Kick Monday’s Ass: what are you saving for someday? (May 17, 2021)

It’s time to kick Monday’s ass…

What are you saving for someday?

For years I had this idea that someday, I’d enjoy a long, indulgent morning routine. We’re talking 2+ hours, full of stretching, coffee, and plenty of staring off into space.

Maybe I’d write. Or read. Or sit in the sun and ponder.

Someday.

Someday when I’d earned the right to relax. Someday when I’d worked hard enough to deserve some indulgent routine meant for someone more creative than me, who does better and more meaningful work than me.

I don’t remember when the flip switched exactly, but one day it occurred to me that I’d never defined “enough”. And if I didn’t have a finish line that defined when I “deserved” my morning routine, what exactly was stopping me from doing it now?

It’s not like there’s a Morning Routine Committee wandering around giving some people permission while denying others.

So I started doing it. Bit by bit, day by day.

I was supremely uncomfortable with it at first, this selfish action of taking time for myself first thing.

It’s slowly becoming a habit. And not only does it benefit me in the sense that I don’t have to get up and be “on” as soon as my eyes open…

It’s naturally forced my work into a smaller time container.

If you’re not already familiar with Parkinson’s Law – that’s the concept that the work will take as much time as you give it, whether that’s hours or days or months.

I don’t want to give all my time to the work anymore.

So I write this to you from my tablet. Stella and I are in the mountains just north of Asheville, NC. I’m outside being serenaded by birds and Ella Fitzgerald.

The work can wait – this time is mine.

Now for this week’s video:

Kick Monday’s Ass: busy work vs BUSINESS work

I took a year to build my first website – and I was so embarrassed by that homemade monstrosity that I never actually sent people to it.

That was my lightbulb moment… I spent all my time waiting to prospect until I did this thing.

And then when I did the thing, it didn’t actually have as big an impact on my business as I thought. So if you find yourself in a similar boat to early-stage Angie, here’s how you can stop stalling and get shit done…

Badass of the Week

Today’s badass is Nitan Shanas, a student at Rutgers University who’s on a mission to end homelessness. What I think is cool about this story is the empathy.

Nitan isn’t passionate about this because he experienced it and wants to make sure no one else has to (though that’s an important motivation too – VERY important). He’s on this mission because of a chance discussion with a homeless man to whom he’d given his extra food.

That one conversation was enough to spark a mission, just from really listening to someone else’s lived experience. There’s immense power in empathy. It can change the world if you let it.

(If you know someone who should be featured as my Badass of the Week, leave a comment and tell me!)

New podcast episode!

I met Monika Zasada not too long ago and we hit it off hardcore. I think when you hear this episode you’ll understand exactly why… where most would talk about home being where “the heart is,” Monika’s take is home is where you can get naked and weird. She has a unique perspective as an outsider coming into a brand new industry, and I think you’re gonna get a lot out of it.

Can’t-Miss Moments From This Episode:

• She came to the states from Communist Poland to the states with just $10 in her pocket: how Monika made a name for herself as a woman with an accent and strong opinions in a male dominated industry
• Monika’s unique take on what makes a house into a home, and why it has her fighting so hard to buck industry norms and advocate for her clients
• The secret superpower of being brand new to an industry (and how you can use it to your advantage instead of seeing it as a personal shortcoming)
• When you have to go through it yourself: why despite coaching her clients through the renovation process, Monika still sobbed when she saw her missing roof
• How getting the “best price” for a home renovation is complete and utter BS: the back asswards bidding process that gets you a quote with no basis in reality (and why Monika’s fighting so hard to change it)

You don’t want to miss this one. Click here to listen (and subscribe) now!

 

On Repeat This Week…

 

This one’s stuck in my head as I’m stuck at “home” at my Airbnb in North Carolina, which is currently ground zero for everyone losing their gaht damn minds and panic buying gas. I give you In The Waiting Line by Zero 7.

It’s such an accurate description of every gas station I pass… wasting my time, in the waiting line.
_______________

Nine to five
Living lies
Everyday
Stealing time
Everyone’s taking everything they can
Everything they can
Everyone’s taking everything they can
Everything they can

Whoa
Do you believe
In what you feel
It doesn’t seem to be anybody else who agrees with me

Do you believe
In what you see
Motionless wheel
Nothing is real
Wasting my time
In the waiting line
Do you believe
In what you see