentum that we feel is actually an invitation instead of a punishment? It’s an invitation to rest, to reflect, to heal, to create new dreams or to dream again. I experienced a recent dip in blog traffic and everything honestly revenue feels like it’s down.

[00:06:26]   

Energy is down. Everything feels down for me right now. At first when I realized this, it didn’t feel good. I asked myself those questions. What is wrong with me? What have I done wrong? I’ve been working hard all year, but now I see it. It was just another signal. It was one of those loving nudges we get from the universe to just slow down and not to punish myself or beat myself up or get mad, but to allow it and embrace it.

[00:06:59]   

Because I think these signals are trying to protect me. When we resist these nudges, we actually suffer. And when we surrender to them, we allow ourselves to grow. Number three what embracing a season can look like if you are in a slower season right now. First of all, I just want to say you’re not alone.

[00:07:21]   

Here are some gentle ways that you can move through it. First, name the season. Give it a name. You can call it healing, Recovery, stillness, rebuilding. I think when we name it, we validate it. We stop pretending it should be something else. Then you can adjust your pace. You don’t have to create new content at full speed all the time.

[00:07:49]   

You can repurpose old blog posts. You can schedule more breaks in your days. In your schedule. You can rest without guilt. You can let ease be your strategy instead of hustle. And I just want to say this too. You can actually pause work for a time. Sometimes I need just a week off not doing anything at all.

[00:08:14]   

You are allowed to do that. That’s one of the benefits of this job, is we can do that occasionally, when needed. Also track what actually matters. So some seasons aren’t about metrics. They’re more about planting seeds and tending to your internal world so your external world can flourish later. I lean heavily on this image of seed planting because it’s so important and it’s in nature.

[00:08:45]   

It’s actually a real thing. You plant a seed in soil, you have to let it sit and give it the things it needs. And sometimes that takes time. So maybe that’s the season you’re in right now. Then lean into trust. Not all growth is visible. So think about those roots. Once you have planted your seeds, they start growing deep under the ground, steady and unseen.

[00:09:14]   

They’re still growing. You can’t see it yet, maybe, but they’re still there doing what they need to do. And here’s a reminder to you. Your value is not tied to how productive you are all the time. Your being is just as worthy as you’re doing to wrap up if you are in a dip, whether it is the summer slump or Maybe you’re listening to this during the holiday season or just a hard stretch of life.

[00:09:43]   

Just know that you are not behind. You’re not broken, you’re not failing. You’re simply in a quieter season and it’s totally okay to be there. Allow it to soften you and strengthen your roots. Because when you embrace the season you’re in, you are not stuck. You are becoming something greater. You’re growing into something better.

[00:10:08]   

So take a deep breath, honor the present moment and trust that what is meant to come to you is on its way to you. I really needed this episode today. I hope you did too and thank you so much for listening. I will see you next week everyone.

Outro 

Thank you so much for listening to this mindset and self care episode. These mindset episodes are now available on YouTube, so watch it over there. Search Eat Blog Talk on YouTube and we’ll see you there.