Do this one thing and watch your creativity soar in your business.

Welcome to the Empowered Edupreneur Podcast. My name is Michelle Smit, and I am an ex-teacher turned online business coach for Edupreneurs, the owner of Digiteach and a six-figure entrepreneur. I am in love with empowering educators, just like you to create freedom filled online businesses and lives they love.

If you are looking to uplevel your skills, your finances, your mindset, and change the trajectory of your life as an educator in business, then you are in the right place. Think of this podcast as your weekly dose of business and mindset development to help unlock the infinite potential within you to play bigger with your life and go after your dreams.

We are going to have so much fun together. So thank you so much for pushing play today. Now let's dive in. 

Hello. Hello. It's good to be chatting to you again today. I hope you're having an amazing day. So I have just come back from about a 17 day holiday in Greece. I think if you had listened to a previous podcast episode of mine, you would've heard that I won a all inclusive yacht trip to the Greek Isles from a business competition. And we got to literally go and experience that now. And then we stayed on a little bit extra. My sister came and we just literally lived our best life in Greece in the most magical, abundant, luxurious, opulent, juicy, joyful. It was just absolute magic.

And yeah, I must say I feel like a different person on the other side of it. I realized how badly I needed it. And especially after this year, after having the wedding. Me and Mike got married in April. And although it was an amazing time, it was the most hectic time a lot of chaos happened and, it was energetically quite an intense time.

And I came back from that really burnt out and I like just emotionally frizzled. And I knew I was struggling, but I was not sure why and what to do about it. And I was pushing through as much as I could, but I just didn't feel like myself. I just felt very low frequency, like a very low energy.

And it wasn't translating in my business. I was just struggling with a lot of stuff. And yeah this holiday happened, it came and I didn't think anything of it. but I feel like a different person on the other side of it. And I'm looking at this and I'm realizing there's a pattern here.

I've had this happen before. In 2022, this happened and now this has happened. And I went to Portugal in 2022 with Mike. We had also a two week break. And then now I had, this two week break and I must tell you when I say complete break, I unplugged from the matrix.

I didn't use my phone really. I didn't go on social media. I was not on, I was not plugged into the online world. I was completely present. My days just consisted of floating through the day, depending on the sunrise and the sunset. and just not really having any schedule, not really having any plan, not really having any things or shoulds or things that I must do or anything.

I just had time and space and the people that I love and in a beautiful place. And I just really sank really deep into that and had such an amazing time. And on the back of that I feel so much more clear. I have so much more clarity. I have so much more energy. I have so much more creativity.

I have so much more lust for life. I have so much more drive. A drive to grow my business and a drive to make money and a drive to serve people and a drive to, create a life that I love because I was reminded so much of why I do the work that I do and why I even started my business in the first place, which is all about freedom.

Like most of us start our businesses for freedom, but then we often get trapped in all these things and then we end up feeling not so free. And so I really believe like having this break and I see it as like a huge return on investment and it seems counterintuitive, but it's a huge return on investment in my own business going on holiday and resting and unplugging from the matrix. 

Is going to make me more money. I know that to be true and it's going to make me be more creative. It's going to make me have energy to serve and impact and change lives and pour from a full cup, not an empty cup. And I don't think people realize this because when you're building your business, you get so much in the trenches of your business that you lose sight of things and you get so trapped into just the daily grind often of what your business needs from you. what it requires from you, how you need to, keep moving forward. 

And you don't ever want to stop. And I'm sure you might've felt this way. If you know, are building a business that you don't want to stop. You don't want to take the foot off the gas because you're so terrified that if you take the foot off the gas, everything's going to collapse. 

And you are so scared that if you just stop, everything will just fall apart. And so you just keep going and you just keep going and you just create this like pace and you just keep going at that pace and you don't really stop to really give yourself the rest you need. And I'm not talking about like just a weekend off.

I'm talking about like period of time where you can switch off completely. Now, I know not everyone can do this and there's a season of business and where you can actually do this. I can understand that. Like in my first two years of business, I wasn't really able to do it. And you have to push, that's the season of growth expansion. 

