Making Time for Precious Moments – the Power of Outsourcing

My little boy is learning to sing a song that starts with the lyrics “Mothers, mothers, we love you” and it is utterly adorable. I’m not going to lie. He is sooo precious – something he likes to tell me back. Sometimes I have to almost pinch myself to know he’s real. I often look at him and think he is my idea of heaven.

Which is why I must get good at outsourcing and creating freedom so I can see his concert for Mum’s. And keep being able to go to such special events!

So I got pretty good at this outsourcing business and then we looked at our budget and thought, hmm, for the next month it’s looking a little tight.

But long term it’s also put us in a better position by looking at what we want to achieve together. We asked questions about what we could and couldn’t afford and agreed that outsourcing was going to be part of our strategy to maximise the time that we have to better our future and ourselves.

If we do our own washing we get clean clothes. If we create an online revenue stream that generates passive income we could get a whole lot more of the most important things – time, freedom, joy. Sure clean clothes are important but at what cost?

And so this Mothers’ Day the gift I gave myself was that of questioning my traditional role and asking myself, ‘how can I step forward to enjoy my child as much as possible?’. (Looking back at this now and we just love Soapy Jo: https://www.facebook.com/soapyjoslaundromat)

The answer is, by creating a freedom lifestyle that means I can cherish every important moment.

Fresh Perspective and Freedom Planning

For those of you who have been following me so far, you will know that I started posting as the result of a blog challenge. The next challenge within the blog challenge involved living like a tourist.

We attempted to explore but due to flooding we couldn’t really drive. In fact, it was a matter of battening down the hatches. And getting home was a nightmare. We were all a little bit traumatised when we got back. But it was a little exciting and it reminded me that you never know what life is going to throw at you.

I am really blessed in my job that I get to spend a lot of time with young people who have come from overseas. Mainly through art projects. And I see these incredible young people and I do think ‘wow’. I’m not sure that being a refugee is quite like being a tourist but I see how grateful these young people are for the freedom in our country and the incredible parks and open spaces. And the safety.

So actually, what I feel really grateful for as a tourist in my life at the moment is the safety that we live with. We live in such a phenomenal place. So close to so many amazing beaches and parks. Can’t believe the 15 days of this challenge passed so quickly.

And so aware that there were definitely days missed. Which really just emphasises that you have to take opportunities when they come. Because you just don’t know if you will get them every day and so that means that consistency is so much more important. Life does just get in the way and sometimes that’s a good thing.

Some days you have other things to focus on. And that’s fine too! But the consistency of commitment means that you create substantial transformation and this challenge has already transformed my life immensely. I know it will continue to. Not least because I have joined the amazing Natalie Sisson’s Freedom Plan.

The knowledge and resources she shares are so phenomenal and I cannot recommend her highly enough. She really could evolutionise/revolutionise the world with her incredible ability to impart strategic and practical knowledge and skills. What an absolute dynamo! So stoked to be starting to create my own whirlwind. Even if I’m really the only one who’s noticed so far. I can feel the momentum building. And it feels good. Preparing for take off!

Streamline and Declutter – Now!

Suddenly I want everything in my life streamlined. The wardrobe (4 bags are ready to go to charity), my paperwork, and even my budget. I’ve never been able to work out how to make it an easy process.

So now that I am discovering this exciting world of apps I am downloading tools and working out which is going to be most effective for me.

This article was great: http://www.smh.com.au/money/planning/budget-bills-banking-app-to-it-20150317-1426n7.html . Suddenly I’m ready to app to it. Because I’m appy. And the app puns could go on and on but I suppose I should discuss what else I’ve been up to.

Ever since I’ve been working for my current workplace I have had a slight obsession with how the business processes ‘ought’ to work. And part of that definitely involves having a decent CRM (Customer Relationship Manager – a form of software that helps you to work out how you maintain relationships with your ‘customers’).

On that note, today I also had a fantastic call from the team at Infusionsoft: http://www.infusionsoft.com/home1. They said they had some great solutions that could work for our organisation and were extremely helpful.

I’ve also been looking into admin. Like whether or not I have a Paypal account. And have to say that my morning ritual has turned into an evening ritual. I can get up as early as I like and still find that I make myself late if I launch into what I’m passionate about. The question, like in this image of our breakfast bar, is which seat will I choose today.

