Diary #2 of a digital nomad and business owner/entrepreneur: heading back to Sydney + being published!
Thank you for the love and support last month on the blog! I loved seeing people on the page consuming all the content, it was fab! This month has been an absolute whirlwind to say the least with heading back to Sydney, starting new projects and just ALL the things. I was published in a magazine, and just wow! So I thought I would break down this blog into “things I learnt”, “things I did” and “things that happened”. You know, to give it some more structure!
I would love to know what you thought of this, make sure you tell me on Instagram!
The things I learnt
Of course there are so many lessons we deal with on a daily basis with business, but I wanted to share with you some core ones that have come up for me in recent weeks. The ones I think we can all learn from and embrace in our business (this can also help with life).
Managing project work
This might seem like something you should already know, but I am going to share it anyway...
When I started my business I have SO many things I wanted to do. And I had the mindset that when I worked full time for myself I would have SO much time to do it.
Right?
Wrong.
Just because you have more time doesn't mean you get more done. I would always add an endless list of projects.
The more people you hire in your team is great to help with those projects. But priorities are important.
Recently I tried this. I listed ALL my projects in a Clickup card (game changing app BTW) and I put down what months I wanted to work on them.
Instead of saying "on this day I will do this". I decided to map them out what weeks I would work on them, and then some that I could do something on each day.
For example, my Instagram highlights I wanted to clean up. So each day I have spent 5 minutes editing one highlight.
I also wanted to edit all my old blogs. Each week I choose one and edit it. Yes it will take me longer duration of time, but it means I am working on the project rather than saying "one day I will get it going".
Being a leader
As an entrepreneur, you are a leader...
Whether you have a VA, a team of 5 or are a solopreneur - there are leadership qualities you need. You might not have anyone in your team right now, that is fine - it is still time to start thinking about it.I never thought of myself as a leader. I had never really managed a team. My journey into business was all about building the business, so when it was time to bring people into my team, I had 0 idea how to manage or lead. It wasn't because I didn't have the skills, I just didn't know which ones to use!
May of this year (after a lot of mistakes, misguidance and miscommunication), I invested in this course. I started talking about it more with my coach Laetitia from Essential Shift. I made it a priority.
But it wasn't until my podcast interview with Alexa Martinez that I realised I have never really talked about this. I haven't shared the struggles and the lessons with you all. I guess I was still processing it all.
Content Queen is now a team of 7. Some help with my business, others help with clients. I am still learning. I am still growing as a leader, but one thing I think we need to remember is, it is never too early to start building these leadership skills.
Leadership was something I never really thought about. So if you are the same, it is time to put it on your radar!
The things I did…
Different working times
As I was gearing up for more travel and managing my energy in other spaces, I learnt the power of going off the 9-5. It is a habit I have formed to work the typical 9-5 and some days it works best for me. When living with people who work a 9-5, this often becomes a lot easier to manage.
But it was time to try new things and NOT feel guilty about it. So I did things like work in the morning, have the afternoon off and come back at night. It seemed to work well for me and is something I would like to continue in the future! Midday/afternoon adventures are fun when you are out of lockdown!
What does your workday look like? I would love tips on how you manage your work!
Collaborating with others to create offers
You might have seen that I teamed up with Essential Shift on a really unique offer.
We realised only a few months back we have very complementary skills. Plus we have done SO many amazing things together!
We realised that we have helped many of the same people have very powerful transformations in their business from a strategy and marketing to a real place of soul alignment.
So we needed to partner. Fast forward a few months later, here is the offering we created:
OWN YOUR VISION ~ VISION + CONTENT = EXPANSION
We truly believe that when you balance the vision + the content (marketing) = expansion. We have not only seen it in our own business, but we have helped others to do the same!
I loved this experience and recommend if you have complimentary offers with someone, team up with them! Have a meeting and plan what needs to be done to launch, divide the tasks and conquer! That is what we did. Laetitia is strong with design and leads so that was her job. I am strong with content creation and marketing so that was mine!
I have my VA help with the logistics and we launched within 6 weeks/2 months of talking about it!
Coming out of lockdown
This was an amazing feeling but definitely was a challenge! I actually spoke about this a few months ago and definitely felt it.
“I think for me, I have only known working for myself full-time during a pandemic. I haven’t known the balance of working and travelling or “balancing” life and work.
Yes, I have had moments of freedom, and it has been really nice. But, because I have been so conditioned to working a lot, really that balance probably would look a lot different if we never had experienced any lockdowns.
