A little life update
...or maybe no so little
Sooooooooo the last time you heard from me was the beginning of June.
Rewind to spring
Everything was ramping up. Systems I put in motion a long time ago were converting. Ideas we’d been refining and testing for months were working, and I could see the fruit of all of it finally happening.
And on top of that, I’d started building a completely new business, different from anything I’ve done before. It’s the first thing in a loooooong time I’ve felt really inspired by. I was basically working on it every night and weekend.
Then, in late May, I started feeling sick.
I took a pregnancy test and...turns out, I’m pregnant.
Good news for our growing family. Bad news for my capacity.
Pretty much overnight I started having zero energy and nausea all day, every day. On most days I could really only handle the bare minimum of what truly needed to get done.
My booked client projects became my main priority. Those clients hired me at full capacity and I was determined to still deliver the level of work I promised them before I got pregnant.
I ran everything else through the filter, if I don’t do this, will anyone come chasing after me? And if the answer was no, it didn’t happen.
Marketing, content, this Substack, my newsletter…all had to take a little sabbatical.
The hardest part
I like to get things done. To move things forward and accomplish a lot in a short period of time.
So living in a body that can only do the minimum really messed with my head.
Because when you’re in it, you kind of start believing this is your new normal. Like you’ll never feel like yourself again.
The thing that kept moving anyway
Remember the new thing I was building on evenings and weekends?
Luckily, right before the symptoms hit, I brought a small group of beta testers into it. I gave them 30 days to use it, explore it, break it, and tell me what worked and what didn’t.
That timing was pure luck. Because while I was horizontal, other people were still moving the project forward and checking off boxes that needed to happen before launch.
Forward motion doesn’t always have to come from you.
Where I’m at now
As of a couple weeks ago, my energy has started to come back. The nausea is fading. I’m excited about work and I have the mental space to think about the future again.
I’m still running at a lot less capacity than my old normal (I take a nap every single day and my body won’t negotiate with me on it).
But I feel capable again. Capable at a lower level. And that’s okay.
If your capacity ever gets cut
Every capacity drop is different. Mine is a happy one. Yours might be illness, caregiving, burnout, or a season you never chose. I can’t tell you exactly how to navigate yours but I can tell you what mine has taught me.
1 - You’re allowed to serve the people you promised and no one else for a while.
I really only had the capacity to serve my clients and nothing else. And guess what? Nothing major burned down and everything was right where I left it when I was ready to pick back up again.
2 - You’re allowed to let everything that isn’t do-or-die just stop.
I didn’t announce a pause. Things just stopped, and the world kept spinning. Whatever guilt you’re carrying about going quiet, do your best to let it go. I say this with the most love - human beings (especially online) are really only concerned with themselves and probably haven’t even noticed you went dark. No harm, no foul. Come back when you’re ready.
3 - Build so motion can come from other people.
My beta testers moved my launch forward for 30 days while I did close to nothing. My project manager handled emails and client communication when I just didn’t have the mental space to show up. Ask yourself who or what could keep your most important project breathing without you, and set that up now, before you need it.
4 - This season is actually essential to your story.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from these moments it’s that they actually propel me forward in the best way. They teach me what I really want work and business to look and feel like and what’s just been a distraction.
5 - Capable at a lower level is still capable.
The expectation for yourself just changes a little. moves. And that’s allowed! Even the smallest effort is still moving the things you want forward.
If you’re in the middle of your own version of this season, you will feel like yourself again one day. I’m watching it happen to me right now, one nap at a time.
Oh, and the new thing I’ve been building? You’ll meet it very soon. 😏
xx,
Ariel
I run a creative agency. I’ve done the $40k projects and the $2k ones. I know this industry from real wins and even realer failures. I’ve coached 3,000+ other designers on how to turn their skills into a real, money-making career. And it’s all yours for $7/month.