This is how I felt after six years in full-time disorganised chaos. The incessant interruptions, unrelenting calls, back-to-back appointments and the black hole that was the open plan office, all pulling me in and draining my energy.
A significant attraction for introverts to work for themselves is the retreat from the energy vampires that an extroverted working environment often contains, towards more autonomy and opportunity for solitude that we require to rebalance.
Six months into my business, however, I’d suddenly found myself exhausted again. Immersed in both offline and online interaction, networking, learning how to run a business, learning how to use social media, writing blogs, extra training, building a website; all of this before the main purpose of my job, my clients!
Self-employment also means self-management. Without boundaries and self-care, burn out can continue to be a familiar and unwelcome visitor.

Here are five tips to help you work with your natural way of being:
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How many times in your life have you been told how to be? Probably too many to count. You have learned it’s not ok to be vulnerable, to express your true feelings and genuine emotions. Even if you are breaking inside, your exterior exudes societies expectation of being ‘together’. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, you are ‘just fine’.
Responses to your feelings may have been to ‘think positively’ and to ‘cheer up’. Well-intentioned loved ones may have feared your unguarded emotions, while past experiences have persuaded you that vulnerability exposes your flaws.

Contributors to these stories, often project their own fears and beliefs onto you. Acknowledging your vulnerability and accepting you where you are, often means they have to acknowledge vulnerabilities of their own.
'Finding strength' has its place; it’s often the underpinning from which you are able to acknowledge pain, move through it and learn from your experience. But it does not come in the place of being vulnerable; it comes as a result of it. Being able to meet yourself where you are and show some self-compassion is where the true ability to live your life authentically comes from.

Every time you tell yourself that you’re ok, to ‘get over it’ and 'be positive', notice the energy this takes from you. 

I went to the hills, surrounded by light, enticed by the calmness. I felt the passion of the rain caress my face, dance on the trees and play drums with the ground. I felt the wind encircle me playfully, and then run away. I felt the bench make space for me, and let me know I was safe and accepted. I felt the air spin through my nose like a tornado to my lungs that allowed me to breathe and allowed me to be. 

I saw the fields lined up like art and the textured fusions of grass, earth and flowers.  I saw the trees assemble and display experience, life, transformation and death before me.  I saw the sun illuminate the way ahead of me. It glided on the lake and summoned my eyes to absorb the colours and warmth that surrounds me.

I heard the earth mould beneath my feet to support me. I heard the grass adjust to make room for me. I heard the breeze roar to announce its presence and the birds sing their response.  I heard the stream become intimate with the stones creating music.

I touched the nature that allowed me to slow down, to sit still and be still.  I touched the nature that allowed me to turn down the noise so I can appreciate sounds and the silence.  I touched the nature that allowed me to breathe so I no longer fought for air. 

I touched the nature that filled my lungs with space and dispelled the overcrowded emotions.  I touched the nature that created room for me within myself that was filled with the feelings of everyone else and everything else. 

I touched the nature that allowed me to be silent, connected, listened to, accepted, and grounded, and then be part of something wonderful and meaningful. 

And yet allowed me to be an individual and completely myself.  

Just for a moment.


©Authenticity Coaching London
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