I have had 3 conversations with different people in the last week alone about time wasted on our phones.

One of my peers said she was shocked when her phone notified her that she used her phone 8 hours less than the previous week.

Another said he noticed there was nothing fulfilling (other than base entertainment) about the time he spent on TikTok.

Another said he just made the decision to take Instagram off his phone for good.

The other night I noticed it was 8PM and thought, "Oh I'd love to crawl in bed and read." ...and at 8:45PM I looked up from the Facebook Reels scroll hole I fell down.

Ugh.

I'm not immune to the pull of checking out with dumb scroll hole stuff - but I DO know how to break the habit and get back on track with being mindful of the ways I'm distracted and making a different choice.

Did you know I wrote a book about it? Progress over perfection, my friend.

JOURNAL PROMPT: How are you distracting yourself throughout your day? What can you do differently?

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TIPS TO WORK BETTER

1. Someone asked me recently what the best business advice I ever got was. Without hesitation I remembered when I first started my business, I was told if I just follow through on what I say I'm going to do, I'll be so far ahead of most business owners. This has proven to be true over and over in the 7+ years I've been in business. So that's my #1 Work Better tip this week: Just do what you say you're going to do.

2. Playing off the tip above, what if you have a hard time people-pleasing and over-promising in your business? My advice (that I've really settled into this year) is to sleep on every commitment and promise before you agree to it. Just this year alone, it's saved me thousands in not signing up for programs or people that weren't the right fit or time for me. It's also saved me from agreeing to take on clients I knew weren't a good fit (time, effort, stress). If you give yourself space to consider, and commit to less, you'll have more time and energy to follow through on what you said you were going to do.

3. As online entrepreneurs, we're all feeling the pain of 1) the rising costs of subscriptions/expenses we use to run our business, 2) clients who have to "pause" on services because they're struggling with finances, and 3) deciding whether or not to raise our prices on existing clients because we're also trying to balance our budgets. #2 and #3 are a whole other conversation, but I've been dealing with #1 by assessing every single cost in my business — particularly recurring expenses for software. I loved Leadpages and Podia was ok, but the costs were just too much. When I realized how much I could do with the shopping cart software I already had, it was an easy decision to cancel Leadpages and Podia. Thrivecart is powerful, totally online entrepreneur-friendly, and I only paid once for lifetime access to all the features (instead of an expensive yearly or monthly fee). Check it out here.

TIPS TO LIVE WELL

1. Several months ago I started seeing a chiropracter who took xrays of my hips and spine. I already knew I had hip issues...but the xrays revealed not only are my hips canted at about a 30-degree angle, but my left side is roated backwards. This is leading to my spine trying to over-correct that imbalance, and causing a lot of pain. Fast forward to me trying out pilates this summer - hated it, never went back. Then I saw an ad for this hip-opening yoga program. I thought and thought about it. I emailed myself the link. I finally joined. I'm not only loving how gentle it is, but how it's only 20-mins a day. Learn more about Hips Like Honey (not an affiliate link).

2. I've realized the end of this year has morphed not into re-focusing on my work goals, but digging deep into how I'm holding myself back (because all the self-sabatoge personal habits translate to business). I hired an emotional eating coach (my biggest pain point by far) and she recommended this book to discuss during our work together: Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything. It's not a relgious book (if that might sway you), and the insights and connection I'm making are pure gold. Read it here.

3. Finally for this week — just some good old fashioned fun and laughter. I discovered Mr. Chicken on Instagram because Sharon Osbourne shared a bunch of his Reels of Ozzy/Black Sabbath songs. You just have to hear them to know what I mean. Start here. You're welcome.

Hapy Halloween and catch you next time Reader - love ya,

Cara

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