Because I can’t tear myself away once I choose and get immersed in what I love.

So until I’m ready to change my current working life I need to keep this as my nighttime adventure.

It also means that I get more morning cuddles. Which I’ve worked out from doing my perfect day exercise, is my perfect thing. So I’m off for night time cuddles now. And will continue to streamline and declutter. Speaking of which, I’ve also downloaded hootsuite – to streamline whatever social media processes I establish: https://hootsuite.com/.

So from me it’s toot sweet from the hootsuite and goodnight indeedy!

What Role do Procedures Play in Your Efficiency?

It seems like my whole life is currently about creating procedures that will free my time to be more strategic. In my workplace that has been the push from the new manager. It’s about outsourcing myself to shift focus. And it’s incredible that the process I am working through in my personal life is taking me in the same direction. It’s hard to make everything fit. For instance, check the image from our home that includes, “The Harp, The Paperwork, and the Powertools”.

It’s functional and compact and it suits us! Because we all understand it.

So the message is:

Document everything you do! This seems to be the main message. So it was really interesting to find out that there are some easier ways to do this than I originally thought. And it’s occurred to me that for now I need to focus on this. Because I can’t learn all of this and be interesting. So you’re going to have to join me in the process or log off and trawl facebook or instagram or something.

Some of these tactics are obvious but still really handy. Like, if you create googledocs and share them you can encourage people to make changes to your processes once you have handed them over.

According to Natalie Sisson “you can read through and make suggestions and improvements to a living, breathing document….allowing people to pick the task up and roll with it….and you can record and transcribe if you find it easier to talk through your process than write it up.”

So that makes sense but the diverse ways you can do this really surprised me.

You can record and get someone else to transcribe (just who will be detailed below), create a video explanation by sharing your screen via google hang out, and by using jing. Giving your team full responsibility to update and make it even better can even be liberating.

Wow, so I’m listening to a podcast while I’m typing this and it’s discussing the importance of terms of service, coaching contracts, shopping cart agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and non-competitive clauses. And there’s quite a few legal agreements that need to be covered when someone is starting a business – so no surprises there but so much to think about.

I feel like my blog is turning into my study notes, which I am fine with but I don’t know how interesting this is or when I should start sharing it. I’m looking at a challenge today that asks how you will use Youtube to start creating videos but I’m not quite there yet!

I used it today to upload a video and apply for a grant through work. But even this video is private as our partners haven’t signed off on the release of this. So this blog is going to continue to be words for a while.

And getting on camera seems daunting. What will I say? I guess if I even start playing with it and work out how it works (maybe vlogging) that would be interesting.

So while I’m thinking about outsourcing I’m learning about the importance of protecting what you’ve developed. And that is really relevant. I’ve been burned before in this regard. But back to thinking about how we build the trusting relationships/agreements with others.

According to Natalie Sisson, many people start with a general virtual assistant (admin assistant) who can come into a business and take over tasks like blog post formatting, editing and transcribing podcasts, launch systems, setting up lead pages, creating sales pages based on copy, images on social media, posting with pre-written information for facebook and twitter, taking over running membership sites and organising customers, and scheduling things into your diary.

Other contractors and freelancers can also be helpful and can include: online business managers, copywriters, launch organisers, organisers for membership sites, videographers, and hosting and migration experts.

And a great way to find freelancers is odesk (https://www.odesk.com/). And you can apparently set the criteria (like that they have 5 star skills in spreadsheeting). You can interview and set them a test. Offering 2 contractors a small job with a budget of $10 (and choosing which one does it the best) can be a handy strategy when deciding who to give future work to. And recently stumbling across Fiverr was a real revelation too: https://www.fiverr.com/categories/video-animation/#layout=auto&page=1

I can’t imagine what else I would blog about. And that’s exciting. So a big thank you to those who have already paved the path for those who want to work towards freedom. For creating sooo much amazing content that I can listen all night long. Although for now, it’s over and out.

The Power of Focus – and the Challenge it Can Present to Others

So having to choose one thing to focus on seems a little tricky. So what would be the one thing that I would want to do if I could only do one thing? I have to agree that it has to do with Freedom. Freedom through wellness, dance, and through sharing this freedom with others.

At the moment it seems a little unlikely as the last few years have been beyond challenging. They’ve actually been devastating.

