103- Pet Sitter Self Care with Nicole Ryan
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Summary:
Self-care is a big topic and one that Nicole Ryan joins us to break down. She shares the lessons she’s learned from running her business, the importance of setting boundaries, and understanding your mindset. Nicole also discusses when to walk away and the power of routines in our daily lives.
Topics on this episode:
Why self-care is so hard
Getting out of your own way
First steps to a healthy self-care journey
Understanding Mindset
Recommended resources
Main take away? A healthy self-care journey starts with understanding why we think, behave, and believe the way we do. It’s a process of self-discovery!
Links:
Get connected with Nicole: info@petsitterselfcare.com
Check out her website: https://petsitterselfcare.com
She’s on Facebook too!
Mel Robbins Take Control of Your life
The One Thing and the book
Self-Care 101: A Guide to Nourish and Flourish Team YOU
Other books to read!
Take the Myers Briggs
Consider supporting the show
Give us a call! (636) 364-8260
Check out our pet sitter resources
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Email us at: feedback@petsitterconfessional.com
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
business, pet sitter, people, clients, book, mindset, care, pet, thinking, important, dog, routines, hiring, boundaries, called, work, walking, happy, self discovery, life
SPEAKERS
Collin, Nicole
00:17
I'm calling and I'm Megan. And this is pet sitter confessional, and open
00:21
and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter
Collin 00:24
brought to you by time to pet. Hello, everybody and welcome back to another episode today. We are so excited to have Nicole Ryan on to talk all about self care, a big topic in the pet care industry and something that we can all honestly use a little bit more work on. So, Nicole, thank you so much for coming on the show today. Could you please tell us a little bit more about yourself and all that you do?
Nicole 00:50
Well, hi, thank you so much for having me. I'm Nicole. I'm a self care coach for pet sitters and I run a Facebook group and website called pet self care. And I just saw a huge need for personal development and self care across the board in our industry that I've been in for about 10 years now I own a pet sitting dog walking company over here on the east coast of Central Florida. So I'm happy to be here to discuss this very important topic with you all today. Thank you for having me.
Collin 01:21
Yeah. Pleasure to have you on. So you know, you mentioned that you saw a need for it. Where does this passion come from you to talk about self care?
Nicole 01:30
Well, like I said, I've been in this business a while. And I know there those listening, they might be like, well, I've been in business longer or less or about the same amount of time. And I think throughout for me personally throughout owning my own company for again about 10 years and having staff and going through those ebbs and flows in business and I, just personally knowing that there had been stressful times for me whether they like lasted a long time in the business or short term. You know, as far as the business was concerned, I just saw a need personally for self care. And I saw how taking time away from the business really helped me making that a priority. And working on my mindset was also a huge aspect of self care for me, so that mental and emotional health and self was a big part of self care for me. So I just saw a need across the board. I've been in this business a long time as industry a long time. So I saw just in groups and in people who I've coached and people who are pet sitters who are in my group, a level of stress that I just didn't think was acceptable level of. I don't know if unhappiness is the right word, but just a lack of boundaries, a lack of that self care, and really seeing how it was affecting people's lives and their businesses.
Collin 02:55
It is almost a process of self discovery after you've been in the pile of Like, oh, yeah, like this is a thing and you start looking around at these queues and these feelings and emotions that you may have. And you mentioned you see it a lot in groups and on Facebook and people you talk to, what is it? What would you say it is about the pet care industry that makes self care so hard?
Nicole 03:19
Well, I think it's a couple things. It's just the nature of the business itself. It's if your dog sitting for example, and the clients away for a week, you're checking on that dog in the am right, breakfast time, midday evening, maybe you're doing overnights, so you're away from your home, you're in and out of that client's home, you're probably taking on more than one client at a time. So I think it's the nature of the business itself, the scheduling aspect of it, right, it can really just be go, go go. So you're constantly caring for other people's homes, their pets, you're dealing with the clients themselves, because obviously that's how this business operates. You got to get in touch with the client. They got to get in touch with you, too. scheduled pet care. So you are dealing with people on some level. And I think that aspect of the business, just the scheduling aspect and the constant going aspect of the business because people travel, we can't control when people travel. I know we're in the midst of COVID right now. And a lot of people have had their businesses slow down greatly because clients aren't traveling or they're working from home. So they don't have those midday potty break or dog walking clients, but it's just a constant go, go go. And if you're, if it's just, let's say, it's just you running your business and you don't have staff, even when you have staff, it can be stressful because you have to keep up with where they're at, with making sure they're, you know, on task and where they're supposed to be. And at the same time, there's when they're supposed to be there, right. So you're managing from a distance really. So there's that aspect of it. And the other aspect is just and I talked about the client aspect of it. It's setting those boundaries, and it's saying no when you want to Say No, instead of saying yes and giving in, it's really keeping those boundaries really firm. And this isn't something that I came into this business with. I said yes, and came more times than I can count, because the client, you know, would, would break it down on the phone or a new client would call and you'd go, I really don't want to do this, or you'd see some red flags, but you wouldn't really ret you wouldn't really acknowledge them. And so I had to learn how to set those really firm boundaries, and also setting up systems in my business that complemented those boundaries for myself, and just just to keep my sanity and my stress level, at a minimum, right and keeping that stress level low. And even with the systems from time to time, it was just like the business would get so busy. I'd be keeping up with so much with staff and with clients and with even issues with pets, like maybe a dog was having a little bit of a behavioral issue, just things that we encounter as pet sitters on our own. regular basis. And just really those aspects of the business that can cause a lot of stress that really needs to be taken into account when coming up with a self care routine or self care plan for your, for your lifestyle that, you know, would would really matter to you and really be a value to you as an individual. Right?