And you just need to be in that masculine energy, right? You just need to push. But I think if you are finding yourself flat lining, if you're finding yourself just completely detached from the reason why you started your business, you're finding yourself that you don't have creativity.

You're pushing through extreme resistance at every corner. You are feeling like not yourself. You don't have that sparkle or that drive. You don't have the ambition if you're feeling all of those feelings, then I think that this could be something that could change the game for you and turn things around.

And it's so silly that I have to say this, because it sounds so simple and why would I even have to say this, but it's genuinely just taking two weeks off at least, and going and getting out of your current environment and going to another environment, like another country or another city or whatever is close to you that changes the actual energy, the place that you're in. shift that, go to another place and unplug from the online world.

If you have an online business, you're tapped in to your computer doing stuff online all the time. If you unplug from that and you change locations and you go somewhere else with a different energy, with a different routine, with different food, maybe different people. Different, language, culture. even if it's not that, it may just be a, going into a beautiful place with nature that's different where it may be like, if you do that and you really just sink into rest and I'm talking like complete unplugged rest. And the first week you won't be like half resting because it takes a while for you to unravel and unwind.

But in that second week, you can really just sink deeper into it and just be present and just do whatever that what makes you happy and just give yourself permission to switch your brain off. Switch your brain off, get out of your brain, Stop thinking about your business. Stop thinking about the next offer you want to create and all of the problems that you feel you have or whatever it may be.

Just switch it off and just be present in the moment. Get into your body, get into more pleasure, get into more joy. Get into that empty space. It's like an empty liminal space. Slow things down with no timeline, no schedule, no shoulds, nothing. And tend to yourself and do what fills up your cup and, laugh with people and connect with people and experience new cultures and eat new food.

And it's like softening and softening and softening. It's like getting into that feminine energy and just leaning into it. and when I say this, I mean without guilt, because if you are taking a week off in your business or whatever, two weeks off, and you are just sitting there worrying and being guilty about the fact that you're off, that doesn't count.

That does not count as rest because your energy is leaking out. You're leaking out all of those worries you have all of those fears you have. It just like it leaks out of you. So it's easier said than done, obviously. And you're going to have to keep aware of your thoughts and keep control over that and really set boundaries and say for this two weeks, I am switching off, I'm focusing on me.

I'm going to do my thing. I'm going to fill up my cup, whatever it may be. And set those boundaries, be tight with them and just lean into it. And when you do this, when you create this space in this container, whatever it may be for you to really just switch your brain off, you are going to see on the other side of it, how much magic comes from that space.

Because if we are constantly working, constantly looking at the next thing to create, constantly grafting in this masculine energy of our business, and we never really truly slow down. And get into a more embodied space, a more restful space, a more quiet space where you can go inward. You're not being stimulated constantly by work and other things and other people and other people's ideas and other, coaches saying this and that, and all this content online that's bombarding you and telling you what you should do and how you should live and what you should eat.

All this information, if you can just switch off the information and go inward. And give yourself like pure space to just do that without guilt, without needing to be somewhere without a schedule, without anything. You are going to find that you're going to have your best downloads, your best ideas, your best clarity. 

All of these things are going to come from that space. And I've seen it happen before. And then I forget how fruitful it is to do this. Because there is fear. There's always fear. Like if I stop, everything will burn down to the ground. There's like a thought that comes up or whatever. But actually what I've seen is when I stop and when I go and I create these very intentional times where I'm off and I'm fully off and I'm just so leaning into my pleasure and just filling up my cup in every way possible. 

Although it feels Scary at first although it feels counterintuitive It is where the magic happens because on the back of that, when you come back you're going to have so much more clarity.

You're going to know why you even are in this business, why you do what you do. You're going to have the drive. You're going to feel more creative. You're going to have ideas that come through, downloads that come through that you can action on. And even better is that you're going to be able to action on those ideas because you're going to have the energy to implement. 

And that's the other thing is if you don't take your foot off the gas and you just constantly going, going, going. and the shortest break you've had in five years is two day, three day holiday, you're going to be pouring from an empty cup. And you're going to be struggling to implement.

