This week, I adopted Meatball the Frenchie into my home. I've never been a pet person but after this week, that has definitely changed. This was my first time ever dog-sitting so it was completely new to me. Anyway, this week was filled with a lot of valuable lessons so I wanted to share a few with you.
Here's a pic of her right after I finished giving her breakfast haha. BTW, if you want to follow her on socials, her IG handle is @meaty.thefrenchie
Lesson #1.
There is nothing more urgent than your own wellbeing
Meatball (along with all the other Frenchies in the world apparently) is very high maintenance. She has a full blown routine of when to walk, pee, poop, nap, play etc. As you know, I'm quite independent. Other than myself, there is no one else I take care of in my day to day. I just do my own thing and am responsible for just me.
When I bring a dog into the mix, that had to change. I soon learnt that Meaty's intensive night and day routine required me to be selfless with my time. So how I came to learn this lesson in particular was because I had to take meaty out to potty multiple times a day. I took her for walks twice a day and would need to allocate the time to "break" from working to do so.
In doing this, I became more mindful of how little time I actually allow for myself to rest my eyes, get up and walk in the fresh air, bask in the sun and even eat slowly. I often neglect when I need to eat or take a break from my laptop screen because of the compulsive need to get things done.
Being forced to follow Meaty’s routine taught me that my business is only at its best, when I am. I must prioritise taking care of my own mental, emotional and physical needs above anything else that demands my attention
Lesson #2.
It WILL get messy
Meatball can’t help herself. She will get her fur everywhere, she’ll walk on floors I’ve just mopped & she’ll plop herself down wherever she wants.
This week, I realised that no matter how clean and perfect I try to make everything, it’s inevitable that it will only get messed up later.
This was a humbling lesson to learn because in reality, this is what life is like… and yet, I go through life under the illusion that I can control how things go. I like to believe that I am capable of keeping everything neat and tidy all of the time. Meaty taught me this week that no matter what we do, life will still get messy. We DON'T have control.
Control is just an illusion.
What we have is worry, fear & anxiety, and we do with it what we can. I found that if I was so obsessed with keeping things tidy, i missed the moments with Meaty to laugh, play & enjoy.
The more we relinquish the need for things to be perfect pristine, the more of life we can actually enjoy. The tighter we try to hold on to expectations of how “things should be,” the less of life we experience... and the more stressful it is! Trying to keep things perfect, clean and pristine is just not the point of the journey.
Lesson #3.
We’re not meant to do it all alone
When my brother came to pick up meatball, I had to hold back tears because even just after one week of being with her, I’d grown to love her and the company she gave me. I even got her on camera WHILE I was on a coaching call with her toy bone stuck to her cone HAHA (watch the TikTok here).
She would be at my side every second of the day and she showed me unconditional love no matter what. I didn’t realise how much of an emotional toll that having a pet could have (I respect all you pet owners out there!!!)
Meaty showed me that I’m not meant to do this journey alone.
Sure, not everyone will “get it”, but it’s not an excuse to try to shoulder everything on your own.
Us coaches and entrepreneurs can dig a hole for ourselves to pity party in. We convince ourselves nobody cares when actually... they do. We just don't give them a chance to. For me, a part of this is not expecting that people will necessarily understand the details of my business BUT it's allowing myself to feel certain emotions and acknowledge them.
People often judge entrepreneurs for being so busy and to themselves all the time... but that's only because the longer we are building our businesses, the higher our fortress of insecurity rises. We feel more and more isolated because we tell ourselves nobody cares and nobody will get it.
But that's okay.
It's okay if they don't get it, God gave the mandate to you. It's not your responsibility to make them get it.
It’s okay to feel like you can’t do it all on your own. Even when people don't get it, just get around people anyway. Get in COMMUNITY. We were meant for it. It's how we thrive as humans.
When we open ourselves up to other people, even just to socialise, connect, build friendships and share moments with— our lives become fuller. It becomes less about business-building for results and more about having an experience of life that includes choosing the build a business you feel purposed for!
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