It’s my first installment of #livingyourworth and I have so many emotions. I’m excited to share how I’m living my best life but I’m also nervous. What if no one cares how I’m living my best life? What if I have bad days or weeks or months where I get down on myself and I just sit around in pajamas and don’t live my best life?

But you know what…..we all fail. We all start something new and it’s exciting and scary but we do it anyways. We’ll have good days and we’ll have bad days. I’m not writing this blog to boast about all I’m doing in my life or to try and deceive anyone into thinking I have it all together because Lord knows I don’t. This blog is a way for me to keep myself accountable. A place to write out my triumphs and my struggles. A place for you, my dear readers, to post your triumphs and struggles so that we can help each other to live each day to the fullest. So let’s get started…

Emptying Your Plate

Prepare yourself because we’re about to get deep.

This whole #livingyourworth idea came about one night, sitting in bed after a recent breakup. I was taking on too many jobs to stay busy. I was running my own business, a passion I love more than anything, and honestly getting a little burned out. I was going out with friends or alone, just to be out of my apartment doing anything other than sitting in bed, in my pajamas, eating ice cream and watching cheesy Hallmark movies. I was contemplating life and all the things I wanted to do. I have so many plans that I’ve put off for one reason or another. I’m also really bad about taking on more than I should. That is clearly evident if you just take one look at my calendar. Here’s my May calendar for quick reference:

Don’t mind me…just over here scheduling and color coding every single part of my life. I’m extremely type A and if you look at my enneagram (more on that in another blog) you’ll see why. I don’t like leaving things to chance so I schedule everything so I never forget anything. This is also one small way I try and control my life as it spins ever increasingly out of control. The calendar usually stresses people out but it makes me feel calm and like I have my life together even though I definitely do not. This calendar is actually a lot more simple than my college days calendar. I had 4 classes, 2 jobs, business, RA duties and everything else in my life on that calendar. Now that was intense.

Let’s get back on track.

Now that I’ve gotten distracted, let’s get back on track. So what exactly is emptying your plate? Well, let’s think about it in terms of an actual plate. You have your plate of life and the 24 hours in a day because no matter how hard I try to add more hours to the day, it’s just not going to happen. So 24 hours in a day, how do you fill those hours? Well, I’m terrible about taking on way too much. It’s how I avoid things I don’t want to deal with. I know, I know, it’s a really bad habit and I’m working on it. Let me deal in my own time lol. So back to the breakup. I just really don’t want to deal with the emotions of it all and I’m stressed out so what do I do? I throw myself full force into my work, my business, education, and anything else I can get my hands on.

Just last month here is what was on my plate of life:

• A full-time job as a collections agent at SmileDirectClub
• Running the photography business that I love
• Photographing for Main Street Hub
• Photographing for George Street Photo
• Second shooting for various photographers around town
• KJ Business Journey education class
• KJ All Access education course
• In Person Sales monthly education course and book
• Hope Taylor education course
• Reading a new book every two weeks
• The Academy education course
• Wedding Business Collective education course
• Editing for a photographer in town
• Daily life tasks. IE cleaning, laundry, exercise

 

Looking at that list completely written out is causing me serious anxiety. No wonder I needed to start meditating and was falling asleep at the drop of a hat. Can you imagine getting all that done in 24 hours a day?

Here’s what a day in the life looked like:

• 4 am wake up call to get ready for work
• 5:20 am leave for work
• 7am-4pm work at SmileDirectClub
• 5:30-8pm editing for a photographer in town
• 8-9pm gym time
• 9-9: 30 pm dinner
• 9:30-10:30 or later was filled with education and running my business
• Rinse and repeat until exhaustion overcomes you

If you imagined me looking anything other than this…you’d be mistaken.

Now those are just the weekdays. On weekends, I had weddings and sessions. Now I’m not saying all of this to get a pity party or to say that what I do isn’t amazing. I love photography and I love learning and growing my skills through a variety of educational courses. But the truth is, I can’t keep going like that. So I had to let some things go. I let a lot go, and I’m sure I could let more go but for now, this is a great start. Remember, I have a problem with wanting to stay busy so we’re starting small.

