I’ve been sitting in bed for the last five days, feeling weak and half energy-less. Geeze these human design transits are no joke. We moved into Gate 37 last week and it was here to transmute the shadow of weakness, and here i’ve been what feels like forced by the universe to step out of the yang, and embrace the yin. If that looked like feeling like a weak potato for 5 days so be it. I’m still getting used to this whole full time soulpreneur life where I have the freedom to do nothing for a few days without having to go get a medical certificate or feel bad telling my boss I can’t make it into work today.
Yeh I look like a mess but maybe it was just what my soul needed to take a pause and reflect on the last twenty one months and my transition from side-hustling with a full time job to full time soulpreneurship so far. I don’t usually scroll on Insta but the last few days I’ve been deep in the interwebs consuming lots of content and I’ve had some time to think and feel into it more deeply about the reality of growing a biz from ground zero (aka that stuff no one actually shares). And there’s a big part of me that just needs to get this off my chest, because i know that there are many of you who read this newsletter that are in the same place I once was.
With a big dream to get your soul’s work out into the world, peeking at all the girl bosses on Instagram living their epic life, wondering when it will be your turn. When it will be your turn to no longer have to report into your boss, when you will no longer have to pour 8-10 hours of each day into building someone elses empire. When you no longer have to worry about whether or not you are going to get 4 x more clients this month. When you no longer have to feel stuck in limbo- in the inbetween- stuck in a reality that feels out of resonance, whilst pouring what energy you have left to create a life and business that feels more fulfilling.
I remember sitting in my corporate cubicle before the work-day began scrolling on insta peeking into the lives of six figure biz owners living their dream life having 30k months, or making “100k in 3 days” or hitting the milli mark by the pool. In my envy, like a child I nagged my spirit guides “why can’t I have that now already?!!”. Surely with the instantaneous nature of the world, uber could drop 200k worth of client’s on my doorstep. Surely, I could “quantum jump” or affirm my way into a parallel reality where I no longer had to be stuck in this messy middle between the life that no longer resonates and a life I desire to step fully into.
There was this egoic desire to “hurry up” the process so I no longer had to live in this uncomfortable limbo state. I wasn’t new to the world of business (hello a decade in corporate) so I knew growing my own business to the point of predictable, sustainable income that would financially support me and all the usual life things like a big mortgage, bills, holidays wasn’t going to be instantaneous. Starting a business, growing demand for your offer, building a loyal community takes time (it took me about twelve months to hit six figures in sales with a full time job). And yeh I get it, you probably don’t like hearing that lol. As much as I’d love for you to instantly manifest a six-figure business in a month by only repeating “I’m a worthy of having a six figure business” affirmations each morning, it does take the practical, strategic 3D things in place for that to happen and the regular sustainable execution of it too. I definitely had the option of quitting my job with zero foundations set in biz, but personally that sounded like a recipe for nervous system breakdown and treading under water which my bod just can’t handle after the depths of chronic illness. Life also happens and things will pop up that are outside of your control- I took a 3.5 month break from my biz wallowing in the depths of hard grief after losing an immediate fam member, there are a lot of things that are more important than your biz that may require more of your time in the season you are in. Release the pressure, there is no rush.
A message to my former self, the side-hustling soulpreneur: Don’t compare your Month 1, or Year 1 to someone elses Year 5 or Year 10. We are all at different stages in our life journeys. We are all at different financial foundations. We all have different skill-sets. It won’t be long before you are a full time soulpreneur, so cherish this time of metamorphosis in your life. You will be surprised to know that in the future there will be moments when you actually miss your old job! Treasure the experience, there is wisdom in every place- even the one that doesnt “feel aligned”. All is part of your divine human experience and everything is right on time, even if it doesn’t seem that way to your ego.
Why can’t I be chilling by the pool with a mocktail in hand whilst answering my client’s voxers without having to report to my boss everyday? Why can’t life just feel easier already? As a side-hustler it may just feel like you’re living a triple life at times, with the to-do list to match. Looking back I honestly don’t know how the fuck I managed it all as a human, let alone a Projector. I think the universe must have charged up my batteries with super-strength and super-will to make it possible. Having a full time job and a business is NOT easy (remember, ease and easy are two different things). It takes serious sacrifice.
My life looked like this pretty much every week: Doing one US client call in the morning at 6:30am-7:30am. Sitting on the freeway for half an hour. Start my Marketing Manager job at 8:30am. Cue managing a big ass workload. Motivating my #uninspired team drained from the pandemic to get pumped for our new product launch. Sitting in a three hour long meeting with the board on our brand pipeline. Getting ready to leave at 5:30pm and instead being trapped into a 40 min chat with my CEO boss on social media trends when I really just want to be on the way home so I can work on my side hustle. Get home by 6:45pm, make dinner, shower. By 8pm, when most people are clocking off on Netflix, my business day is only just beginning. Fitting in either 2 calls with UK clients or writing a social media post before sleeping at 10:30pm. Not to mention taking 2 x annual leave days off a month so i could fit in 20 clients in back to back single sessions. Totally unglamourous I know.
Whilst it was a lot to juggle, I learnt a hell of a lot about effective time management and energetic efficiency during this period, as well as how to REST as a projector with a massive workload. I implemented a lot of little rituals like weekend social media detoxes, phone-free and work-free weekends, and energetic practices that helped me massively. I soaked up the spaciousness of my weekends with quality fam time and did not experience burn-out once during my entire side-hustle season post commencing my Human Design in Biz experiment. In fact I had more energy than I’d ever had before and my health was in better shape than ever!
A message to my former self, the side-hustling soulpreneur: Celebrate yourself for your dedication! It’s a massive achievement to juggle two worlds at once. Being smart and strategic with your time makes a world of difference. Know that rest is a non-negotiable and although you have so much on your plate- it’s important to integrate rest and recharge into your schedule so you can honour your health.
Financially preparing yourself for diving into full-time soulpreneurship is important in my opinion, unless you have a mountain of wealth or family’s financial support who can save you if worst comes to worst. Set yourself an income goal, or give yourself a rough intention on when you’d like to transition. But what I majorly overlooked and did not expect was the emotional work required when you are about to hand in your resignation. Farrrr did my ego just about want to die a week before I did the whole “I need to meet with you” email to my boss lol. At that point, I already had a booked out business, had a single session waitlist that would last two years but still my ego went wild “am i ready, wtf am i doing, i’m throwing away a really amazing job that anyone would kill for”…absolute nonsense – but you already know as a biz owner, business, marketing and sales it really the most intense container for soul evolution that exists, in my opinion anyway.
A message to my former self, the side-hustling soulpreneur: Get yourself a mindset coach or therapist or something for this, you’ll thank me later.
I could go on…but that’s enough for one blog post. Sending my love to all the side hustling soulpreneurs out there in the interwebs.
If you’re ready to start your own Human Design in Business Experiment I invite you to sign up for The Decode Your Human Design Basics In Business 90min Free Class here.