My summer blogging break is over and I’m getting back into the swing of things by first sharing with you what I learned whilst taking a break. 

I’ve been blogging for over three years now and for the first two years I blogged anywhere between 5-7 times a week - which feels absolutely crazy looking back. I wasn’t running my coaching business back then so I did have a whole lot more time and creative energy to focus on the blog, but even this year I’m usually creating anywhere between 2-4 pieces of long-form content each week.

It’s a lot. I see so many of my clients struggle with content creation when we first start working together - how to make time for it, how to enjoy it, how to share ideas and advice and stories that they’re actually excited to share. It’s a struggle so many of us share. 

When I’m in the day-to-day routine of my business, I can sometimes forget how much energy it takes to maintain a consistent posting schedule. Taking a step back gave me the space and time to accept, explore, and dig into some of the thoughts, frustrations, and struggles in my content creation process that have been happening behind the scenes this year.

Summer is now here and I’m going to be taking a step back from the blog for a few weeks so I can focus on the non-negotiables in my work and my life right now.

I love this blog; creating content for it is one of my favourite parts of my work. I’ve been blogging for over three years now and I do not see myself stopping anytime soon. But from time to time it’s good to take a step back from things, and for the next few weeks I’ll be taking a mini blogging break so I can focus on some other areas in my work and life.

A big part of my energy that would usually be given to creating content for this blog is going to be redirected into prepping, planning, and bringing to life Season 3 of my podcast Make It Happen. Trying to fit in blogging, the podcast, and my Weekly Letters alongside my client work during Season 2 of the show felt a little overwhelming earlier this year, so I’m ready to really give the next season of the show 100% and then come back to this blog once it's up and running. 

Something I’ve learned about myself this year is that I prefer to set intentions and areas of focus instead of setting concrete goals in my work and my life.

I’m much more motivated by living an intentional life than I am by ticking goals off my to-do list for the sake of it. Within the intentions I set for my work and my life are of course tangible goals, but I’ve found that focusing on the intentions first helps me to stay on track when it comes to living a life that is meaningful to me along the way.

Here’s how I break this down in a practical way each month:

I love podcasts. Not only because I create and host my own, but also because there are so many episodes and shows out there that I’ve listened to that have inspired, encouraged, comforted, and motivated me in my creative journey along the way.

Over the past few months there have been some episodes from my favourite shows that I’ve listened to over and over again, and I want to share my favourite ten with you today in the hopes they can inspire and encourage you too.

I was recently interviewed over on the She Percolates podcast by the awesome Jen and Danielle (you can listen to the episode here) and one of the questions they asked me was about the best non-financial investment I’ve made in my business so far.

I loved this question - so often we think that it’s financial investments that make all of the difference, but I’m a big believer that it’s the parts of ourselves that we invest into our journey that can make the biggest difference along the way.

Ever since I’ve been thinking about non-financial investments and the ones I’m glad I’ve made into my creative career and business so far. I want to share them with you today in the hopes they can be a jumping off point for you to explore the best non-financial investments you can make in your journey too. 

As a creative coach, I work with many of my clients to help them get more focused and intentional when it comes to the content they’re creating and sharing online.

I’ve found, in both my own journey and my clients too, that a big part of creating and sharing impactful, intentional, and focused content is rooted in our intuition - I call this putting our brand at our “core”. I’ve found that once we do the work to really intuitively understand our brand, our message, and what it is we’re trying to say, our ideas and our content starts to flow easily and with intention.

If you’re currently struggling to find focus and create with intention, I have 10 exercises I walk my clients through that I want to share with you today. These are the exercises I also walk myself through when I want to get a little extra focus and clarity with my brand and content (especially whenever I feel like I’ve transitioned or evolved into a new season of what it is I want to say and share) and once I do the work behind the scenes to put my brand at my core, I’m then able just to move forward and create intuitively along the way. 

I’ve been feeling a whole lot of gratitude this year for my business and creative life.

In the midst of all the hustle, sweat, and tears it can take sometimes to build your own sustainable creative livelihood, sometimes it’s good to just take a minute to sit back and embrace the joy that this journey brings with it along the way.

You may be wondering why I think of my work as a soul-centered, heart-driven, lifestyle-led creative business. Here’s why:

There are some questions that I’m asked over and over again by clients, awesome people on the internet, and creative friends too.

I love answering them as openly and honestly as possible and I realised recently that it may just be easier to answer some of the most frequently asked questions all in one place for everyone who is curious about the answers to read. So here are answers to ten of the questions you may have wanted to pick my brain about:

One of things many of my clients are always itching to come up with is their ideal client or reader profile. I’ve seen that, alongside identifying your niche, honing in on your ideal client is a major stress point for creatives in the digital space.

One popular technique is to create an ideal reader or client profile. That means knowing your ideal client inside and out, from their demographics, to their interests, and even sometimes as far as knowing their hair colour, favourite film, and go-to ice cream flavour.

Some people create a profile, others write a diary entry in the voice of their ideal client, others give them a name and keep them in their mind at all times when showing up online with their work.

And this can work, for some people and some types of businesses. Especially if you’re running a very niche business, having a clear and focused ideal client in mind can work wonders when crafting copy, content, and your services. I've seen many of my clients build Pinterest boards to represent their ideal clients, and thorough profiles to help them fully dig into the mindset and needs of the people they're here to serve with their work. But what I’ve seen some of my other clients struggle with is how stifling this model can feel sometimes when you’re a curious, big-hearted, purpose-driven creative. 

As an alternative, what I share with them is my own approach to honing in on my ideal client - and why I don’t have a specific ideal reader client profile guiding me when showing up online with my creative work and business.