It's been a long while. My apologies for the radio silence. I've been in Idaho to help my brother bootstrap his business, and on top of all that I caught a bad cold yet again. Thank you @Louise Aquino for keeping the conversation going in my absence!

Marianne is the owner of MariluConnect and MARILU - booking you quality meetings, and helping you to scale your business through attraction of new clients. Welcome Marianne! We would love to hear more about you, your story, and your business. You can find the community navigation map here. We're excited to welcome you to our community of go-getters! To ensure you get the most out of this experience, we've set up a short, mandatory onboarding call. It's our way of meeting you, and equipping you with the tools you need to succeed. This community is for those serious about growth and client success – and it all starts with this brief, engaging call. Ready to dive in? https://www.habitrule.com/brainstorm-booking @Marianne Jensen

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all... Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.” ~Steve Jobs Somehow, those humble two little letters are some of the most difficult, and simultaneously the most freeing, letters ever combined into an English word. No. It defines a boundary. This post is the first of a series. To start, we'll be talking about the boundary of spaces. For years, I struggled with boundaries. I love to create, to build things, imagine new tools, but I found myself saying yes to every project, every request, and every distraction that came my way. My workspace was a chaotic blend of personal and professional life, with no clear divisions. projects blurred together and layered on top of each other. Spacial boundaries was a nearly non-existent concept when I was a kid growing up. Everything was everywhere. And I did not really have much of a space to my own. Schoolwork and random projects all happened in shared spaces, and a good portion of the work was simply finding and gathering everything needed for each project so that you could begin. My main conflict wasn't a lack of skill or ambition—it was my lack of setting boundaries. This manifested in two critical areas: 1. Spatial Boundaries: Growing up, I never had a dedicated space for my projects. Everything happened in shared, very disorganized spaces, and half the battle was just finding and gathering materials to begin work. Even after moving out on my own, I struggled to create distinct areas for different aspects of my life. 2. Time Boundaries: Without clear work hours, I found myself constantly "on," researching problems at midnight and pounding away at a keyboard during what should have been family time. There are some times where having a dedicated space all to your own for each project simply is not an option. There are, however, still things you can do to carve out your own space, even when you share a workspace or a living-space with others.

I don't think I've ever had a cold quite like this before in my life. It's been going on for about six weeks now if I'm not mistaken. Technically, I still have it, but I found a huge breakthrough. A two minute cold shower. Directly after rising and drinking water. I know, I know, sounds terrible and miserable. The first time I heard about it,I decided to give a try and "Yiiiiiiiiiiiikes!" I promptly decided they were NOT FOR ME. But then fast forward a few years and upon hearing about all the various health benefits over and over again, I decided to give it another go. This time, a lot more carefully and gradually instead of just dialing it directly to cold and waiting for impact. Instead, I simply oscillated back and forth, just slightly beyond my comfort range. That got me to taking hot, then cold showers much more quickly than I anticipated, and I had an epiphany: It is not the cold shower itself that is miserable, or hard, or terrible -- It is the anticipation. Once I relaxed into it and started paying attention to actual how I actually felt, I realized I didn't actually hurt very much at all. I just thought it would. Now, perhaps you're thinking... "That's crazy. There's no way that would actually be true for me. He's just some tough Alaskan dude." I assure you, this is not the case. I was raised very sedentary and not so very adventurous. Moving to Alaska was a "jump off the cliff", so to speak. I'm not "naturally" brave or anything like that. But you can get their by choice. By choice, and by deliberate practice. The key is to work into it gradually, just going ever so slightly beyond your comfort zone with each step. Now, I can jump straight into a cold shower. Now, I am jumping out of the realm of barely surviving, to that of being able to get two steps ahead of the game. (Or more accurately, able to catch up, two and three steps faster per-day than I would be able to otherwise 😅) --- What can I learn from this? - Next time you find yourself stuck, find a way to ease into it, a way to break it down into small chunks. Gain some leverage by hiring a coach, or by bouncing your ideas off someone else, for feedback and a third perspective.

Maria is a networking extraordinaire and is your go-to person for making connections. Thanks for joining Maria! You can find the community navigation map here. It's still early days in the community, but there will be more courses and posts coming soon. If there's anything in particular you would like to see, let me know! :) We're excited to welcome you to our community of go-getters! To ensure you get the most out of this experience, I've set up a short, mandatory onboarding call. It's our way of meeting you, and equipping you with the tools you need to succeed. This community is for those serious about growth and client success – and it all starts with this brief, engaging call. Ready to dive in? https://www.habitrule.com/brainstorm-booking @Maria Lupita