My ‘holidays’ last year were getting my sons tonsils out, my grandfather passing away and less than 3 months later, my Dad passing away. Now I was close to my Dad. Really close. I had lived overseas with him for 7 years as an adult. And knew him as a friend as well as a Dad.

Alongside my beautiful little boy being so ill we were also facing a diagnosis for him of autism. And we got that which we are grateful for because with the right team around him he is really well supported and understood.

Last year. What a year. But the reality is that it made me even more determined to want to create freedom. I work with young people and see a lot of them with parents who feel like they can’t do the right thing for their teenage children because their work can’t provide them with what they need – in terms of time and money.

And honestly, it’s difficult to see. Especially when particular education pathways can be the wrong fit for that young person and they are stuck having to relentlessly be in the wrong place. And Mum or Dad is stuck knowing that this may be the only option for now.

Life huh? Or is it just that particular type of life where there isn’t enough understanding or the resources to create freedom? So my focus is also freedom. With a slightly different twist to some others.

Everything I do, in my job and personal life is pushing towards this goal. Whether it’s looking into and finding the right laundromat that picks up and home delivers, or the awesome cuisine service that delivers fresh meals. Every detail counts. And having the right tools and getting them to be habit is a battle at the moment. Because the status quo is changing.

Since I became a mummy I have done almost everything around the house, and most of the Jasper-loving and now I still do the same and work full-time. I love the lovely parts but have found that I have no time for me or my future when I am attempting to be the gold medalist in the household Olympics. And my health has suffered.

Have to say, based on how tidy I am I might not have qualified for the Olympics either but now, prioritising my time means that certain people are a little challenged. So I met the challenge and brought it to a head. I am 100% outsourcing and splitting the bill.

If I am outsourcing everything and we are going 50/50 financially that is actually fair and there is no denying it. And we may be left with time to invest in our relationship! So the lead up to me taking part in the Freedom Plan will be about ironing out these slightly banal details.

We will be seeing a financial adviser so that we can start to have a plan about how we move forward and ‘cope’ with our life. And beyond coping, how do we move forward into our amazing future plans and Freedom Lifestyle? It’s about being on the same page and technology is making it easier to do that. So I’m really hoping that we can find the right tools to create a shared understanding. And to give us the ability to focus on the one thing important to our family – freedom.

Looking back on this in July and seeing that outsourcing was the best thing I could have done. I have the energy not to be frustrated in my relationship and am slowly getting closer to having procedures, systems, and infrastructure for my future lifestyle and career/business goals. I never would have thought it was so powerful to make these kinds of changes and sometimes it has been daunting financially, but I am happier and so is my family. And I have time, time, time, to work out how to improve our financial circumstances.

Motivation – Perhaps Yours Is Different to Everyone Elses’

I want to integrate the important stuff with the beautiful stuff. Today had a lot of magical moments. Waking up. Cuddles. Breakfast (I really like my own cooking), drives in the beautiful Sunshine Coast hinterlands, walking on Shelley’s Beach and burying Jasper in sand so he could be in his “car”.

Walking in the ‘magic forest’ and stepping quietly over the bridges of trickling streams because we don’t want to wake up trolls. And apparently the brothers and sisters too. And then there was the dragon who eats magic pot pie and strawberry pie. Then we went to beautiful Kings Beach where we ate our fish beside the sea.

Sure Jasper was a little grumpy by then but I can’t say we didn’t find it a little amusing. He is so resolute about whatever he wants when he is tired that it does verge on hilarious. I don’t know where he might get that from.

Starting to ask myself what this blogging challenge might be all about as I do so just enjoy using it as a form of journal-keeping. I am such a happy potter (as in, I like to potter away – happy to do just about anything really. Which does make being focussed quite difficult. If only I detested so many things that only a few were interesting or attractive).

The curse of the happy! I mean, I am incredibly fussy in a lot of regards but I am wonderfully prone to finding the magic in any given moment and getting lost in it. It could be seen as some type of spiritual gift. But more often than not people find it dizzy.

But life keeps rolling. And I’ve just realised that I don’t do MIA’s on the weekend. But I’m okay with that. Because my most important MIA’s on the weekend are probably:

1. Cuddles and more cuddles
2. Love and fun
3. Sunshine, beach and green stuff (nature – clean air – ooh lovely).

Acutally, I think these are fixed agenda items for my weekend. And they probably fall under the title of precious moments. These are my motivation. What’s yours?