Here’s my life plate today:

• A full-time job at SmileDirectClub
• A business I love more than anything
• KJ Business Journey education course
• I cut back on sessions for Main Street Hub
• George Street Photo was never a problem since it’s pretty sporadic when I get hired and I can set my own availability
• Second shooting for photographers around town
• Daily life tasks

 

Now again, this may seem like a lot and some days it definitely is but I’m learning to let go and it’s honestly been the greatest decision. I’ve learned to step back and think about everything I do and how it makes me feel. If I feel stressed out, burned out or just anxious about it, I know it’s time to let it go. That’s how I felt about editing for one of my photographer friends here in town. I loved the work and had so much fun helping her in her business but it just got to be too much. I was getting overwhelmed and burned out and I knew it was time to let it go. She was incredibly gracious and understanding about everything as well which I really appreciated.

Cutting back on sessions for Main Street has also greatly helped. I love working for them and it’s really easy work. I just go into a business and photograph their building, products, and headshots. I meet so many amazing people in the Clarksville and southern Kentucky area. It’s a great opportunity but I have cut down on the shoots I take. I try to schedule them so I can take off as little or no time at all from my full-time job which has greatly helped in how happy I feel these days.

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The Epiphany

The biggest thing I’ve learned over the past month is that I can’t do it all. As much as I want to fill my time to avoid what’s going on or just because I love learning and helping others; I can’t do it all and I have to accept that. This has been such a huge thing for me and I definitely know that I fail. Do I always make it to the gym on my scheduled days? No, but I go at least 3 days a week. Do I always get my KJ Business Journey class done the first week that it’s out? Definitely not. This has been the biggest thing for me when it comes to time management. This class is so important to me and the growth of my business and I’m working on making it a larger priority in my life.

While I don’t feel 100% about everything I have on my life plate, I feel good enough about it to keep going as it is for a bit and then reevaluate. That’s the thing about life. As it changes and we evolve and grow we’ll also have to change what is on our life plate. Maybe something else has to take precedence for a little while and that’s okay. As long as you’re getting it done and you feel good, that’s all that matters.

Mid-month check-in

So you guys remember my #dearapril post? Well here’s the update.

• Gear is prepped and ready to go. I actually second shot the first wedding to start the official season with Christy of Authentic Photos and Designs last Saturday and it was a BLAST! I can’t wait to share those photos in a couple of months.
• I have watched 1 video of the KJ April content. I’m a little behind on where I wanted to be but I know I can get caught up soon. It’s social media month so I’m stocked to learn all I can.
• Working on writing and scheduling blogs now. I have a lot more going up this month than I thought so it’s been a little overwhelming. I’m trying to get all the words and the photos organized so I can knock them out soon.
• Social media….also a work in progress. It takes FOREVER to gather photos and decide on the best days to post them. I am going to finish the KJ course for this month before I really sink into this so I can learn anything that might help me make the process faster.
• The Liz Courtney Bride Tribe is up and running! The conversation is a little slow but we’re working on it. I’ll be writing a blog all about the Bride Tribe soon so stay tuned!

• Working out and drinking water is going great!! I’ve been going 3 days a week and while my muscles are sore, I definitely feel like I’m getting stronger. I even had to tighten my camera belt at this past wedding so it’d stop sliding.

Photo by the incredible Christy Hunter of Authentic Photos and Designs

• Go out and enjoy life more. I’m definitely doing good at this one. I’ve been hanging out with friends and just going out and doing more than I usually have which has been fun but has also been straining my life plate so I’m working on balance.

So that’s it. The first installment of living your worth. If you’re still here, congratulations!! Thanks for listening to me ramble as I figure this whole thing out.

Do you fill your life plate too full? How are you #livingyourworth?