It’s not uncommon to see a French woman take a break at the busiest part of her work day.  Never mind that there’s a line of customers waiting or that her boss needs a report.  She really doesn’t give a damn.  It’s her break time, and to the French woman, that’s sacred time. However, I’ve often wondered how that mindset translates into the world of entrepreneurism.  Because, entrepreneurs do care about their customers (or at least they should) and their businesses are their own, so there’s tremendous responsibility.

Running your own company is not easy.

Let’s face the facts:  there’s always something to do, someone to email, copy to write, details to address, deadlines to meet, meetings to attend and places to go.  There’s no one telling you to go to work or go home.  You’re the boss.

If you’re at all anal, obsessive and a Type A personality (like most entrepreneurs), running a business can be a death sentence.  Years of stress and angst does a number on the body.

Over and over, I see women set out to create a business that will grant them freedom and joy only to watch them become enslaved by a prison of worry and stress.

Where there’s worry, there is no freedom! <Tweet It>

However, although it may not be easy, ease is possible.

Case Study of Entrepreneurial Ease

About a month ago, my team and I were supposed to open enrollment for my signature program.  This had been 6+ months in the planning.  So, it’s not that we weren’t working hard.  It’s not that we didn’t plan well.  It’s not that we were sitting on an island sipping Mojitos trying to manifest a miracle.

It’s that life can sometimes throw you a curve ball, and our curve ball was an eleventh hour technical glitch.

So, there we were burning the midnight oil on a Sunday night trying desperately to make it happen.  My darling Parisian business manager was still up working when most of France was heading to savor their morning baguette after a restful night’s sleep.  

I was sitting on the sofa with my laptop on my, well…lap.  My daughter was sitting beside me but didn’t dare engage me in conversation, because “I didn’t have time.”

It was then that I had a HUGE moment of awareness.

French Kiss Life is about ease and letting go.  It’s about creating a life you love through living in alignment with your values, not forcing an outcome.  It’s about savoring a beautiful moment with your daughter.  It’s about sleep!

It’s not about pushing, grasping, and chasing.  In my opinion, anything created from that energy will only produce more of the same.  How you create something is how you will experience it! 

How could I expect to take care of my clients if I’m not taking care of myself?

How can I teach about ease, if I’m not living it?

I realized that my team and I had gotten off message, and we, like so many others, had had been pulled into the frantic energy of reactivity.

As my dear friend Kayce likes to say, “Live your message.”  And, when I’m living my message, there’s elegance, joy and simplicity.

In that moment, I asked myself, “Tonya, how do you want to feel right now?”  Definitely not stressed, worried and overwhelmed.  I wanted ease and rest!

Suddenly, as if a divine force took over my hands, I typed in the Skype box, “We’re not launching tomorrow.  GO TO BED and GET SOME SLEEP!”  

And, just like that, my body relaxed, my mind became super clear and I was back in the flow of sweet decadent ease.

Delaying a launch, backing out of a deal that doesn’t feel right, putting off a blog post by a day or two or taking off the pressure a deadline is not complacent or giving up.  Ease is elegance at it finest.

The next day, we woke up and reconvened with a beautiful feeling that we were back on track.  We were French Kissing Life, entrepreneurial style.  And, it just so happened that it was one of my best launches ever.

Summary: choose ease (not easy)!

Love,

Tonya

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