I’m going to juxtapose two quotes, rendering them better for explaining where my crazy head’s at on this than I can word-vomit out:
“It occurred to me that there were two sets of virtues, the résumé virtues and the eulogy virtues. The résumé virtues are the skills you bring to the marketplace. The eulogy virtues are the ones that are talked about at your funeral — whether you were kind, brave, honest or faithful. Were you capable of deep love?
We all know that the eulogy virtues are more important than the résumé ones. But our culture and our educational systems spend more time teaching the skills and strategies you need for career success than the qualities you need to radiate that sort of inner light. Many of us are clearer on how to build an external career than on how to build inner character.”
“The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say “no” to almost everything.”
These quotes temper my thought-pendulum, because y’all, I could say yes to everything. Couldn’t you? I’m mid-way through Alli Worthington’s Breaking Busy book, and realizing that even in quitting my corporate gig to waltz into freelance life, I’m still in my flesh. I am still a people-pleaser. I still think I can put work very, very high on my list and get away with it.
I realized over the past week running Ashlyn Writes that I am putting three firm boundaries into play, and I wanted to share them with you. Accountability, ya know?
1. I uphold that my home office is my office, and just because it’s not in a tower doesn’t mean it isn’t real. Aka I’m reigning in all my about-town driving around dropping off orders.
It’s part of my Southern blood. The bend-over-backwards kind. “Oh, you can’t get to my home office for pick-up!? I’ll drive across town in rush hour to make sure your calligraphy order arrives.” True, there are always times that merit a kind-hearted switch-up! But as CEO of Ashlyn Writes, I learned quickly what my hourly rate is, and in Atlanta, one order could mean 3 hours out of the house, which is $225 potentially lost. This is hard for me to maintain, but I’m going to do my best.
2. I enjoy one — MAYBE two — coffee or lunch dates a week.
Similar to #1, time is money in a freelance world, and during business hours, I want to work hard for my family, so when time’s up, I can love my husband, friends, and puppies well. Limiting my number of coffee dates and lunch meet ups helps me look forward to them, and crank out deliverables.
3. I take one social media sabbath every two weeks.
This is a must. I’ve written about imposter syndrome before, and it’s so real. This past Saturday, we went to a wedding under a white tent at Lake Oconee, and the battery on my phone stayed above 80% all the live-long day. I Snapchatted the calligraphy signage I did once, but besides that, my phone stayed off. Away. Goodness how I need that.
What firm boundaries do you set in your work or business that feel a little bold?
Reading Time: 3 Minutes
Y’all, I could say yes to everything. Couldn’t you? I’m mid-way through Alli Worthington’s Breaking Busy book, and realizing that even in quitting my corporate gig to waltz into freelance life, I’m still in my flesh. I am still a people-pleaser. I still think I can put work very, very high on my list and get away with it.
Here are three bold boundaries I set for Ashlyn Writes.
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