Collin 06:22
Yeah, the importance of those boundaries and those processes. Yeah, a lot of times, like many of us, the most self care we do is we feed ourselves and we sleep at night in most cases. And so building in these support systems around us to get us to something else that looks different unique for each one of us. What What were some of those boundaries that you put in place or systems that you you've put in place for your business?
Nicole 06:47
Okay, I know it's sometimes this is an unpopular response, but it's my response and it's what I did to really establish these boundaries. This was right when I started hiring people, I would say a handful More years ago, I stopped texting with clients. So they could reach me from email on the phone or on our software that we use for them to go on and book which was really the only way that they needed to book with us was through the software system we use. So I could go on a book course it goes straight to our email, we see the booking great, we approve it and it goes back to their email they know they're good to go. But with texting and having my personal cell number at the time, having my personal cell number as my business number and just texting and booking and texting updates and but you know, it was like I was tied to my phone so much that was huge for me was saying, We are no longer texting and getting a new number eventually but it all kind of happened, you know over time, but we're no longer texting. You can reach us if you need to by phone calling or email or two Go and schedule through the through the scheduler will be emailing updates from now on, make sure you have an email on your phone. Everyone has a smartphone, make sure you have your email set up on your phone. That's how you get your updates. It saved me. I mean, it was it was that was huge for me. Yeah,
Collin 08:14
yeah, building in some layers between you and direct access to clients and the outside world. You need some layers. There's some filters to filter through and some ways of communication that you can control so that people don't have 24 hour access to you.
Nicole 08:31
Exactly. And they don't they don't need it. I mean, when they're away. Yeah, we updated the visits. And when they need to book again, they have that software system or they can email us if they have a question or like I said, even costs, we still have ways of getting a hold of us. It's not like I said, Oh, you can only go on and book and Don't ever call and we're not going to email you updates because we don't do that anymore. So it was just really with the texting but it was just, again that that boundary and that barrier that really, really helped me out with my stress level and feeling like I had to answer right away or be so tied to my phone? Yeah. Um, so that was a big one. And then just setting setting aside time once I started hiring This was easier for me but setting aside, like one or two days, full days a week where I wasn't doing any pet sitting and then just slowly taking myself out of the day to day petsitting roll once I hired people. And that was, that was helpful for me because when I started the business Initially, I knew that I wanted to hire people. But it didn't happen right away, I had to build the business a little bit. But taking a step back and just managing it from, you know, from a distance basically was really helpful for me, and it gave me that time to sleep in a couple days a week or, you know, just do whatever I wanted for a day because everyone should be taking a couple days off a week. If you work at an office. You're off Friday afternoon through Monday morning. So why shouldn't pet sitters have a couple days a week at least for themselves? So yeah, that's you Yeah.
Collin 09:58
and remembering that if you do have employees to encourage them to do the same thing provide opportunities for them to have self care as well.
Nicole 10:05
Right and I never overloaded my staff. I always, I always say, to hire one more person than you need, because some will, someone will quit, someone will want time off. Someone's schedule change. So just for me having enough people that a couple of them were more part time than the others. So it all worked out. But finding that groove with hiring people, and I know this isn't an episode about hiring, or hiring employees, but really finding a groove with it and what works for you and your business and for your clients is key to managing that stressful what can be a stressful aspect of your business. So for me again, just having a backup to the pet sitter so that I wasn't always the backup if something came up or you know if they wanted the weekend off, but oops, forgot to let you know it's like, Okay, so then you always had that support that kind of line of pet sitters, right? If someone had something going on and oops, forgot which happens, um, or someone got sick or someone had a death in the family or whatever, you guys had that backup pet sitter that could come in and, and take over if need be. I mean, this didn't happen all the time. But of course, it's something that can happen and you need to have a system for it.
Collin 11:24
Yeah, absolutely. And since we are talking about self care, how would you define what self care is
Nicole 11:31
it's prioritizing one's mental emotional, physical health and I would also add spiritual and financial to that to eliminate stress and live the healthiest happiest life one can listen for themselves.
Collin 11:43
Yeah, the key part of self care is is self what works for you and not not comparing yourself in what you do to something someone else does. Right? Like it's it's it's really taking time to go, huh? Well, the other Walker when they Do take time off, they go for a stroll around the park. I don't like walking all that much. It's kind of hot right now. So do I like reading books? Do I like traveling somewhere? Do I like doing these other things, really thinking about what works for you and stop worrying about what other people are telling you, you you should do.
