Tag Archive for: Rebecca Tsaros Dickson

An entrepreneur’s routine means sweet f*ck-all

I know entrepreneurs who get up three hours early every day to get shit done before the world interferes.

Some schedule things down to the minute.

Some can only do work while in certain environments.

Some are convinced early morning is the ONLY time they have to work on the business. Some swear they get nothing done before 2 pm.

So. Many. Rules.

I am often asked by the same people, “Why is my day so disrupted? I feel like I can never get anything done. I’m doing what all the experts say.”

Here’s my question:

Who are these experts you speak of? And why do you give a shit how they spend their time?

YOU don’t need to follow someone else’s routine or rules in order to be an entrepreneur.

YOU don’t need to arrange your office the way Gary Vee does in order to have a 6-figure business.

YOU don’t need to use trendy new software to keep track of your clients.

YOU only need to show up – in the way only YOU can – when you want to.

Understandably, some people need structure or discipline so they can get in the habit of showing up regularly. What we don’t need is someone else’s structure.

How Tony Robbins parts his curtains in the morning is irrelevant. It’s a stall tactic. Another way to say, ‘Oh, my desk, office, environment, [insert excuse] isn’t ready yet. I can’t do this today.’

You’re just screwing around.

The truth is, the most successful and impactful people in the world get shit done no matter the circumstances. And THAT’S WHY WE LOVE THEM. We adore an underdog. We root for the guy who’s up against it all and determined to overcome. You know why? Because you are him, goofball. You know you can do the same.

Environment is irrelevant. Noise, people, distractions, shitty voice in your head, kids demanding attention, etc., etc. – none of it means permanent derailment. Tend to whatever and get right back to it.

Otherwise, all you’re telling yourself and the world is that it’s just not that important. (And you can complain about how you have no time.)

But don’t take my word for it. Below are thoughts from four infamous men on their own daily routines:

Kurt Vonnegut‘s famous routine included Scotch and swimming: “In an unmoored life like mine, sleep and hunger and work arrange themselves to suit themselves, without consulting me.”

Tim Ferris lives much more freely, as his idea of a schedule is having none. “I don’t have to do anything in this schedule. I choose to do them because I like them. None of them are financially-driven or unpleasant obligations. If the chance to do something more fun comes up last-minute, I can cancel all of them.”

Jack Kerouac answered a question about his daily routine this way: “I’m beginning to suspect the full moon. Also I’m hung up on the number nine though I’m told a Piscean like myself should stick to number seven; but I try to do nine touchdowns a day, that is, I stand on my head in the bathroom, on a slipper, and touch the floor nine times with my toe tips, while balanced. This is incidentally more than yoga, it’s an athletic feat, I mean imagine calling me ‘unbalanced’ after that.”

Perhaps the late, great E.B. White said it best: “A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.” (Really. Truly. Honestly. Read that about five times, then write it out on 100 Post-It notes and plaster them all over your house.)

When someone asks about my routine, I quote Ferris Bueller. “You realize if we played by the rules, right now we’d be in gym?”

My advice for nearly all things may have become an aggressively mediocre cliché by now. But I hope you’ll still use it regularly: Fuck the rules. Just show up.

It’s so much easier to enjoy your work and your life when you begin to trust yourself and let go of your made-up expectations. No one cares how you do things, or even if you do them. You need to decide if you care, and how much.

• • •

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Face it. Feel it. Let it the F* go.

Excuse me. *taps glass*

I think it’s time for a chat about spiritual bypassing.

This is coming up more and more in our industry and, frankly, it’s f*cking horrible.

For those not acquainted, spiritual bypassing prevents people from acknowledging what they feel and distances them from both themselves and others.

An example might be avoiding feeling angry, or overemphasizing the positive AND avoiding the negative.

I also see it where people are super detached, overly idealistic, feel entitled or simply aren’t focusing on the here and now.

It’s similar to emotional bypassing in that we don’t allow ourselves to fully process our negative feelings. Which breeds a toxic cesspool inside of us and creates more problems as we try to expand and grow.

You can NEVER get better by ignoring what’s bothering you.

Granted, we may not be aware that we’ve closed our hearts or we’re avoiding a particularly heavy feeling. In an effort to protect ourselves from trauma, we shut down, avoid, withdraw, dissociate — and sometimes convince ourselves that we have to just “STAY POSITIVE.”

I have no judgment about any of it.

HOWEVER, if you’re working with a coach who encourages this, it’s a big, fat, hairy problem.

I don’t care who you are, you’re human.

As long as you’re inside this bag of flesh and bones, you will have feelings. All kinds of them. And you may not like them very much.

But the process of true growth means FEELING THEM TO RELEASE THEM. There is no way to skip this step. None. And anyone who says otherwise is straight out lying to you.

Growth never means pretending emotions don’t exist. We’re never just “fine.” We have real shit to face and it’s your job to do just that.

In fact, stuffing emotion long-term has been proven time and again to cause physical illness, like cancers and autoimmune diseases, as well as mental illness.

We are NOT built to avoid what is uncomfortable. We are built to deal with it head on so we can then go further, faster, with a lighter load.

Face it. Feel it. Let it the f*ck go.

But it begins by acknowledging you are not a robot and you have things to release.

Please take the time to honor your body and mind and do this work.

Some refer to this as shadow work. I don’t care what you call it. Just deal with your feelings so you can excel in the areas you want.

If you feel held back, there’s a 99.9% chance it’s because of what I talked about here.

I made my first 6 figures in 2008, after 3 months of intense personal work on trauma.

I made my first 7 figures in 2012, after 6 months of transformational coaching that involved facing my deepest fears, loving my limits and choosing compassion for ALL OF ME.

I had my first multiple 7-figure year in 2015, after the deepest, scariest healing journey of my life. I called it the year of my soul retrieval.

Never once did I pretend life was fine.

Never once did I pretend I had it all together.

Never once did I avoid difficult emotions.

What you suppress festers.

One of the main reasons I now have a reputation for top-notch mindset and business coaching is because of my own journey.

I know what it’s like to be scared but have a dream.

I know what it’s like to desperately want to overcome fear and rise to the occasion.

And I know what it’s like to not have a clue where to begin.

If that’s you, it starts by emailing me at becky(at)rebeccatdickson(dot)com.

Your light comes from your shadow.

We need the darkness to see the contrast.

P.S. Tick-Tock. Right now, there’s a kickass bundle sale going on with my top 3 bestselling courses on mindset and business-building for women. Go here to check it out.

But don’t wait. The deal is gone in days…on 8/3/22 Midnight ET.

Want to WORK WITH ME? Get in touch. Let’s see what type of magic we can make.