Butterflies and Boundaries: How to Redesign Your Schedule for Joy
Kc Rossi, PCC 00:00:02 Welcome to Heart Glow CEO®, where high achievers evolve into purpose-driven powerhouses. I'm Kc Rossi your Integrative Leadership Coach. Join us to break free from people pleasing and burnout, exploring mindset, embodiment, and soul alignment. Discover expert insights, success stories, and actionable tips for holistic wealth on your terms. This is where transformation meets the modern female leader. Let's go!
Hello, hello Heart Glow CEOs. It's already another week. Don't you feel like time is whizzing by? We have six weeks left in 2024. That's only 42 days! Do you want to make these 42 days count? I'm not talking about grinding it out and pushing your schedule to the max. I'm talking about using your time in a way that's going to feel incredibly useful, and whole.
Time is an interesting construct. We plan our days, sometimes down to the minute, and live within the 24 hours we've deemed is a day. How are you filling up your days? Are they crammed in jammed? Or do they have intentional white space for you to assimilate and breathe?
I was chatting with my mom the other day and she shared this beautiful analogy.
Kc Rossi, PCC 00:01:27 She said that when creating a stunning flower arrangement, it's important to leave space between the blooms. Space for the butterflies to fly through. I love that imagery. It's simple, yet so profound.
So let me ask you, does your calendar have enough space for butterflies to fly through?
Space to catch your breath, to enjoy a sunrise, to soak in the bath, space to self-reflect, to question your thoughts, to let the happenings and the interactions of the day land. So much happens in a day. Do you have the time for it to just sprinkle down and land – for you to even process. Such an interesting thing to think about.
I'll admit it, this is something I'm working on myself. I recently glanced at my calendar and thought, why does this look like a Rubik's Cube gone wild? I even have about a dozen self-care activities penciled in for any given month. But the truth? Finding an entirely open day on my Google calendar feels as rare as spotting a unicorn.
As we move into winter here in the Northern Hemisphere, Nature gently calls us to slow down, cozy up, and turn inward. But for entrepreneurs, this season doesn't mean closing up shop or halting your sales efforts. Instead, it's about asking a deeper question - What is sustainable for your livelihood and essential for your joy?
I find there's a lot of power in doing less. To my solopreneurs who are juggling endless tasks and responsibility, let me say this, you have more autonomy over your schedule than you think. Yes, even if you're a caregiver, even if your to-do list feels like you could wrap it around the earth twice, there is room to breathe.
Boundaries are your lifeline.
Here's the hard truth if you don't intentionally prioritize stillness, life will cruise right on by. And what is the cost of that? Your health, your creativity, and your joy.
Stillness isn't indulgent, it's essential.
In neuroscience, we know that pausing and engaging in reflective calm states. It allows your default mode network (DMN), the part of your brain responsible for creativity and self-awareness to activate.
Kc Rossi, PCC 00:04:10 So think about that for a minute. When you pause and you have that time to reflect. You have that breath that feels like it is in this calm state. It will activate your DMN and that will stimulate creativity and self-awareness. This is where breakthroughs happen, my friend, and that state that space in between running all over the place, right? That is where the breakthroughs happen.
Anne Lamont says “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”
Creating space for joy
Here is my invitation. Look at your calendar for the next month with fresh eyes. Before you say yes to something, I want you to pause. Take a deep breath and ask yourself, is this essential? Does this bring me joy? How does my body feel when I think about saying yes? Does it expand with excitement or does it contract with tension?
And here's the kicker. Leave white space intentionally. Those blank squares on your calendar aren't wasted. They're sacred. There were the butterflies of your life get to wander freely.
So I'm going to have a challenge for you for December. Or whenever you're listening to this. I'll be doing this challenge right alongside of you. Let's consciously choose to leave room for stillness and joy. And don't hesitate to DM me and let me know how it's going for you.
You may be feeling resistance or fear of missing out, right? The dreaded FOMO or guilt and should stories might creep in. That's okay. It's completely normal. Breathe through it and do it anyway.
Setting boundaries and prioritizing self-care is a practice. Be gentle with yourself as you continue to peel back the layers of why over-scheduling has been present and your norm. That's really what I'm doing. Like I knew through the decades that over-scheduling was something that I've done, but I think now I'm curiously and gently peeling back the layers of the why. Going just a little bit deeper to the root cause of why, if there is open space on the calendar, I rush to fill it.
Kc Rossi, PCC 00:06:49 So that's just a little extra for you. As you start to increase your awareness and you start to drive the car in a different direction and create new neural pathways that are going to benefit you. So the more often you start doing these practices of setting boundaries and prioritizing self-care, you will continue to rewire your brain and it will start to become more and more familiar.
You'll start to feel a difference in your nervous system. It will start as it resets to have just a completely different sense and sensibility for you, where you don't feel like you're behind the eight ball. You don't feel like you're forgetting something, and you may even catch yourself just daydreaming for a minute and not finding yourself, like, immediately trying to be productive again, but to just enjoy what it's like to play and to dream like a kid, and to let your mind wander and be really interested in what comes up for you.
Little by little, you'll start to regain freshness and energy, and enthusiasm for life. And who knows, you might just notice a butterfly or two fluttering through.
Kc Rossi, PCC 00:08:07 All right, my friends, until next time. Take care of your space and your breath. And breathe joy. You are worth it!
