Summer Refresh, What’s On Your Agenda?

What is your default summer mode?

Chilled vs. Chaotic?

Frantic vs Fun?

For some it is time to relax, let loose, and spend some time in the sun. For others it’s a busy time of year with activities, vacations, and seemingly no downtime.

As business owners we can hit a slump of doing the same thing day in and day out, and not feel like we are getting anywhere. In a trap of “busy” and on that hamster wheel of hustle.

Or there are other times we are in such a slump of Netflix binge watching.

Wherever you at at right now, your business needs the best of you!

I’m in a space where I feel obligated to show up for the people I serve. And when I’m not feeling my best, I have a hard time showing up as my best.

So how can we use summer to our advantage?

Remember summer camps when you were a kid?

Traveling to a relatives house for a fun few days to eat all the snack food and get completely spoiled?

How about the amusement parks, the water slides, and the summer nights spent roaming the streets with friends?

Those were the carefree days of summer….

But as adults, we have more control over our schedules, our commitments and our priorities. And what we value is what we make time for.

Summer happens to be one of my favorite times for adventures in the outdoors. New travel. New connections and new experiences that add richness to our lives.

Sometimes taking time away – a little self-care time – is all we need to feel refreshed.

Like drinking sweet tea on the porch doing nothing but gabbing to our bestie. Or grabbing a green juice from Whole Foods. Or getting that gold glitter shellac manicure we’ve wanted, with the bright coral toned toes.

What I’ve found is that when I’m hustling hard for my goals, I often overlook my health, spirituality, relationships and my self-care.

So I’m bringing you my top 5 tips for a Summer of Self Love:

1. Make your morning a ritual. Waking up doesn’t have to be chaotic. If you have children or pets who wake you from your slumber, choose a positive affirmation placed by your bedside table that you can read aloud each morning in the privacy of your bathroom. This sets a positive tone for the day.
2. Prioritize your schedule.  As selfless servants, we often allow other people’s needs to fill up our schedules. Setting healthy boundaries around your time will free you up for a 1 hour nature walk, grabbing a good book, or listening to a 3 minute meditation.
3. Do more of what fills you up. Your business needs you fully functioning! Working from home, I used to try to do it all…take the dogs out for a run, do the dishes/laundry and make sure the floor was vacuumed. In the meantime I was pulled away from my zone of genius/flow of coaching clients and creating content. This week I hired a dog walker/house cleaner that allowed me to get away and find my creative space.
4. Find your tribe and love them hard. When we are in a slump, we tend to isolate. Especially as entrepreneurs, we can feel lonely like we are going through this all alone. When I’ve had a failed launch, a frustrating client or a disappointment I call my tribe. I tell them how I’m feeling, and they allow me to vent, share their stories and fill me back up. We do this for each other repeatedly, and we find at the end of the call we are both energized for more!
5. Practice Gratitude. Journaling has been a go-to practice for over 20 years (yes, it’s like having an adult diary). Yet the way I use these journals has changed. Now, I am grateful for the things that are coming…the places I will go and the people I will meet.  In 2015, I wrote the words “Costa Rica” in my journal and this year, I went on a mission trip with Cary Heise to Costa Rica!

The power of these small practices is real and show up in our daily lives, our relationships and our businesses.

And we don’t get that follow through, that motivation, and that consistency without forming a tribe with other women who’ve got our backs. Vend Raleigh is a great place to meet other like minded women who want the business strategies to succeed. It’s also great for networking and connecting!

I’ve traveled across the country as part of masterminds and business retreats with various coaches and transformational leaders from Derrick Halpern and Lori Harder to Rod Hairston and Tony Robbins.

The personal growth and development doesn’t stop just because it’s summer. It simply requires us to prioritize our passion.

So much transformation happens when women get together, set an intention, show up authentically and watch what transpires.

This summer, try new things, reach out to that woman with a beautiful instagram and share your heart!

I feel summer is a time for fun, for celebration of progress, and for resetting the intentions for the rest of the year.

I’m Camy Kennedy, Self Love Strategist, and I’m here to remind you that summer is what you make of it. I work with women who want to live a life of passion and abundance, and who are not just setting goals in January, but who are following through in July.

This summer I’m bringing you an all day (6 hour) intensive to get focused, set intentions, and transform yourself and your business.

You can find out more about the Self Love Refresh Retreat on July 14, 2018 here.

Sponsored post. Do your business a favor and contact us about promoting your business through Vend Raleigh to our audience of 3000 local business women.

photo: Peter Salama

Camy Kennedy is a Self Love Strategist based in Cary, NC. She shows women how to live an abundantly passionate life  life through nutrition, mindset and movement. In her free time, she’s hiking with her dogs, eating fro-yo, or training in her garage gym.