Such a Perfect Day – Putting It In Context – and What Does it Even Look Like?

“Oh it’s such a perfect day, I’m glad I spent it with you, oh it’s such a perfect day, you just keep me hanging on, you just keep me hanging on” – or so Lou Reed says.

I do find his music devine. And it’s not just about his quirky lyrics. It’s their delivery. He’s incredibly authentic. There is nothing feigned about him. He might even seem like an unlikely pop star but his music echoes with delightfully everyday images that enchant. Just in case you’ve never heard him before, this is the Perfect Day song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYEC4TZsy-Y

And today was one of those days. The internet was down. And my Mum had just gotten back from Adelaide. The ANZAC 100 year ceremonies were all over the television. Jasper gave me my morning cuddles, my Mum (Baba) came over, and then Jasper went back to her place while Daddy and I went for a walk at beautiful Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast.

The beach was gorgeous. I just finished writing up my perfect days and am getting on to my painted picture – my painted picture, how I would like my life to look. And I find it odd that I am only doing this for the first time now. Why don’t we explore this in school? Why am I asked what I would like to do? But not how I would like my life to be?

As much as I love randomly plodding along and discovering what life might throw at me I feel I am ready now. Ready to create something new. And I think for me, that has come from having people who I love so deeply that I want to come on this journey with me – mainly my child and some wonderful friends.

And visioning those day/s (I couldn’t choose just one) and choosing images to go along with them, I just felt filled with the sense that I want to do this so much – this journey.

I genuinely want freedom. And now that I have the foundation of love that felt necessary for me, I am ready to move forward. I wonder sometimes if people wait for love to arrive to think about what their freedom will look like – because to many of us freedom is being with those they love.

There are others who fought for our freedom and we contemplated them today. We payed respect, and acknowledged their bravery and sacrifice.

So many have fought for me to be here right now. Remembering is more than just a thought, it is a way of life. Such a perfect day.

So now that I have meandered my way through that and discovered that Natalie Sisson who inspired me to start blogging also knows the perfect day song (check here: http://suitcaseentrepreneur.com/blogchallenge/blog-challenge-day5/) you too can find out how to design your perfect day. Pretty soon I will share mine and my Painted Picture (more on that some other time) on Slideshare. You can check out their facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/slideshare

Being Your Own Superhero

So my little man is enjoying his morning meditation as much as I am and we are starting to talk about having a freedom family. That we would like more holidays and to be able to spend more time together as a family. It’s great that he now knows why Mummy wants to do certain things. And I think Daddy is watching on and thinking, actually, that looks pretty good. Jasper has just been chilling out and doing his meditation with Mummy and Daddy smiling in the background.

We might even try some as a family.

And when I am done with my perfect days I am going to share them with my little team so that they know what we are working towards. After all, their dreams are my dreams and vice versa. It will be great to be able to dream together! Because there are plenty of billionaires in the world and none of them have yet chosen to be bat man. So we might just need to save ourselves.

On Track? How Do You Measure Your Progress?

So this morning has started with a quick stretch, some headspace mindfulness, and now I’m blogging. So on track! Which is exciting. At the moment I am in the process of thinking about my perfect day. And can I just say that I was so grateful to realise that it doesn’t have to be just one. I have a whole lot of ideal circumstances.

I love the beach, the mountains, and big cities. And I love my family, friends, and work. Hmmm. So how to have an ideal day – I think I might need 3 days that would typify my ideal day. So I’m going to keep going with that and I know it will take me a few days to actually get a clear sense of what they would look like.

So I’ve set up a whole lot of tools to help me to get on track and stay there – multiple tools and strategies for life. Minimising distractions (keeping them in boxes) and optimising efficiency (having a clear desk). But I am having one small problem. Natalie Sisson has created so much amazing content that I have trouble focussing! Lucky I have my 3 Most Important Actions to check on and can stay clear about what I need to do with Evernote.

I know that practicing these skills and finding out how they work when I’m out and about will be an important part of making this a sustainable future. Only in Week 1 and still feeling so incredibly grateful for where we’re headed. I know I’ll have moments where it’s going to be challenging but I have faith in the process and know that if I focus on the steps immediately in front of me that I will be well on my way to a life of freedom.