Nicole 12:19
Write it's self reflection, it's personal development, I kind of use personal development and self care kind of interchangeably. They're not the same thing. But it's really like you mentioned earlier self discovery. It's saying, okay, especially if you've been in this business a while and maybe you feel bogged down by it. It's saying, If I weren't doing this business, if I weren't working all the time, or if I weren't right now, in the midst of COVID. A lot of pet sitters are just worried, right? They're worried about their next step. They're thinking, Well, I have a few clients but it's not looking like anybody's booking for Thanksgiving Christmas yet which normally happens or whatever it is just looking ahead. So I think it's just really important to do some self discovery and self reflection. Go. If I literally didn't have this business, what would I be doing? Not for work? Not for work, but like, what do I love to do? What really makes me feel alive? And what really makes me feel content? And what makes me feel good about myself? What gives me a purpose in life? Yes, your business can give you a purpose in life. Sure, okay. That that's fair enough. If If a pet sitter out there and says, Well, this is my purpose. Well, I think it's always important to have a plan B, right? Because right now, most areas of us yeah, there are some areas that you know, pockets of the country and, and pet sitters, that even if their clients are home, they're still able to go over with a mask on and get the dog out and Okay, that's great. But if you're one of these pet sitters, who has a business right now that you're just like, it's it. It has been basically nothing since let's say beginning of April or middle of March, even and cancellations and all summer, nothing was really going on. I mean, Now, even prior to now, but if you're listening right now, I just urge you to really think about what else? What else do you love in life? And maybe what else can you do for work, but what else are you really interested in? What are your passions? Right? Everyone's answer like you said before, some people like myself, I'm in Florida. I'm not going walking right now. I mean, it's 90 degrees, 90 degrees, hundred percent human. It's a sawn outside. Okay, like, no way. Would I be like, Oh, yeah, walk sounds great right now. I mean, it sounds miserable right now. Like, no, I don't walk right. I'll sit on my couch with the fan on the ACS on 73 degrees and my huge thing of water like that sounds like bliss to me right now. And I get to be on a podcast and hang out in my living room in the air conditioning. I mean, that sounds awesome. But no, like you said it's going to look different for different people. That's why self care. Yes, it's about looking in and not out. It's about self reflection, self discovery and personal development.
Collin 15:05
And one of the really hard things about as we start doing some introspection here is we tend to be our own worst enemy. And we tend to get in our own way, a lot of the time.
15:17
Yes. How,
Collin 15:18
if someone is struggling with that, and I guess I may be asking for myself here, how would you recommend somebody get out of their own way and let something take place?
Nicole 15:28
Yes, um, that's a great question, because it really boils down to, I believe was down to your mindset and not to get all psychobabble. I'm not a therapist, but like how were you raised? How are you raised to look at life? Look at work, relationships, relaxation, okay, um, what is your family's background? What were your parents like as far as those aspects are concerned? financially also people can look at that. I hear A lot of comments from pet sitters just again, I've been doing this a long time in the industry a while. And, and just different comments than I think I think about that I see in groups, and when I've worked with people, and I go, let's talk about your childhood. No, I'm not a therapist here. But like, let's say, that's a self reflection part. For me, it was like, why am I Why do I have this mindset? Or this maybe negative way of thinking about a certain aspect of my business? Why is this particular client? Really, really, I don't wanna say annoying me, but like, why is this client triggering me so much? Like, why am I letting this person get to me? Because it's something I was taught and I don't want to get into my whole background. And you know, this isn't a physical therapy session. So I don't want to get into all of it. But just if you're, you know, again, if you're, if you're thinking to yourself, like you just ask call and if you're thinking, Well, how do I get out of my own way? That's how you do it. You have to do that introspection and do that mindset work. If you're to the point where maybe you're having anxiety on a regular basis, you're just feeling down for too long. And COVID has brought this out with a lot of people. And, you know, I think it's sad. But I think it's also a great time to really do this kind of work on yourself. Because maybe your business is slower and you're like, well, I'm kind of lost without it. Well, looking into yourself, maybe working with some one, professionally, besides a coach like myself, maybe working with someone professionally, would help get some of those questions answered and get you back on track. Right, get you back on? Who am I really like, how do I want to be remembered? What's my purpose in life? And yeah, you had your pet business for a while and maybe you thought that was your purpose, but things change, things are allowed to change changes, okay? I think people view change as a bad thing. I think changes Okay, you have to really, maybe change your mindset about change. So I think That's the heart of, of, of self care to is just not sitting around and going, but that's what I wanted. So I'm gonna just keep living in the past and ruminating over everything I lost. And yeah, there is some letting go of things, especially if you did really lose a lot of your business or your whole business got shut down for the last handful of months, right? But I'm not saying Oh, get over it, but it is a good time. Like you just asked me it's a good time to ask those kinds of questions. How do I get out of my own way? Why am I not getting out of my own way? What's holding me back? A lot of it comes from the mindset you were taught growing up and mirroring a certain parent or certain family member and their attitudes about life and about how life works and about relationships and about business and money, etc. So,
Collin 18:46
yeah, well, what I'm hearing is the best way to get out of my own way is I need to understand myself better. I need to understand because we the way we are right now is a culmination of past lived x variances and things that were taught to us. And so if I want to understand why I'm reacting a certain way, or why I feel certain way I need to reach back a little bit and spend some time thinking about that, and that's uncomfortable a lot of times and we usually put that off because we're so busy or we just dive into work more to avoid those kinds of questions. But if we're really serious about making a change, that's sounds like it's one step. One little step that we can do not little one big step I'll say, two tours, understanding ourselves a little bit better so that we can make some good healthy choices for what kind of self care is going to work for us in the long run.
