#69 Why It’s Ok to Take Your Foot off the Gas Sometimes

The 360 Leadhership Podcast, Episode 69, 19 April 2023 by Lucy Gernon

Feel like you’ve no time for yourself lately?

For women in high positions of leadership, being successful in work, but also having a life outside it can often seem like an unattainable goal. Juggling long work hours, family responsibilities, and societal expectations can leave you feeling like you are constantly on the go, always moving from one task to the next!

Right?

It’s important to remember that prioritising your own well-being and happiness is just as important as productivity.

This is what happened to me. One morning, even though everything in my life was going well, I felt a bit down. Work was going great, my family life was wonderful, but my mind was telling me that I should be doing more. It was at that moment that I realised that we can become so used to being under pressure that when we have some downtime or when things are going well, guilt can take over.

It’s easy to get caught up in the never-ending cycle of work and productivity.

But it’s crucial to take a step back and allow yourself some spaciousness to recharge your mental and physical health. If you’ve recently transitioned from a super busy period to a slower pace, it’s completely normal to feel uneasy.

It’s okay to give yourself permission to just be present with yourself and take time to recharge your mental energy. The power and energy used in problem-solving and critical thinking can be draining. Over a prolonged period of time, your brain can become depleted.

This is why it’s so important to take the time to recharge your mental energy, whether that’s taking a day off, going for a walk, or just allowing yourself some time to relax with a glass of wine in the evening. Even if it means booking it into your diary to keep yourself accountable, each small step is a step closer to a happier you.

So just remember: It’s essential to take the time to prioritise your own well-being and happiness. By giving yourself some spaciousness and time to recharge your mental energy, you can achieve success, balance, and happiness in life without sacrificing your physical and mental health.

It’s okay to take a step back and just be present with yourself.

Here’s this week’s episode at a glance:

[2:44] Crush your inner critic and boost productivity with this simple trick

[04:22] Discover how taking guilt-free breaks can supercharge your mental well-being and lead to increased productivity and fulfilment.

[05:00] #1 reason why you NEED to recharge your mind

I am looking for 6 women who want better work-life balance and increased self-belief in the next 30 days. If this is you, DM me the word POWERHOUSE now to learn how I can support you

Quicklinks

Prefer to read?

Click here to open Episode #69 Full Transcript

0:00
Hello, they’re gorgeous. And welcome back to another episode of the powerhouse Revolution Podcast. I am broadcasting to you from my phone on my car right now because I’m feeling inspired just to share an aha moment I have literally just had and before it leaves my head, I want to share it with you today. So before I do, I just want to check in with you. How are you doing? How’s everything going in your life? Have you taken the time today yet just to pause and reflect on everything that’s happened? Has it been a good day? Are you just starting your day? Or maybe you’re listening at the end of your day? And maybe it hasn’t been such a good day. So whatever way you’re feeling right now, first, I want you to know that it’s completely valid. It’s completely okay, whether you’re feeling amazing, or whether you’re feeling a little bit low, which is exactly what will what happened to me this morning. I didn’t know what that noise was. And so that’s what I wanted to share with you really is I woke up this morning. It’s a Friday morning, as I’m recording this. And I just felt a little bit mad. Can you relate to that I just felt a little bit low. And I brought my kids to school I got from their breakfast, I got them off to school, and I’ve just come back from town. I don’t have a client until for another hour and a half. So I have tons of free space this morning, which I don’t usually have. And because I have all this free space, I’m kind of going, what’s the problem? Like? Where am I supposed to focus? And where’s the fire? Or why am I not feeling under pressure? And that actually made me feel quite uneasy? Can you relate to that? Because I think sometimes we are so used to go go go go go work, work, work, work work, that when actually things are under control, we feel like we should be doing something else. So that’s really the revelation that I had this morning was really like, Okay, I’m feeling a little bit low. I have all this spaciousness this morning. I should be doing something, why am I not feeling the pressure that I normally feel that I put on myself. And it was in that moment I kind of went, Lucy, you’re so used to being under pressure, that when things are under control, like everything is going super well for me at the moment, workwise everything is fabulous. And my family, there’s absolutely nothing wrong from a logical perspective in my mind, yet my mind is trying to play tricks on me right now. And tell me that I should be doing more, you should be in the office, you should be working, you should be doing something bla bla bla bla. But I’m not gonna listen, because actually everything is under control. Everything is going really well for me today. So I’m giving my self permission to just chill for the next hour and a half, I’m gonna just make a coffee, I might just sit on my kitchen and just think and give myself permission to just be in the moment of spaciousness. So I hope that you see where I’m coming from. And if you ever find yourself in a situation where you’ve gone from, this is what’s happened to me. I’ve gotten from a really, really, really super overwhelming busy month, where I got tons of court corporate inquiries in Florida International Women’s Day, I took on a load of new client one to one clients, I started a mastermind, it was it’s just been so manic that I’ve literally been on like supercharged mode for the last month. And now things are starting to stabilize a little bit, it kind of feels weird. So if you ever come out of a busy period, and you’re used to operate in a certain way, I want you to know that it’s completely normal to look around and feel like oh shit, what’s going to happen if I, you know, take my foot off the gas. And I’m here to tell you today that nothing is gonna happen. Because it’s okay to allow yourself spaciousness. It’s okay to allow yourself time to just be present with yourself. It’s okay to take a day off if you’re feeling overwhelmed. Or if you’ve been through a super busy time with travel or a project or something where you have used your mind a lot. It is okay to give yourself a day to do nothing. Because I think sometimes the what was I gonna say the power of the power that you use in your the energy you use, in your mind when you are thinking and problem solving is exhausting. Like, did you ever come out of work and feel like you’re stuck, you’ve been studying all day and you go home and your head is absolutely melted. Like that takes a lot of energy from you. So if you’re doing that for a prolonged period of time, which is what happened to me, your brain gets very depleted. So don’t underestimate us. Because, you know, I know some of my clients would say to me, or I feel like I’m lazy or I don’t you know, I don’t focus on my fitness. I should go for a walk. It’s because you’re mentally exhausted. And that takes a lot of energy. So what do you need to do right now to recharge Your your mental energy so that you have more energy for your physical and your mental health because both are so, so important. So I just thought I would share that quick perspective with you today. Short and sweet. I hope that somebody out there find find it helpful. And like I just I suppose just to close before I sign off on this super short episode, it’s okay to allow yourself spaciousness. It’s okay to feel like everything is out under control when things feel calm, to be looking for a fire. It’s not there right now. It might be there tomorrow. So enjoy this moment. Enjoy the presence. Enjoy putting yourself first and I will talk to you again next week. Bye for now.