So how do I measure my progress? At the moment it is about the feeling of satisfaction that I get and the growing self-esteem that comes from sticking to the promises that I make to myself. And sometimes they are even indulgent promises. Like the one that I make where I allow my morning mindfulness practice to be a cuddle!

Really though, I need those SMART goals. And finding a system that helps you to clarify which goals are smart for you is really important. That’s why I am thrilled that The Freedom Plan is about just that. You don’t create a SMART goal that doesn’t align with your true sense of what you want out of life. You explore and pin down the exact circumstances under which your SMART goal would be relevant – and then work towards the strategy.

To be honest, I think it is sheer genius as it’s comprehensive and real. When I say real, I mean real, in a way that I have never seen it before. All other systems fall short in some way as they address one part of life without addressing the holistic nature of life – the context of progress.

As I drill down to what matters I will share. It’s just that identifying what is important to me is actually the biggest decision of my life. But for now the progress I will make is of a personal nature. And like I said, it’s a feeling of deep satisfaction.

So. Back to Being Mindful.

So the last post was about how I actually “coped” with a job that was very meaningful to me and what I learned from it. Sometimes even the things you love, you need to know how to step back from. For me being in the present moment was incredibly helpful. And it is something I continue to learn and to practice. Which brings me to the title of this blog. So. Back to being mindful. Kind of zen and simple like these three lovely, simple, pendant lights.

Yesterday I got a little hijacked. I had set time aside to do everything I needed to do. And then it turned out that my gorgeous 5 year old was having a lot of trouble sleeping. You see, we’re approaching a historical date here in Australia with the 100 year celebration of our ANZAC legend. But everyone was talking about what had happened. Any my little boy is very literal and believed that the war was going to happen.

He’s heard about people sleeping in trenches and not having beds and dying and he says, “Mummy, I don’t want to go” and woke up continuously throughout the evening. We’ve told him it was in the past which I think is making him question why people keep talking about it. It’s a really difficult concept for him.

My little boy has autism. And he’s brilliant and bright and funny. And he’s literal and gets sensory overload. And my partner has all of these incredible qualities too. And some days these very qualities that I love, that make him genuine, and sweet, and sensitive, well, they can be challenging. So while I’m on this freedom journey I will also be working towards having a freedom family – because I so desperately want to create the space for them to be who they are. As much as I want to be who I am.

A big part of this journey for me will be taking the people I love with me. And so I saw this hijacking as an opportunity to learn. The reality is that I will need time to have my own mindfulness practice and there are many online tools including Headspace (https://www.headspace.com/headspace-meditation-app) and Smiling Mind (http://smilingmind.com.au/). The reality is also, that unless my family is okay then the best laid plans will most likely go out the window.

It can be really tricky for a lot of us to maintain the boundaries that are necessary to create freedom. So given that there are a few more variables in my life I will be looking for other tools as well. Thought I might even give this a whirl with the little guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxbdx-SeOOo – I tried it out this morning and it was great!

Now, I know from the work that I do that mindfulness practices are incredibly helpful to help people to find well-being. But beyond that they create a new sense of wonder in life and inspire you to see things just a little differently.

And my little ones reaction to hearing about history reminded me of how we can all be in life.

We think about the past, or history, or the bad stories we have heard and we think, “that might happen now”. But if we let that thought rule us we will never do anything that we want to do in life.

I have always embraced the new and so for me, having a little one is such an eye opener as I see how real his fears are to him. And I wonder how many adults are the same.

The great thing is that because I worked on the weekend I have quiet time at home today to get back on track. And I’m looking at outsourcing a lot of stuff so that I can focus on making time to plan my future. The sad reality is that because people don’t have time to do this, they end up having to outsource their families and their fun. For that reason, I’d like to choose what I outsource wisely!

So, today started with a headspace session, practicing using Evernote (https://evernote.com/ – which I can access from all of my devices to keep track of lists and to share them – so I can work on strategies with my team/s), and WordPress, as well as completing some study. I’ve also stared to use Sanebox (https://www.sanebox.com/tour). These handy tools mean I optimise my time, reduce confusion, and that I won’t get FOMO (fear of missing out. I can limit the distraction without dropping out of the conversation).

I have set my 3 MIA’s (my 3 most important actions) and I am loving setting priorities that will mean that me and my family can find more time, more joy, and more love.

So, when will you get back to being mindful?