How to use “self-isolation” as a tool for personal growth!

Now that you’re prepped for “self-isolation” and you have enough toilet paper, junk food and wine to host Coachella in your backyard (but you can’t actually invite anyone over!) WTF are you going to do with all of your extra time?
 
Here’s a few ideas to get you started 😉  

1. Don’t spend the entire time binge watching TV. Unless it’s Outlander or Love is Blind. You should definitely binge watch both of those. Otherwise turn the TV off….especially the news! The dangers of psychic viruses are as concerning as real viruses.
2. Make the little moments magical. Exchange the Starbucks drive-thru for a french press. Sit in front of a window with sun pouring in and journal each morning. Take long hot baths with sea salt and oils and dried lavender and rose petals. Use candles and the good china.  
   • TIP: If you know someone who sells essential oils support them & purchase some (support a small business owner!)
3. Start meditating. It’s a much better way to deal with anxiety or trouble sleeping than popping a pill. Check out the guided meditations thru the meditation oasis app. https://www.meditationoasis.com/apps  
4. Make a list of all of the stuff you’ve told yourself you “don’t have time to do” and do it. Clean out your closets.  Empty your email box. Update your website. You no longer have an excuse to procrastinate.
   •  TIP: Why not download the audio version of Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and listen to it while you declutter!  
5. Take this downtime to LEARN something new. About tech. About yourself. About the people around you.
6. Do a brain dump of your thoughts, ideas, goals and dreams! Put them all in one place.  
7. How would you create your dream life? What do you want to do accomplish? What’s important to you? There are many online resources to help you with this & keep you accountable. Find them & do them! If you find a great resource, let me know!
   • TIP: Join my friend, Wynn Godbold’s facebook group, I’m Possible Community
8. Nourish your creativity. The prompts from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way are a great way to start. The 2 main prompts are: “morning pages” 3 pages of hand-written, free-flow writing each morning and solo “artist’s dates” to explore something that interests you.
   • TIP 1: Did you know that creativity & painting are a simple way to meditate? Come join me & my friend & creative mentor Whitney Freya here in her 21 Day Painting Meditation
   • TIP 2: Since you won’t be able to take yourself to a museum right now you can explore online. Many including the Guggenheim, Rijksmuseum and the British Museum offer free virtual tours. Did you know that the Metropolitan Opera is also streaming their performances? Check them out!
9. Online learning! Have you always wanted to learn how to take better pics on your cellphone? Send your neighbors into a fit of envy with your charcuterie making skills? Read an astrology chart? Analyze handwriting? Start a side business as a cat groomer? Guess what? There’s a class for that! And you finally have the time to take it!  
   • TIP: Need help finding a creative class? Ask me!
10. Start a blog, set up that side business you’ve been dreaming about, bring your offline business into the current decade! Times are changing and you finally have time in your schedule to catch up!  
11. Confused about where to begin? Completely overwhelmed by tech? Need clarity on what to do? You can hire an expert anywhere in the world to help you. From coaches, to virtual assistants, to designers and content writers they’re out there! I’m happy to make recommendations if you need them!
12. Have “Zoom” room dates with old friends and catch up. Refrain from complaining or talking about current events. Instead reminisce about the past, how you’ve grown since your college days + what you dream of for the future.  
13. Start an online bookclub with your friends. Pick a book. Then host Zoom room meetings where you can each sit in your respective homes discussing it just as you would if you were together! 
14. Pick a topic you’re fascinated with and make it your mission to learn everything about it over the next month. 18th Century literature? Historical fashion? Reptiles? Follow your curiosity and see where it brings you!
    • TIP: Elizabeth Gilbert has an amazing talk on this!
15. Love wine? Instead of just grabbing your old Costco standby spend some time learning about different varieties. Have a mini-tasting at home. Make notes. Find food pairings. Discover you love Portuguese or Chilean wines? Plan a trip to a vineyard next year!
16. It’s worth repeating! Turn OFF the news and turn ON something inspiring. Listen to inspirational Ted Talks or podcasts.  
17. Google “36 questions to make you fall in love” although originally intended as part of an experiment intimacy, they’re a beautiful way to inspire deeper conversation with anyone you care about!
18. Discover what makes you tick. Find out your Enneagram number. Your Myers-Briggs type. Your astrology sun, moon and rising. Maybe even your human design type.  
19. Send out handwritten letters to people telling them how much you appreciate them.
    • TIP: Don’t have time to go to the store to purchase a card (oh wait—we’re all hunkered down right now!)? Don’t stress, connect with people using my favorite online card sending tool, Send Out Cards
20. Put something POSITIVE out into the world. Think of 5 businesses that have made your happy recently. Go write them a positive review! Too many of us only want to complain. There is enough negativity out there! Share something NICE!
    • TIP: Only post positive, humorous, or inspirational stuff on social media! The more we can change the energy of what we read/interact with each day, the better!
21. Stay in a grateful frame of mind! You should be doing this all the time, but now it is critical… I wrote & created a journal called “52 Weeks of Gratitude” last year and it’s amazing how just the guidance of each of the words keep me focused.
    • TIP: You can purchase your own copy of my book here: https://amzn.to/2nhDjNf

And finally! The greatest way to calm your nerves is to be of service to others. Ask around and see if there are any elderly or young but immune-compromised and at risk people in your area. I promise you there ARE!  You just need to find them. Offer to bring them supplies. Shop for them. Pick up their prescriptions. Even just leaving a card on their door letting them know you’re thinking of them will mean more than you can imagine!

Business owners! Take this downtime to work on growing your business + getting visibility!

• TIP: There are 2 places to help you learn about how to get that visibility!
  • Selena Soo’s Pop-Up Facebook group From Hidden Gem to Household Name!
  • Christina Daves PR for Anyone! & her book The DIY Guide to FREE Publicity: 100+ Things You Can Do to Get Media Coverage for Your Business Now