You deserve 'me' time
Two weeks left before the holiday rush, so give yourself some grace. And look at the moon tonight
Good grief, how is it already mid-November aka 1.5 months until 2025 aka roughly 25 business days until the holidays?
And then it hit me: Almost two years ago, I fully exited my company, a financial content agency called Scribe.
When people ask “what’s a financial content agency,” I say that we wrote words for big banks and fintech companies for websites, blogs, presentations, research, and products.
I started the company in 2016, sold it in 2020, and stayed on as CEO until the end of 2022.
Since then, I’ve:
Published this weekly newsletter, every Friday
Started a new company, Content Barn, for private content clients
Become a food writer. Here’s my latest story
Traveled solo and with others to both new and familiar places
Ended (grieved/mourned/healed from) a longterm relationship of 10+ years
Gotten a new puppy, Mr. Bean; my first dog since 2009
Spent way more time with family and friends
Decorated and furnished a home, including installing a new deck
Attended work-related events like masterminds to learn and stay connected to movers and shakers in a cross section of industries
These days, I'm part of a weekly community where we hold each other accountable for getting personal and work projects done.
Content entrepreneur | Agency Founder & CEO | Bestselling author Featured in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Bankrate, Cheddar TV, and HuffPost | Join more than 6,480 people who follow me for discerning lifestyle, travel, work, and money content:
The community is composed of marketers, strategists, solopreneurs (an entrepreneur who works mostly alone), remote workers, and creatives.
Everyone is at different stages of their journey.
But recently, the leader of the group mentioned that as of last Monday there were only 17 business days left in the month.
Shockingly, today is November 15th, which means it's also about a month and a half from the end of 2024.
Which got me thinking, instead of waiting until January 1st to make some lofty goals, why not go ahead and take some time for yourself to set intentions for next year and what you want in life.
Perhaps you can get a leg up and begin thinking about how you might like your 2025 to look.
No pressure! But…
You deserve a moment to pause and reflect
If you’re procrastinating, then this may be why.
I find it’s easier to overcome delaying or avoiding doing things when you understand why it happens.
It’s a very common, human thing and happens to the best of us.
If everything is distracting, then here are real, practical ways to get distraction-free focus in the zone. Here are a few tips from that list:
Say NO. To family, friends, to spending money, to everything that is taking you away from your focus. If saying NO makes you feel guilty or bad, then perhaps this book, “Stop People Pleasing” can help. It’s one of my favorite and most impactful books I read this year
“Do not Disturb” ON. Turn it on. Leave it on. Until you’re done with one thing to cross off your to-do list
Put on a 25-minute Pomodoro Timer, turn on some focus music, and don’t do anything else for that 25 minutes
If you're thinking about writing a novel, starting a company, getting a puppy, buying a house, investing in crypto, or even getting married and having babies, then it's okay to visualize, manifest, and think about all the things you’re doing now or could be doing to get there.
Are you stuck? Get to the root of the problem.
Do you want to make that side hustle into a legit business? It’s a major mindset shift and it’s scary. But I offer some support.
Perhaps you just want to carve out more time for friends, travel, or commit to a new personal project or goal like dating or getting serious about a relationship.
Or maybe you just want to reinvent yourself, and that’s okay, too.
There are a number of things you can do to get started, little by little, step by step. But the most important thing to do is…start!
Zeitgeist-y
Reddit threads are hilarious. Here’s the one for the TV show Yellowstone.
I watched Hugh Grant’s latest movie, Heretic, in IMAX, at the “best cinema in Miami,” the Silverspot Cinema in Brickell. The screen was just really wide and the sound really loud. I love Hugh Grant as a villain (he’s exceptional in “The Undoing”) and it had a feeling of nerd horror, i.e., intellectual screenplay plus actual scary moments. Worth a watch.
I’m reading The Fund. Part biography, part salacious tell-all, this book is focused on the goings-on at Ray Dalio’s hedge fund, Bridgewater & Associates, also the largest hedge fund in the world. So far, it moves quickly, but I’m here mostly to understand the cult-like fervor that drew in employees and investors alike. Likelihood of finishing: 50%.
Look up at the sky tonight. There’s a full moon, called the Beaver Moon (because this is when beavers take shelter in their lodges). As my favorite astrologist
suggests, this moon has a “truth or dare” quality. “Essential information could be revealed under the light of the full moon... Are you ready for a thrill? Or is it time to cut ties with people holding you back in your journey, or to end bad habits preventing you from reaching your goals? Full moons bring a release. What will you release now?”
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Until next time,
Shindy
On Instagram + TikTok
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Excellent!! I need my space too; I have no problem saying “NO” as well as putting my cell on silent. I’ll never forget when a doc told me just say no, and you don’t have to give a reason. 💕💕💕