Hello Zen Organizer,
This week, the Zenly Organized podcast will celebrate its first anniversary!
When I think about everything that has happened in the past year, I can’t believe it’s only been one year, and yet, at the same time, it seems like ten years have passed!
I learned A LOT of things this year, and I thought it’d be interesting to share these learnings with you because they might also help you with your own projects.
I have to warn you, though: I’m not going to share anything groundbreaking with you today. 😅 Because the learnings I did last year are the classic learnings everybody tells you you have to do to succeed at pretty much anything. But I guess a little repetition never hurts.
However, I strongly believe that we have to experience things for ourselves to truly learn something. So I encourage you to put yourself in situations that will help you learn these lessons as soon as possible to create the success you’re looking for!
“Good things come to those who wait”, but still take action while they’re waiting!
I have to admit something: patience really isn’t my strong suit. 😅 I tend to want everything right away and quit when I don’t get results quickly.
But ever since I started Zenly Organized, I’ve been working a lot on my lack of patience, and I’ve realized that, indeed, good things come to those who wait (but also do the work, of course 😉).
What I mean by that is that certain things, like building a community or a business, for example, take time and a lot of effort. Especially at the beginning, where you usually have to put in a lot of time and effort only to get little results. But eventually, if you persevere, you start getting more and more results with less time and effort input.
So if you’re currently working on a project and feel discouraged not to see results quickly, I feel ya. But please don’t give up and persevere because I’m sure you’ll eventually get amazing results!
“Don’t compare your chapter #1 to someone else’s chapter #20.”
And remember one thing: everyone’s path is different. Don’t compare your progress to somebody else’s. “Don’t compare your chapter #1 to someone else’s chapter #20.” Only compare yourself to yourself and acknowledge all the progress you’ve made!
I know it’s hard. I have to stop myself from comparing my progress and my accomplishments (or lack thereof 😅) with other people quite often. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of comparison, especially with social media.
But always remember that you are on your own path and that everything that happens, whether you see it as positive or negative in the moment, is there to help you learn something and make you stronger, wiser.
So be yourself, blaze your own trail, push yourself to be better than YOU were the day before, and let go of comparison!
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
You’ve probably already heard this African proverb a lot of times. I know I have, but I had never really experienced how true and powerful it truly is. You have to know that I wasn’t a great fan of teamwork before. I thought it only slowed me down and prevented me from doing things the way I wanted to do them. 😅
But when I entered the world of entrepreneurship, I quickly realized that having entrepreneur friends that know what you’re going through, can help you and counsel you when you feel lost, share your victories with you, and also give you the kick in the a** you sometimes need to overcome your fears and/or limiting beliefs, is necessary to stay motivated and keep going.
And this is true whether you’re an entrepreneur or not! Having an accountability buddy is one of the keys to staying motivated and achieving your goals, no matter what you want to accomplish. So if you haven’t found one yet, I suggest looking for one ASAP! 😉
“Have the courage to follow your heart and your intuition. They know what you truly want to become.” - Steve Jobs
You know, that little voice in your head, or this feeling in your gut, or this instinct you have? Learn to listen to it, trust it, and follow it.
I know it sounds scary at the beginning. I know the most logical and rational choices usually sound more reassuring and sensible, but I highly encourage you to listen to these signs. They are trying to show you what you really want in life, what you really want to do, who you really want to become.
When you acknowledge your intuition, start listening to it and take inspired action, you’ll see that things come more easily, naturally, with less friction. It also becomes easier and easier to tune in with your intuition and trust it.
When you don’t follow your intuition, you tend to operate from a place of anxiety and fear instead, and these decisions rarely lead you to the results you wanted.
In the past year, whenever I listened to my intuition in the past year, it lead me to great accomplishments, encounters, learnings. And whenever I didn’t, I regretted it. Things didn’t happen fluidly. There were a lot of setbacks, and I felt frustrated and stressed. I also postponed a lot of ideas and projects because of fear, and I regret not having done them before.
So I highly encourage you to listen more to your intuition when you make decisions. Don’t let your mind or other people’s opinions prevent you from accomplishing what YOU really want to do, from becoming who YOU really want to be!
If you want to reconnect to your intuition, here are some techniques I’ve used that have helped me: meditation, practicing mindfulness, journaling, learning about my Human Design, and using oracle cards. Of course, I encourage you to explore and find the methods that work best for you!
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”
You’ve probably heard that sentence or different versions of it a million times. But the message is always the same: you have to take risks, do things that scare you, challenge yourself. It’s the only way to create the change you want.
If you stay in your current situation, give nothing up, take no risk, your life will remain practically the same.
And I know that taking risks is scary. Every single time I take a risk, I wonder if it’s the right decision (my mind trying to rationalize my intuition). I wonder whether I’ll regret it in the end. I wonder what this decision will cost me.
Of course, getting out of your comfort zone and taking risks usually cost you something. If you leave your day job to start your company, you probably won’t have an income as high as you had for months and maybe even years. If you move to another city, you probably won’t see your family and friends as often. If you invest in your education, you won’t be able to use the time and money to do other things.
But then, you might end up earning even more than you did at your day job. In your new city, you might encounter new people that will change your life. You might get a raise or make amazing discoveries thanks to your course.
The thing is, when you risk something, you never know how much you’ll gain (or lose) because of this risk. And this is something you have to accept. But, on the other hand, you know for sure that you won’t get anything more by not taking the risk. So which one is worse?
Plus, if you don’t take the risk, you might end up regretting it your whole life. And for me, having regrets is one of the worst things that can happen in this life.
So be bold, get out of your comfort zone, take risks! What’s the worst that can happen? (Of course, if the answer is something really bad like dying or losing your house when you ask yourself what’s the worst thing that can happen, then the risk isn’t worth it!)
But if it works, you will have grown and gotten more out of life. If it doesn’t, you’ll still have grown and gotten more out of life because you’ll have learned a lot of new things and done new experiences! And you never know how these learnings and experiences can come in handy later!
So for this new year, and for all the years to come, I wish you to take more risks and dare more, to be patient but still in action when you start something new, to only compare yourself to your initial self and nobody else, to surround yourself with supportive people that will help you persevere and grow, to listen more to your intuition!
I believe in you, and I know you can accomplish anything you want!
