How I'm Working (Now)

I’ve been on a quest to reimagine not only how I earn an income, but how I work too.

My old “move quickly and grind all day every day” approach was unsustainable. I asked so much of my body and mind, never pausing to reciprocate.

Gone are my days of relentless energy and focus, at least for the time being. And my willingness to spend all day working. As I shift towards more creative and artistic projects, there’s only so much creative and artistic juice one can drink in a day.

Now, as I unbox evermore parts of myself, I’m developing an approach towards work that prioritizes alignment, sustainability, and enjoyment—not money and speed.

(I do give myself some grace for prioritizing money and speed. When I walked away from Starbucks in 2016 to build my fitness coaching business, I had barely $1000 in savings. I didn’t have much choice. I wasn’t seeking alignment. I was surviving.)

Once I reached stability, I continued with the hustle approach, never pausing to question if there was a better, more appropriate way. Eventually I began paying the price for this blindness. My body was collapsing into pain, and my mind followed. 

I was earning in the low six-figures, but with each invoice paid, my spirit dimmed.

At risk of being dramatic, I had little choice other than to adapt or die.

Now, I let myself follow threads, not timelines. I write in bursts. I don’t rush, I simmer. I proactively account for rest and pause, rather than waiting until I have no choice.

While the ~80% drop in income as I realign hasn’t been ideal, I’ve managed. And I do think this has been a necessary path to walk. The two projects I’m working on now… I wouldn’t have stumbled upon their ideas were I still plying my trade as a copywriter. 

I was too distracted, too out of alignment for the signals to come through.

Which, in a rare twist for a Whimsie, brings me to the idea I’d like to impart:

Human nature insists (for most of us at least) that we learn, adapt, and grow.

We each have to find our own path through the grand forest of opportuni-trees.

Your path only appears when you’re still long enough for the water to clear.

With love from the forest,

~ Alexander