Hello and Welcome to Behind the Friction, Reader! Every Friday, I pull back the curtain on something I’ve noticed while working on my own business… hoping it helps you see yours a little differently too. Looking for a previous issue? They are all available to read on my website. ~ 🔍 ~ Yesterday was supposed to be a quick errand. We needed to buy a car accessory of some sort, and instead of grabbing it at the closest retail store, my husband decided it was worth driving a little farther to support a local store in his hometown. Fair enough. What started as an hour-or-so round trip somehow turned into an unexpected day-long road trip. 😆 No big deal, though. And today was going to be… MY DAY. Hubby and son had plans to go out together. I had plans to stay home. Beautiful arrangement. 😂 I already knew exactly how I was going to spend my gloriously uninterrupted Friday. Until this morning. Their plans changed. And there I was thinking… WHY ARE YOU STEALING MY FRIDAY?! Except… Nobody stole anything. Friday was still right there. What disappeared was the Friday I’d already created in my head. And THAT made me notice something. Sometimes we’re not only frustrated by what actually happened. We’re also grieving, resisting, or trying desperately to preserve the imaginary version that already existed in our head. Ouch. Because we do this in business ALL. THE. TIME. We don’t simply make plans. We start mentally living in the outcome. I’ll have this finished by Friday. And without realizing it, we create these little invisible contracts with the future. I do X. Except… Reality never signed the contract. 😆 And when Y doesn’t happen, we’re suddenly dealing with two things: What actually happened. AND The gap between what happened and what we’d already decided was supposed to happen. Sometimes that gap creates more friction than the actual change of plans. We resist. When maybe the first useful thing we could do is simply notice: Ohhhh.
I’m not only reacting to what happened.
I’m reacting to the loss of what I thought would happen.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t plan. And it definitely doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have expectations. But maybe it’s worth noticing when a plan quietly turns into a contract nobody else agreed to. 🔎 Quick Behind the Friction experimentThink of one thing that didn’t go according to plan this week. Got one? Now, what bothered you most? A) What happened B) What didn’t happen C) The imaginary version you’d already created of how things were supposed to go D) Wait… those aren’t the same thing?! 👀 And today, I’m making this ridiculously easy. Hit Reply and send me A, B, C or D. That’s it. One letter. No thoughtful explanation required. No homework. 😄 I’m collecting evidence. 👀 As for the Friday I had planned? She’s gone. 🪦😂 But Actual Friday is still here. And instead of spending the rest of it trying to catch up with the imaginary one… Have a wonderful Friday, . === . NOTE: I’m moving things around in the backend to make room for a new project. Can you help me spot “bad experiences” regarding my site, your members’ area, communications, or whatever? I would really appreciate your help with this! It will make it so much easier for me to fix and improve everything that needs attention. Thank you! === . Disclosure: From time to time, I will include links in the emails that would include promotions for my own products or affiliate products, meaning I get paid when you buy the product. However, I only ever mention products I love and would recommend whether I was being compensated or not. Always use due diligence when buying anything and remember, what works for me may not always work for you! Thank you so much for your support of Stephie The Happy Mom! To make sure you keep getting these emails, please add [email protected] to your address book or whitelist us. |
July 24
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