Nicole 19:36
Absolutely, and I think that is like the first step to getting a self care routine in place getting a self care plan in place, you can eat all the salad you can exercise every day, you can drink water, you can sleep eight to nine hours a night you can have your your home air quality. Do dad in the corner making her house you know air quotes. He's so amazing you can have all these amazing tools and tricks and eat well and exercise and all of this all this stuff that people say is going to matter for your health. But until you really do that inner work and really go, why am I not moving forward? Why am I so stuck? I think a lot of people feel stuck right now. And whether it's in their business, whether it's what's my next move gonna be? So yeah, it is important you can you can do all those things. And I'm not saying don't eat right and don't get an air purifier and don't drink water. I mean, if those things make you happy, and you know, it's good to eat right and drink enough water and exercise, of course, but if you're still not in a good place, mentally and emotionally, I mean, what have you got, you know, you need to start working with someone, again, whether it's a coach or a therapist or counselor or someone like that, who can really help you. help anybody with their mindset and with Why they, again, why they think and why they behave the way they behave. And it's all of this so much stuff is taught to us in childhood. And I think it's until we really want to recognize it, and go, Oh, yeah, I'm doing this, oh, gosh, my mom used to do this. And you go, Oh, I'm turning into my mother, oh, my gosh, and then you go, Wow, I just said something to my husband that my mom used to do to my dad nagging him or whatever it is, right? Whatever example, and you go, I'm mirroring that behavior in my 30s. And then, I mean, just certain things you recognize. But when you do that mindset work. And again, when you really are working on yourself and self discovery and personal development, a lot of stuff will come up and you'll go, Wow, it like starts clicking and starts making sense.
Collin 21:48
Yeah, yeah. And you differentiated there between self, self health and self care. Those are kind of things. Those are kind of hard to say back to back but this part of self care Yes. is taking care. have our health if that's important to us which it which it should be and making sure that our bodies are well fed were cared for in our environments well, but self care is this broader on envelopes barter umbrella that encompasses a lot more things than just what we're putting, you know, just what we're eating into our bodies, right? It's this diving depth and you keep bringing up mindset. So to talk about the importance of mindset, mindset, work it as it relates to self care.
Nicole 22:29
Well, again, mindset is your attitudes, your way of thinking about how the world works. So here's an example. And I know, in my ebook, I give examples of this. And anyone who's done any kind of mindset work or reading up on mindset, a lot of it has to do with financial aspects of how the world works or relationship aspects. You know, it's kind of a mindset of for example, with dating. This is I don't know why this came to mind. I'm married, but I'm thinking Have some girlfriends, some girlfriends of mine who are dating, right? And they'll go date and the date won't go well, and then another date and that date and that guy was not their type or whatever. But then it kind of becomes this thing of like, all men suck. All men are pigs. Well, that's a mindset. That's just you're just thinking that because it's literally it's not true. Or, and I'm not saying that at all. It's just an example. I don't want any hate mail. But I'm saying like with, with finances, right? All rich people are snobs, or, oh, all rich people are greedy. Or, oh, if I make a lot of money, I see a lot of this because this is a small business industry, right? I see a lot of this with small business with where people are scared of raise their rates. They think that like, money equals money is the root of all evil. We hear that right. So how did you grow up thinking about talking about like finances or thinking about dating and relationships as far as a mindset would go, but there's mindsets about a lot of things, but I see Especially with the pet sitting industry there there is this mindset about finances and about chart what to charge clients, that the mindset of a particular pet sitter from one to the next is going to be different about money. But I'm not saying this is an industry wide problem and nobody's charging enough but I do see it popping up from time to time and there's a, there's a mindset of, well, if I charge too much, nobody will book me. And I also see this issue of a mindset issue of I have to do it all myself,
Collin 24:35
right.
Nicole 24:36
So that's taught to, um, it could be taught to you differently when you're younger, think about like your teenage years a lot to like, these things are ingrained in people, right, these ways of thinking are ingrained in you. Um, so maybe, maybe really thinking back about, about stuff like that. It will definitely help you you'll at least realize where it comes from and then be able to work on it but aspect of the business being one that, oh, my clients only want me they only trust me I can only do it and it kind of becomes this martyr self fulfilling prophecy like martyrdom, like I have to do it all. You know, I have to work all day I have to, I have to work in order to make a lot of money, I have to work really hard. That's a mindset issue. I think I think that is 100% of mindset issue. The harder I work, the more money I'll make or the harder I work, the more self worth I'll get. You know, you're looking out at like all these things, you're looking out and looking inside yourself and going, what's really gonna make me happy. What do I really want? So, you know, there's mindset issues, so to speak, in a lot of aspects I mentioned dating, I mentioned, you know, finances and then this aspect of this petsitting industry where it's like, having to do it all and having to like, sacrifice yourself and your time. So much that you're emotionally mentally drained, right. So So yeah, those are just some mindset issues that I see and, and working on your mindset. So it's switching that negative to a positive and I'm not like Pollyanna positivity, rainbows and butterflies all the time kind of person. But I see things very realistically, but it is, you know, you can't walk around being negative Nancy all the time either. So you have to kind of be like, Okay, my business is slow right now. And that sucks. But I, I don't need to be hanging on to this so much. Like, why am I hanging on to it? What can I do to make this better? What can I do to turn this around and make my life better? Because of, you know, thinking just thinking differently about things really.