So even though you may have ideas, you're going to be struggling to implement the ideas and bring them to life. So a little example of this is in 2022, I had the worst year ever. And my dad died. And it was a really, really bad time. And I decided in summertime, I was like, I'm going to go to Portugal.

 And I took about two weeks off in Portugal. And before that I had zero anything. I was just like an empty shell of a human being. I was just empty. And then I went to Portugal and I had these two weeks of just pure space, time, joy, magic. 

I just had nowhere to be. I just needed to be in my body and having a good time and doing what makes me happy and tending to my soul and my heart and my spirit and all that and then I didn't think anything of it. But I remember sitting there with this beautiful view and I just had this massive download of how I wanted more connection and how I wanted to have more conversations and I wanted more meaning. And I realized that I actually wanted to have a podcast and I'd never ever thought of that.

To actually have a podcast or want to have a podcast. And suddenly there's just this massive downloaders. I need to have a podcast. This is my next step. And I sat there and I brainstormed. Just because it came so strong. I just brainstormed in one hour, like 150 podcast episode ideas. And it just came so naturally, so quickly.

And then as soon as I came back. I was lit up beyond anything. And within a month this podcast was launched. It went from not existing at all to being launched within a month. And we're nearly on our hundred episode and it's been such an amazing part of my business.

It's been one of the better things I've done in my business for a long time, because it's such a great way to connect with people, serve people and share my ideas. And create value build up trust and yeah, just build up a community of people. So that happened literally from slowing down and going inward and just letting whatever needs to come through, come through.

So if you are busying yourself all the time, there's not enough quietness for the ideas and the downloads to come. You won't know what to do with your next step if you don't slow down. So if you have experienced this where you're just not knowing what to do and you're just like haphazard and you're just clutching at straws and you're not feeling aligned, you're not sure what that next aligned step is, you're feeling a lack of motivation. Go and take a literal two week break and switch off at least two weeks. And I promise you there will be a return on investment. And obviously not everyone can do this. And I do understand that I'm in a more privilege position in my business right now that I've got a business that works for me.

I've created a lot of things that, work for me so I can earn without working. There's a passive income streams. There's all sorts of stuff that I've got that's going for me that allows me to do this. So I do understand if you really can't do it, I get it. But if there is any way that you can do this and it doesn't have to be an expensive thing, you can just literally switch off and go to wherever it may be. 

Keep it cheap. Just get into nature and tend to yourself and slow down and get soft. Soften into just being alive and enjoying your life and be creative, go do things that make you feel good. If you can do that and unplug from the online world, you are going to have clarity come through and downloads come through.

You're going to have these things that come because they come in the slow spaces and if you're never slowing down long enough, you're never going to be able to see that next step. You're never going to have that download or the download will come, but you won't listen to it because you're going to be too busy.

You're not going to hear it. It's going to be too soft of a whisper because that's normally what happens is it is like this intuitive nudge. It's like a little whisper that comes through and if you're too busy, you won't hear it. So this is my permission slip to you. This is my reminder to you that if you haven't done this and you're feeling this way, then I really, really, really invite you and recommend that you go and do this.

Create the space for yourself somehow. And just some practical things to set yourself up. Like before I went to my two week break, I put on Pre created my podcast episodes. I pre scheduled them. I batch created my newsletter. I scheduled them. I created Instagram posts and I got my virtual assistant to schedule them out and manage posting them every day.

I told my clients that I was going away, but I would be accessible on Voxer. I had a few chats with my clients on Voxer. But it was just little few things. It wasn't like I was spending my time on my phone and just every couple of days I'd touch base with them and support them.

And I made sure I had no calls during those two weeks. I rearranged my calls. So those are some things you can do. Rearrange your calls, batch create your content, schedule your stuff. If you have a virtual assistant, give her stuff to do to manage while you're away. Make a plan basically, make a plan. Because if you want to have a business, you're going to have to take your foot off the gas.