Of course, they have their blessings. I have been able to grow my business quicker than I would have if we didn’t have all this time and nothing to do with it. For the last 18 months I have decided to fill that time with my business. Now, I love it, don’t get me wrong.
But in the last few months I have seen how unhealthy that can be when done over a long period of time, and of course, when we do go back to some form of “normal”, I am going to be filled with consistent guilt that ‘I am not doing enough’, because I am comparing to the Mariah who would work hours and hours a day because there was nothing else to do.
Hands up if you quit your full-time job to work for yourself.
Hands up if you did this to live a more flexible lifestyle.
Last one, hands up if you are working more hours than you did in a full-time job.
Yep, that is me. That is a big focus for me right now and one of the reasons I created this membership I have been promoting. It is so I can help more people with marketing their business so we don’t have to be working 70 hour weeks.
I don’t want to be chained to my computer for the rest of my life. I don’t want you to be either.
My dream is to tell stories, create content and travel the world while doing it. Now if I can’t travel more than 5km from my house, I can still have the freedom I have been looking for and help people at the same time.
What do you think?”
Click to watch
The things that happened...
It has been a lot! So much that I have needed some afternoon naps during this last month! It is the balance between enjoying all the things but then also allowing your body to rest! I am still finding that balance. You know what they say, when it rains, it pours!
I became a published writer
I was published in a magazine...
My dream. To be published. That is why I studied journalism and why I loved Sex in the City.
I was asked to be part of an excellent health and wellness magazine called the Best Holistic Life Magazine! This article is about my journey and what I learnt from these two tumours. I dive into what my three E’s are of self awareness! I am pretty happy with it and think it will give you a lot of value!
When I was told I might be having this Whipples operation, I said to a friend "if I am going to be missing more organs, I am writing about it".
Get your FREE digital copy and let me know what you think (I am on page 20).
I moved to Sydney
For the past few months there have been questions of "so what is next?" or "how long are you staying with your parents?"
With that my answer was always "who knows". Of course the answer was always travel but that was a bit limited with all that was happening.
I came home for what was meant to be one month and then 4 months later I was still eating my parents food and annoying the shit out of them (sorry Mum).
But finally I have an answer (well at least for the next 3 months). Now, I am back in Sydney! I have some doctors appointments and some people I am dying to see again.
So the digital nomad journey - take 1290!I started the journey near 12 months ago of being a digital nomad and really haven't gotten that far. So let me try again and see what happens.
If you had of asked me 2 years ago if I would want to live in Sydney, I would have said "hell no". I was a Melbourne girl and this whole Sydney/Melbourne rivalry was crazy.
But I actually don't understand it much. They are both VERY different cities and offer VERY different things. What one lacks, the other has. It is like having the best of both worlds.
Anyway, I am back. Why? Well, as most of you are well aware, my Whipples journey all played out here. My oncologist is here and so is my surgeon. At this point in time it is still early days so being able to see my doctors face to face is really important.
I had a CT scan plus bloods and am waiting those results. I feel good. I haven't had any serious pain since September but of course, most foods hate me. I can live with that.
I also came back to Sydney because I have made some really beautiful connections here. I left so suddenly last time, I wanted to come back and see everyone.
While I am here I really want to explore more of this digital nomad life. Work at nights if I want to explore during the day, work from different locations - you know all that stuff.
I head back home in January for some VERY fun events and then what's next? I really don't know. I don't have a solid place to call "home" and I am okay with that. I am on this journey of finding it. But to be fair, all of these places feel like home.
Multiple homes is okay!
Content Queen reached 100 episodes
I started recording this podcast in a walk-in wardrobe with my phone and some headphones. It was nothing fancy but I loved talking.
Now 100 episodes later and all that has changed is I have a better process and a microphone. It doesn't take much to start something, it just takes consistency to make it into something.
Before I say any more, I just want to thank YOU for listening!
Whether it has been all 100 or just a few, I am so grateful you have come to this corner of the podcasting world to listen to me talk each week!
I also want to say a HUGE thank you to all of my amazing podcast guests I've had over the episodes (there's a lot) - so here's a quick shoutout to all of you beautiful humans who took the time to come on and add SO much value!
What a journey it has been over 100 episodes!
We have gone through a rebrand, a health scare and SO much business change!
Thanks for the love and support. I can't wait to continue to talk trash and marketing to you all in the future!
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