The unplanned plan and personal self-care victory

The plan

I’m planning on taking most of next week off. Entirely off. No business, no side hustles, no clients, no emails, nothing. Nada. Rien.
I’m therefore planning on closing a few things off this week, doting my ‘i’ s and crossing my ‘t’ s. This week included today (Thursday 19th December as I write this), and I wanted to share how that went. Spoiler alert: things didn’t quite go to plan.

 

The Reality

Today, I flew to Nice to spend some time with my family over the holidays. Almost missed my flight, but didn’t, thanks to my determination to ask for help (the tears in my eyes probably helped too, either way, thank you nice airport lady!). My dad picked me up from the airport, we had lunch, I snuggled my parents’ cats, rabbit, Guinea pigs, then proceeded to have a nap. This evening I attended a conference about Frida Kahlo with my mum (fascinating). After that we had a drink in the Vieux Nice and some Socca (delicious local Nicois dish made of chickpeas, similar to a giant, savory crepe cooked in the oven), took a walk around and got the tram home. The day ended and no work got done at all. And I feel pretty good about that.

 

The actual plan

The truth is, I didn’t plan it like that. At all. I was supposed to be planning my 2020 this afternoon (I’ve already defined my goals and need the action plan). But my body was not into that at all. I slept little and bad last night, having rearranged my entire living room only a couple days ago and left it a complete mess of electric wires and DVDs (great timing, I knowwwww). Departures make me nervous (something from my childhood) and I know I struggle to keep a routine when I’m away, which, as a solopreneur (and human), I try to keep up as much as I can to keep my mindset as great as can be.

 

The Mindset

Having been in business for 2 years, I know mindset is close to everything. You’d think the previous 31 years as a high achiever human would have helped me figure that one out, I know, and I did get suspicious at times, but nothing had quite prepared me to what I went through went I quit my corporate job to start my own business.

 

The Routine

Fast forward to today: I have a solid routine that supports me on a daily basis and ensures my head is in the right place. It’s not perfect (nothing is), I adapt it day-to-day, but it’s a serious foundation to the life I’m creating. Which is why I get so nervous when I ‘get off the wagon’, when my environment changes, when I skip it for a day, two, or more. I know how powerful it is and I am so grateful that it allows me to show up as my (best) self over and over again. It took me a while to ‘get’ it, to make it work for me, and I’m not letting it go. Ever. My routine grows with me and it includes more self-care than before, because that’s what’s important: me. In fact, I’ve even made self-care one of my goals to make sure I don’t overlook it, ever (again).

 

The Self-Care

Routine and self-care go great together. But sometimes self-care means following your gut feeling, and going with the (unplanned) flow. As I learn to listen to my body better, I know that this day of rest and quality time with my family was needed. The rest can wait. And I even got inspired to write this, which is a big plus as I struggle to write ‘on demand’. I feel like I’ve gone up a level, like I’m letting go a little, and finally getting the true meaning of self-care in all its glory.

 

The Support

So how did I do it? How did I get there? Well, I got help. A lot of help, a lot of mentors, a lot of reading, a lot of experimenting, falling flat on my face, trying again and again and again. Some coaching, which is at the foundation of my morning routine. Groups, memberships, masterminds. Some fantastic connections. I am so proud of the network I’ve built for myself this last year, after literally hiding for a year (mostly online, and I’m ready to take that offline big time in 2020). I am so grateful for everyone I’ve connected with and who is now a part of my journey. Thank you.

 

The Power of Community

Two of those amazing connections are Hannah Wenn and Nicole Gore, the co-directors of UK leading CBD brand Hannabis. These amazing ladies know what it takes to build a business (and a family – they are both mums to 2 toddlers each!) and I loooove to exchange with them as we navigate the road to success. So much so I created our own little mastermind, which has brought extra clarity and vision to my path. Accountability too. And if you’re in business, you know how crucial those are. It’s been so fantastic in fact that we had to spread the love. We know only too well how hard things can get day-to-day when you’re building a business to support yourself and your family while helping as many people as possible. The legal cannabis industry (hemp /CBD) has its own challenges, including legal status, misinformation and a huge need for education. Community is so important, and will contribute hugely to your mindset. We all go through similar challenges and there is so much value in exchanging with other entrepreneurs in your industry, and learning from their successes and ‘failures’ (all great lessons) – as Hannah, Nicole and I have experienced.

 

The Conscious Cannabis Club – The Membership

This is how the Conscious Cannabis Club – The Membership was born. A safe, supportive, inspiring community, led by not 1, not 2, but 3 entrepreneurs in the legal cannabis space. We will share extremely valuable content with you every month, including live masterclasses and guest speakers. We’ll say it how it is, and how we experienced it. We haven’t got it all figured out – far from. But we have so much knowledge and drive to share it and help you become the business you dream of. And putting 53 people in one place, to talk about mindset, Cannabis, and all things business is so fucking powerful you’ll want to be a part of it.

Join the waitlist now to make sure you are first to know when we go live. We are limiting it to 50 places to start with as we wanna give you guys the attention you deserve.

 

Much love, Amandine xo