And also. If you keep hitting the same wall over and over and you're not moving through it it's time for you to slow down. Get out of that masculine energy, get into a soft space. Because it is a really fertile space. Magic is born there. Things blossom there, ideas come and energy comes and creative activity comes.

You're going to see your creativity soar. You're going to feel more like yourself. You're going to be feel more in tune with yourself. You're going to feel a lust for life again. So yeah, this is just a permission slip, not that you need it. But I promise you, doing this is going to have such an ROI on your business and return on investment.

You're going to see your creativity soar and you're going to come back to yourself because so often we get lost in the online space and we just lose our voice. We lose who we are. We lose what we're here for. And then when you do this, you come back home to yourself. And from that place, you are in a much stronger place of power and that you can really move the needle in your business. 

You can take action. You'll have a burst of energy when you come back and this is why we need holidays people. We all need holidays because otherwise what's the point? We all need to enjoy our life.

Otherwise what's the point? And if you are always on, you're going to limit yourself. You're going to limit your business. You're going to limit your earning potential. So give yourself permission to turn your sprain off, to switch off, to fill up your cup. And trust that whatever comes in that space is what's meant to come.

Don't put pressure on it. Don't push anything. Just give yourself that space and just trust that it's going to unfold as it needs to unfold for you. Don't worry about your business being burned to the ground. Everything's going to be fine. The world will carry on even if you're away for two weeks. The rest of the world will carry on. Your business won't be burnt to the ground. You just come back, pick it up and continue. 

All right. So that is my message for you today. It was completely off the cuff and downloaded because it's been so top of mind for me to just share this. I see so many people, they don't want to stop.

They don't want to take the effort of the gas. They're so scared to unplug. like I had a friend a business buddy write to me saying I want to go off for a week, but should I do it? Should I switch off for a week? And I'm like, yes, go switch off. Go be free, go enjoy your life. 

This is why we started businesses. We didn't start businesses to put ourselves in jails. Okay, so don't be guilty. Just go enjoy the shit out of your life and know that magic is going to be created as a result of that. So it's a nice belief. I had this belief, my rest has a 10 X return on investment.

The more I rest, the more money I make. And I really do believe that. And I've seen evidence for it. That's why I believe it. And even though it's counterintuitive. I promise you it works. Lean into it, even though it's uncomfortable. Alrighty. I hope you have an amazing rest of your day.

On that note, just before I say goodbye, I have decided since I'm so energized and I've got such creativity, I am super excited to say that I'm going to be hosting a live Bootcamp. So I haven't done one this year. It's been like maybe nine months since my last live bootcamp. There are these big events.

They take a lot of energy and they're so impactful, but I did too many of them. And I think I just burned myself out with doing too many. but I haven't done one for ages and it just kept coming back that I wanted to do one while I was away. And so coming soon, I'm going to have my live Educators Income Booster Bootcamp.

This is a live event of 10 days with me. It's really accessible in the price point. It's 37 bucks only for 10 days. And it is incredible. The energy, the expansion, the activation, the downloads, the ideas, the clarity, all of it comes through intensely over these 10 days for the whole group. and yeah, I'm going to do one.

It's going to be the only one I do this year. And so it's extra special. And I'm just going to bring all the energy and creativity that I have to this magical, magical event because I really want to connect with people and I want to go deep. And so this is that opportunity to do that. And it's such an accessible price point that people can do it really easily.

All right. So I'm going to probably drop the waitlist underneath here, but if I don't then it's coming soon. I haven't got the dates exactly. But if you want help in creating a course and selling a course and creating amazing impact and income for you, then this is definitely a great place to start.

It's the perfect starting point. And you'll just keep your eyes out, and your ears peeled for that. It will be coming soon. Soon. 

Alrighty. So I hope you have an amazing day and I will chat to you again next week.

Bye.

 Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. If you haven't yet joined the waitlist for the Educators Income Booster Bootcamp, then head to my website at digiteach.biz to sign up. This is going to be the best live training experience, helping you take your knowledge and map it out into a desirable course that can sell for years to come so that you can scale your income and impact like crazy. 

I appreciate you so much and I can't wait to connect with you in the next episode. In the meantime, go create a business and life you love.