Hi, I'm Lydia! I'm a Work Reinvention Coach & Solopreneur Strategist. Every month, I share real advice on career transitions, creating meaningful work, and building a lifestyle business you love.
May Recap: My 10 Hours/Week Birthday Month
My monthly newsletter sent at the end of every month, to stay connected and inspire reflection for creating meaningful work and a purpose-driven business.
This month's theme is: My 10 Hours/Week Birthday Month
Hello, friend!
Flying into your inbox a little later than usual for my month's end recap email as I've just come back from celebrating my 39th birthday with a week long mini adventure around Bali!
The month of May has been dedicated to falling back in love with the island again as I took time off to travel with my partner and visit some of my favourite spots on and off-island.
We started on Lembongan Island and had a blast snorkeling with turtles and riding our scooters on rickety bridges.
A peek at this spectacular view of the lagoon we got to wake up to every morning!
But my most restful experience has been in the sleepy town of Sidemen taking in the peaceful sounds of nature and enjoying very slow mornings.
A gem find of rock pools in the middle of the jungle is an added bonus too!
It's always a great experiment to take time off my business (I worked about a total of 8 hours/week this month).
It's always taught me the beautiful lesson of doing less, but most importantly, being super intentional with the limited hours I have.
A funny thing happens when we have time constraints. It forces us to get grounded to evaluate and choose the best way to spend our time and energy.
And for me, it's also activities that feel like ease - things I'm naturally good at and aren't complicated for me (a.k.a activities aligned with my "genius zone").
The combination of intention + alignment supports me in doing less to create a better business.
I've spent the last few years creating simple systems and a minimalistic marketing strategy to be able to lean out of my business without feeling like the whole thing is going to go "kaput" if I'm not there pulling the levers.
What's been a lovely feeling this time when I took a longer break from my business was seeing how momentum grew even when I wasn't around all the time.
So what happened this month when I worked less?
👯 Leads and inquiries still came in for my business. My evergreen content on my YouTube channel is an ongoing attractor for my target audience seeking for help. I haven't created any new content for months but paying attention to what people needed and creating highly valuable videos pays off!
💌 New subscribers joined my newsletter community. Creating a free "taster" gift of my "What Business Should You Start" quiz nurtured new members, educated people on my work, and shared the value of my services. Being committed to write often to my community and share insights generously creates genuine relationships with my community.
🎙️ I was invited and booked in for a summit and two podcast shows in June. From my consistency to pitch myself as a guest and having quarterly goals to be on ideal shows, this visibility attracted other hosts to find me and invite me to their events.
⛔ I didn't post anything on social media. In fact, I rarely use social media anymore to grow my business because I was feeling drained by it. This has released more time for me to focus on activities that brought me more joy.
Creating more ease and flow in how I run a business didn't happen overnight.
But it started when I made a conscious choice to build my business in alignment with my authentic strengths and committed to focused activities that amplified my genius zone.
When I'm not scattered everywhere trying to do everything, I can be hyper focused on a simpler plan. That means I can be consistent with where I spend my time. And that consistent effort compounds into bigger results.
As a high achiever and "do-er", this has been the biggest learning lesson in my business. Doing more isn't better. Doing less with intention is better.
It's a whole new way of looking at success in business.
It's an experience that brings me more joy and reserves more time and energy for living my life.
-Lydia
🎯 Where Can You Take Action?
Resources For Building a "Life-Giving" Business
- The Shifts To Design A Lifestyle Business
- Why I Chose To Have A Tiny Business
- Can I Market My Business Without Social Media?
- Start An Engaging Newsletter To Build Your Brand
- Forget About Goals. Focus On Systems Instead.
🍍 Work With Me
Start Meaningful Work & Build a Lifestyle Business You Love
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If you’ve been struggling to go from ideation to launching a meaningful business you love, my flagship coaching program will guide you in building the foundations you need to design a purposeful business model, create offers that impact the lives of others, and attract soulmate clients who need what you’ve got.
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💡 Ideas Sparker
Curated resources to spark inspiration and conversation
I'm Reading...
- Yes, Social Media is Making You Miserable - A big reason why I've created boundaries around my time and energy on social media, and focusing on more authentic ways to connect to humans around me.
- Accomplish More with a 3-Item To Do List - This simple but so effective approach is what I've used for many years to commit to taking action for my goals, without overwhelming myself.
- Toxic Culture is Driving the Great Resignation - A toxic corporate culture is by far the strongest predictor of industry-adjusted attrition and is 10 times more important than compensation in predicting turnover.
I'm Watching/Listening...
- Tiny Habits for Behavior Change - If you have any changes you want to make, any habits you’d like to start in your life, BJ Fogg teaches the “how-to” when it comes to the science of behavior change. It is a skill you can learn, even if you’ve struggled to make changes in your life before.
- Understanding Our Inner Critic - Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy has been a modality I've been interested to study for many years. This is a great conversation with Esther Perel and IFS founder, Dick Schwartz, on why we have this inner voice and how we can better understand its motivations.
- How Mindfulness Changes the Emotional Life of Our Brains - Why is it that some people are more vulnerable to life's slings and arrows and others more resilient? In this eye-opening talk, Richard Davidson discusses how mindfulness can improve well-being and outlines strategies to boost four components of a healthy mind.
I want you to know how much I appreciate having the privilege to be in your inbox and be a part of your life.
I love having you in our community and value hearing from YOU.
What was the biggest insight you got from this newsletter?
Hit REPLY and tell me!
Thank you for reading :)
P.S: Love the content I create for you? Been a long time reader? Now you can show your support for my work by buying me a coffee! ☕
Lydia
Lydia Lee, Work Reinvention Coach & Freedom Instigator
Screw The Cubicle
Work With Me • Binge On Video Episodes • Follow Me On The Gram
Screw The Cubicle
Hi, I'm Lydia! I'm a Work Reinvention Coach & Solopreneur Strategist. Every month, I share real advice on career transitions, creating meaningful work, and building a lifestyle business you love.
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