Collin 26:43
Yeah, it's, it's, it's looking at, you know, you mentioned mindsets is our how our attitudes have been shaped from past experiences and going like, okay, is my view of money of control. Is that healthy for me? Is that does that make me Happy yes or no and then go okay, if it doesn't, let's work on changing that. If if I if and that's, that's where that work comes in, I'm just sitting down again doing these reflective exercises, being introspective to ourselves and seeing where, where we're not happy where we have maybe some unhealthy balance in our lives and going okay, let's make this change and it doesn't have to be big it doesn't have to be huge, monumental. I mean, I suppose it could be if that's what you're really wanting to do, but not being scared to start that process of thinking about Yeah, why why do I have fear of of hiring somebody? Well, is it this control thing? Is this do i do i have this martyrdom idea about myself and how I run my business? Is that healthy? Do I wake up happy in the mornings? No. Okay, let's, you know, let's work on that.
Nicole 27:51
Right. And it is it's about it's about using this business to be your biggest teacher. I think a lot of people don't realize this, this business is is teaching you something. What is it teaching you? What are these experiences actually teaching you? And that's change that's switching it right there, right? Instead of saying, oh, for me, everything sucks right now. My business is slow. Now I have to go back to work or, you know, I'm out of work, I have to go on unemployment, and I lost all my staff and all my clients are, you know, dropping off left and right. And what is that giving you though? You know, what are you able to do now that you don't have this business that's Go Go, go, go go all the time. What can you do that you've always wanted to do? Right? And I mean, for me, I already had another business I started I don't know if we want to mention this, but I already had another business. I started pre COVID like in the last year, and I was wanting to grow it and I couldn't really control it because my pet sitting business was always so busy. And I I would take on things here and there with it and that was fine, but I really Wanted to grow this other service that I had started and Hey, now guess what now I can't or I, you know, I had been doing this for the last few months at least growing another business I'd started so I kind of look at like, what did what didn't this time cut you know COVID and the closures and everything since probably what? middle into March for most people into April. That's when everything started dropping off. What did this time last handful of months? What did it really teach you? And what is your business taught you up until this point? And what have you learned from it instead of like, Oh, it's this is so horrible for me because I've lost everything. Well, what can you gain from it though? So kind of, instead of looking at everything as a loss, and that's, there's there's lack mindset and growth mindset. It's really what it boils down to. So are you looking at this as a time of lack or as losing your, quote, losing clients as lack, but what can you do to grow And that's up to you like I couldn't I could I could give a list of 100 things. But you know, that's a G like, what are you going to grow? Are you going to start in a new business? Are you going to start? Are you going to go back to school? Are you going to take up a hobby that maybe will turn into a business? I know I mentioned in my in my group in my pet sitters self care group A while ago, I had started some e commerce sites. So working on them, it's a work in progress, but something I was passionate about for a while that I finally had time to do. And I thought this could be some great income. So get something like that, that you go, Oh, well, I always wanted to do X, Y, or Z. I mean, now, now's the time, maybe you don't have loads of money right now, but maybe you could still explore in some way. Um, so yeah, I've had time to build an errand running service. That's the service I started pre COVID again, like end of last year around the holidays. So I just kind of look at things and go well, now what what can I grow? Look at this as a time of growth instead of a time of lack. That's going to help A lot of you very, very greatly, very much. Yeah,
Collin 31:02
it's spending this time to get reconnected with our why, like, why did we get started in the first place? And what feeds us spiritually, mentally, emotionally, financially? What, what, what does that and so sometimes it sounds like there is this connection between self care and knowing when to to walk away from something knowing when to switch to something new and look in having the opportunity to do that, especially in times of change. Self Care is a portion of self care could be you know what, this is no longer working. This is way too stressful for me and it's unhealthy the way things are going, I need to switch I need to go do something else to take better care of me.
