A prompt for when you're thinking "What am I even doing?" in business + life

I think sometimes as business owners and moms, it can feel like: “Well, what am I even doing here?” You know?

I always love to reflect back the through lines I see to fellow mompreneurs I work or chat with because, as one of my coaches used to say:

You can’t read the label from inside the bottle.

But in my recent Youtube research as I’m creating this new YouTube channel and cinematic videos to pair with these Substack audios I’ve posted (which has been so much fun to do) I came across this video with Jack from Patreon interviewing Van Neistat. Van said something that was so poignant to me, which was:

“I'm in it for the edit.”

You know how, sometimes when people say something, you're just like THAT. That describes how I feel.

• That’s what this quote was for me.

As I've been going through this process, I realized that I'm most excited to get to the edit. To take the vision I have in my head and put the puzzle pieces together. (Hoping that what’s playing in my head looks as good in real life.)

Finding the through line in your work

Which, in quick reflection, is when I realized- what I'm in it for now (the edit) is actually what I’ve been in it for, consistently, in everything I've done.

• When I styled at the end of the day, that's what I was really in it for was the edit. It was to do the closet cleanse and in clearing things out, uncover those go-to pieces that made my clients feel like gold.

• When I started the podcast, that was what it was all about too. Uncovering the heart of the story, of what these women were about or doing and how it could help us mompreneurs be both present and productive.

• And of course with the work we've done with clients, whether that's actual literal editing for their podcast and their content, or it's just in business conversations.

• I’m a feminine business, slow living mom and creator, running a minimalist business- talk about editing being my thing.

So hearing this statement and knowing what I know now (can’t type that without hearing the Wish soundtrack in my head)- it just felt really good to feel seen in what I’m in it for.

A prompt for when you're thinking "What am I even doing?" in business + life

I know when I pivoted from my styling career of 10 years and stood at that precipice of “I have no idea what I want to do now?” And even as this business has gone through multiple iterations over the past couple of years, all I really wanted was that mirror and that reflection to be like, Hey, look at all the through lines, the commonalities in everything that you're doing- here is your thing.

And so I thought maybe this prompt could be helpful for you to tune in and figure out:

What are you in it for?

When you do all the facets of your work, at the end of the day, what is that core thing for you?

For me, I'm trying to get to the edit. I'm trying to get to that puzzle piece where I can put this all together and you see the gold, you see the essence of it.

That's it for me, but I wonder if:

• When you sit down and maybe journal on this

• Or you talk it through on Voxer with a friend

• Or the next time you're on a walk

  • Maybe you could think through: What am I really in it for?

Another journal prompt that’s been so helpful for me is:

What's that thing you can't outsource?

• It's just too hard to explain.

• Or it's easier to do yourself because at the end of the day, it's your thing.

That helped me really determine, when I heard this phrase, that this is my thing.

I've tried to outsource (editing to be specific.) And I found myself coming back to it time and time again because that's my art.

I used to beat myself up over how long it would take. And about how it wasn't efficient and all of these things. And I think as I step into this world of creation and understanding art form and slow living- they all really go hand in hand. I'm able to drop the efficiency and the churning and the constant and the quantity and recognize the time is well spent because it's in my art. It's in my craft. It’s what I'm in it for. And it's that thing that I don't actually want to outsource.

It takes some deconditioning and a mindset shift

I definitely think that my slowing down mindset shift, that recognizing what I'm in it for and what I won’t outsource, has allowed me to lean into that discomfort in the old conditioning to make a new path that feels really, really good.

Just as I say it and as I slow down and as I lean into all of this, it feels like a weight is lifted off of me.

And so maybe my aha can provide you with that too? Maybe this can help you tune in and recognize what you're in it for with your business? With your life? With any aspect?

Maybe it'll help you find a through line in the work you're doing? And maybe allow you to recognize that it's okay to slow down and take time on that piece (of content, creation, marketing strategy, business move, etc.)

I think the heart of that all, though, comes with:

• the intentionality

• the why

• and the what in the world we're doing.

To make that shift, we have to have that strong self trust, that faith, that belief in ourselves. And I think that often comes with clarity.

And so that's what I really received today, was that clarity in: this is what I'm in it for, no matter the medium. And maybe this will help you too.