Nicole 31:45
Absolutely. I agree. 100%. And, I mean, if you had a business like mine and you had staff and you were very busy most of the time, right and you had a whole bunch of dog walks potty break clients and clients going out of town and people booking pretty consistently constantly, I'd say. And then it just started to dwindle down. For me personally, by the end of April, I took a big sigh of relief and what that's telling. That's, that's in the hands of her tell Nicole, that's a come to Jesus moment. I, um, I said, Wow, I have not. I've looked at my husband. We're sitting on the couch one night watching something on Netflix. And I said, You know what? I have felt this sense of calm in a long time. And I am, of course, I'm petsitter self care, right. I'm like, but I felt this sense of Wow, there are some things like you said that I just do not want anymore. I had been building the business really rapidly for a couple years. And yeah, a couple clients slipped through the cracks that should not have come on board. You know, it was stressful in that sense. It was constant go, go go, I would go away for the weekend. And yeah, you know, my employees would still be here doing doing the pet sitting and stuff so I could get away. And, you know, it wasn't like major problems came up where it was, oh my gosh, we would have to go come home. But you know, from time to time, there would still be a little, little complaint or a little, you know, oh, the, the dog peed on the floor at the client's house or whatever, nothing that I could control whether I was here or there, but it was just like, I'm on vacation. Like, yeah, you know, I don't know, but you're still the boss. It's still it's still your business, but I wouldn't let it stress me out. But I just thought to myself, this is very the way I feel right now is very telling of something. This relief. I feel that things have slowed down. We weren't dead by any means. But things have slowed down to a point where it It wasn't this constant Right, it wasn't the gogogo. And I said this is this is it was like, come to Jesus moment, one afternoon, and I was just sitting there going in my office, I was dealing with a couple business related things, emails and stuff like that. And I said, Hmm, I haven't been doing much of this lately. And I was feeling kind of annoyed. And then later that night, I went, Wow, I just, it has been kind of slow. And that's when I told my husband I said, it's kind of a relief to me knowing that maybe even next month, it'll be about the slow. And that was telling, right and I said, Okay, either I need to restructure the business or just kind of let it glide because we kind of knew at this point, COVID wasn't going to be a two week thing, right? So I said, Okay, we watched the numbers, at least here locally, where I live and again, it was still we were still in business and we still had clients and we saw people calling and and all of that you contact and stuff and but it wasn't this hectic busy every day all day thing. And I did feel a sense of relief. And I've been doing this for years. So maybe somebody who's newer is probably going, Well, I want more clients, you know, I really do. I'm passionate about I want more clients, I want great clients in my business, I want to make X amount of a month or a week or whatever your goal is, and that's great. Like, I'm not saying, oh, everybody should just quit now because and just just relax and kick up your feet and go to the beach and go on vacation or whatever. You know, just just hang out at home, watch Netflix all day. I'm not saying that at all, of course. But I think it's important to sit, sit back and go, how do I really feel about all this? Like, do I really want my business to be as busy as it was, let's say back in January, February. Do I really want that? Yeah, coming back like for that? Because the holidays are coming up. That's right around the corner. I mean, we're in September. This is a time when a lot of people do start booking September, October for Thanksgiving and Christmas and end of the year, new year timeframe, they go on vacation and I can't predict for anybody's business. Is it going to be busy? Is it going to be slow? I know for me, I probably won't even take on that much, if anything, because I'd rather have my I'd rather have a holiday. And I don't want to put a bunch of pet sits on the pet sitter that I have on, you know, still in my business because I didn't have to let people go. But do I want to hire people back if it starts getting busy? Do I want to, you know, continue with a busy holiday season if I see a trend of that happening. And honestly, I have to be honest with myself and I'm not giving advice business advice here and telling people not to do this or to do this but I'm just simply saying for me, I look at that and I go No, that is not what I want to do. That is not what I want to do in November. In December his hustle and get get people hired back. And, you know, be taking on all these clients around the holidays and giving key, you know, I collected a bunch of keys back because we were relatively much slower than we had been. And so you know, just redistributing stuff and all that that goes into it, right? I was like, No, I don't want to do that. So I'm kind of like, I don't wanna I'm kind of having a little like temper tantrum. Not really, but saying like, No, I know I don't want to do it. So that's my No, I'm just setting that boundary and saying, No, no, that's, that's for me personally. And if you're, if you're a pet sitter out there going, that's exactly how I feel. I'm so glad someone else feels that way. I did see a post in another group. About It was a pet sitter who said, You know what, I've lost so much business. I'm so stressed out and I want to close down but I've worked so hard and I feel you could tell she felt like ashamed. Right. And I thought No, you don't need to feel ashamed. This is not as out of your control. You if you started a pet business, it's a service based business like this is where I get a little more businessy. But like, think about what other services in your area that you would personally want to do to make money that are service based businesses that you could start and that would thrive in your region in your town, your county, whatever. And maybe start thinking of some new things to do. That would be fun that you're passionate about that don't stress you out, and that are going to make you some money. I think that's really important to look at, especially now that a lot of people are in limbo of like, Well, my business isn't looking like it's gonna be booming by the end of the year by any means. Right? So
Collin 38:44
yeah, and and again, here, what we're building upon is we are building we're sitting down doing self reflection, we're thinking about where our healthy relationships are in our mindsets. And then we're looking back at our business and going is this still making me happy? Is our Do I have an unhealthy relationship? Maybe I have an unhealthy relationship with my business. And I've been struggling, I've been looking for a way to make it better for years. And you know what? stepping away right now is the best thing that I could possibly do for myself to save my mental, spiritual, emotional, physical financial health. for the long haul, maybe that's the step and, and that is I feel like that's kind of a taboo topic about talking about talking about when to step away when to walk away from
Nicole 39:28
something. I do, too. I agree,
Collin 39:31
taking this opportunity to really reassess and as you as you experienced, and as I feel many people have they were able to look up during this time to slow time and go, Oh, you're right. I wasn't doing something the right way. I was I was I was so wrapped up in it that I didn't have this time to look up. I didn't have this time to reassess. And I've been feeling like I've been needing to make some changes. And maybe one of those big changes is, you know, a different service industry. Something else remember remember this is what's the best decision for you. Personally, it's self care it's what's best for us. And and really using this as an opportunity to make that decision to make that jump. Have you heard about time to pet, Chris and from raining cats and dogs as this to say
40:21
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Collin 40:45
to existing ones. If you are looking for new pet sitting software for your business, give time to pet a try. listeners of pet sitter confessional get 50% off their first three months when they sign up at time to pet.com slash confessional
Nicole 41:03
Absolutely, I mean, we've had so many months now too. So it's kind of like wait and see wait and see how long can you play the wait and see game I was I was over it I had to make a decision. So I ended up emailing all my clients by the end of June. I gave them a date in July. Not all my clients but the ones left and the ones that I knew would be booking more consistently over the summer. So I have my mail email list, but I have different sections but these are the ones who are either regular dog walking clients who had been off because they're working from home or regular clients who booked consistently throughout the summer the last couple years or you know, vacation clients and maybe their vacation clients and dog walking clients. We have a few of those that you know, they also use us for overnights when they go on vacation, stuff like that. So I have a little list there and email those people and I said by this date in July, and I gave them plenty of time in case We're gonna book which none of them work. I think one one lady books, she was an intermittent dog walking client. So she'd book like, one day here one day there and then have a week off. And then we'd see her pop up on schedule the next week. That's just how she always was because of her work schedule. But I think she booked like maybe two walks before the date that you couldn't vote anymore. And I said by this day and time by this day, and it was a day in like the very middle of July. So by this day, we will not be taking any more bookings if you need something booked prior to this date. You can book like priors. I think it was like July 17, or 18th, whatever that Friday was, I believe, and I said you can book something before that, but not for after that. And we will be taking off the month of August. And we had a few dog walking clients last night a couple of them were pretty regular. One was intermittent. One was like two or three days a week but always consistent. But at that point, I just said this. This isn't what I want. To do, and this isn't this is literally I was down to like 20 to 30% of my business and I thought some of these people even took a break and stop services for one guy stop service for like six weeks, because of COVID because he couldn't go to his work and then he could go back to his work. So we work we went right back on it was a regular dog walking client. So I said, if they can do it, I can do it. I am. I'm not going to put all my energy into people pleasing and worrying about what are they going to think of? I say that I'm taking a break because I just needed a break to reassess. And to just again, just reassess and really figure out where do I want my business to go? By the end of the year and do I want to be doing dog sitting pet sitting? Do I want my business to still do cat sitting? Do I want to do midday dog walking? And how many employees would I bring back when it starts to pick up again? So but I just said you know what? August is gonna be me time This to me it wasn't worth keeping everybody on. And none of my clients were upset and of course they said they'll miss us and if and when we come back they'll be happy to take us back if they found another dog walker pet sitter who they love that's great too. Like I'm, I'm not jealous. I'm not gonna be please don't find out they don't find anybody like, honestly, there's enough to go around. I think there are always be people who will need pet sitting. And I think a lot of pet sitters do get emotionally attached. And it's part of the job right as part of the business. We're working with families with with people and their pets, live animals, I mean breathing dogs and cats and we're working with heartbeats. Right. That's the way I look at it. Like we're working on living breathing heartbeats with forever, really, but I think a lot of a lot of pet sitters, including myself, I'm not saying I don't get emotionally attached, you know, whatever, but you Do you get emotionally attached you're in these people's homes you've done overnights, or you're either there on a consistent basis, maybe they're home and you chat with them or whatever, you get to know some of your clients better than others. But it's a big responsibility and it's um, you know it there is that emotional attachment there. But I do you think also, there has to come a point, especially in this time of the pandemic, and everything that's happened, where you have to go, what's what's really best for me, and for me, personally, it was saying, I'm taking a month off. I've never done it before. Oh my gosh, I've never done this before. I was like, I was so excited. I was like, and I have the perfect excuse. So I said, I'm gonna do it. Yeah. And yeah, you know, I had my last couple dog walks with a couple of them and at least for now, and, you know, it was just like, Okay, bye bye. And you know, yeah, a little, a little sad with a couple because, again, you know, some clients better than others, and they've been with you a while, but I had to just say, you know, it's time to let this go again. I have my other business. I'm I've been working on and that's been good for me the schedules better it works out better for me personally. So yeah,
Collin 46:07
you know, when I hear there is like is that taking that step to wrest control of your business back away from your clients and put it back in your corner and go? No, this is this is my business Actually, I need to make the decisions for it. Because if we can get to that point where we're doing things where we feel like we may be, we all have got to keep the business going. Because it's for the clients so that the clients have care so that they can be taken care of, well, then you're no longer doing it for yourself at that point. And and then then all of a sudden, you are externalizing all this stuff and control just bleeds away. And we're saying no, no, no, pull this back. It's It's okay. It's healthy, to look back at where you are, where your hopes where your dreams are, and make sure that they're all in a healthy place, and that everything is in balance, and is getting to where you Want to be?
Nicole 47:01
Exactly and I see I see it happen with business owners who maybe have been in business around the same time I have or longer and I'm not saying everybody who's been in business, let's say 20 to 30 years is bitter. But I see it happening where you get kind of jaded, right? You get kind of jaded, you get cynical. And if that keeps going on and you're like you want out of the business, or you want a break like I did, or you're just your heart's just not in it like it was a year ago or two, three years ago or whatever. Be honest with yourself about how you feel about your business. And that's going to be again, my relief in April, end of April timeframe when that rolled around and we had a couple more clients fall off dog walking clients fall off that they were working from home or whatever. That relief was very telling for me. So you gotta be honest with yourself. If you and if you're thinking, well, it just works so hard. I have to keep it going. Again, why do you have that mindset of, Oh, I work I have to work hard. I work so hard. I have to keep Then it's like, I think, what do they say winners never quit or something is like a saying like winners don't quit. I don't believe that at all. I think winners do quit. Yeah, if you quit doing something that is not fulfilling you, again, like mentally, emotionally, and spiritually and you're hanging on to a business. Again, this isn't going to be everybody out every pet sitter out there, but I think there are more pet sitters out there, and dog trainers, maybe even groomers, who whatever pet industry are in, but I think there might be more people than we, you and I talking right now or even maybe listeners would, would know that are definitely, I guess, quote over it or burnt out or whatever and really want to move on. And they aren't being honest with themselves. So they're hanging on and they're like, why work so hard? Well, I worked hard to I mean, I worked hard and I built this business from the ground up. I hired people I fired people. I've had to work my My you know, hiring methods work through my hiring methods and work through systems and processes and bring my business to what it was. But is that really where you're tying in yourself worse? Yeah, no, it should not be you, you need to have a plan B and you need to have really, again, that self care routine or, and that self care, that mentality of like, knowing that you're worth more than just your pet business. And I think I wrote something like that in my group recently. And I just kind of wrote, like a mini blog and I said, You are worth more than your pet business. Yeah. Do not let your pet business become you. Right. And you become your pet business. You control your business, your business should not control you so much and control. I mean, client demands and all that stuff, but like, mentally and emotionally Don't let it control you so much. Don't let it take over so much. So if you're out there listening, and you're thinking, yeah, I was kind of over it and you haven't It admitted it either out loud or really admitted it to yourself. And I urge you to do that if you're not over it, that's great too. Like, we're all in different places with this, right? So if you're not over it, but maybe you are seeing such a lull in business, it's really time to do some more self discovery, work on yourself. self development, practice some self care, and maybe think of other ways to make money in the meantime, until your business does pick up again, whatever that may be. I'm not making any predictions here.
Collin 50:25
No crystal balls here. That's fine. No,
Nicole 50:27
nope, not gonna happen. That's not even gonna go there.
Collin 50:33
So I do want to, to maybe give some action steps here of how do we keep self care a priority for the long haul? How do we remind ourselves what kind of routines how do we how do we get in routines, I guess would be a good place to start with this, to help make sure that this is something we keep at the forefront of our minds as we move forward.
Nicole 50:55
Well, I think there are two different types of people out there and so do Do what works for you again, but I think there are people who if I say, go get a planner and keep stuff in your planner, they'll lose them right then and there, right? They don't like writing stuff down. They don't like lists. They're like, Oh, that is way too type A for me, I just can't with the planner, and I feel so well, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna say, there are people out there who are like, I love my planner, I have 10 planners, I love lists, I have notepads everywhere and sticky notes. And they, that's how they operate, right? It's a total personality thing. And it's a total, it's a total type A personality type B personality, and it's a total personality type. I'm going to bring this up really quick. If you don't know your personality type, find out what it is. It's Myers Briggs personality type. It'll be very telling for a lot of people. I think it's really cool. a cool way of getting to know yourself better. It's a good personal development tool, and just Google it and you'll find a few different tests online. I've thought about hooking up attest to my pet sitter self care website as well. But it'll really tell you a lot about how you take in information. Do you want to take down a list of stuff? planners? Are you a planner? Are you more fly by the seat of your pants? Neither is right or wrong. It's just a personality thing, right? So I will say, as far as looking forward and getting a routine going, and some people are going to want to do that with the planner in the lesson everything. Maybe you have a planner and you're like, I don't write everything down, but I can kind of work with it. Or maybe you're like, I just block out time in my own head and say, okay, on this day, I'm just going to block out two hours and whatever I feel like doing, I'll do and some people are like, No, I have to block out Friday from 11 to one and I'm going to lunch and I'm getting my hair cut and I'm doing whatever right like they have to know everything. And some people are like, probably more like it's, you know, total difference between my husband and I and some people are just like, hey, yeah, I got Friday. Friday afternoon off, right, you know, got the weekend off, what do you want to do? I don't know. It's like it's it's just how people fill in and manage their time. So to get a routine going, you have to understand, again, you have to understand yourself, right? If you're trying to make a routine for yourself, and you're like, I can't make a list like that just doesn't jive with me, then don't do it and just keep it in your mind. Or maybe just jot down a little note in your journal or on. net, whatever works for you. If you're this person, and you're a planner person, then definitely stick to that and, and get a routine going as far as some people are really into morning routines. And I think I mentioned that in my ebook, if you're not an early riser. If you're not like I have to get up at 6am and do all this stuff. But if you are, then I think it's important to do that and start your day off, right? Whether you get up at 6am or 9am or whatever, right? Yeah, so just taking that time out. First thing in the morning, do not here's things not to do Do not check your phone, do not turn on the news. Do not check your email, do not check social media first thing like literally, you're laying there or you get up and you're like, oh, what's going on Facebook? I gotta check the news. Let me put it on the news. What's, what's going on with COVID today or what's going on politics today or whatever does that is like to me, one of the worst ways to start your day is either checking up on social media or checking, checking the the news, right? So I would say just get up. kind of put it into little blocks. Like let's say you have half an hour of time in the morning, just kind of set up 10 minute blocks, right. If you have an hour, just kind of cut it into thirds. And I didn't mention this in that ebook that I sent you. It's like, do you like to read like I love to read I have books on my coffee table. I books all over my office. I have books by my on my nightstand. And it's one of these things where it's like, okay, I would like to get up and flip through a book. For a little bit okay now I'm up and you know I'm not like I have to go eat breakfast right away but I like having like a glass of water. I'm just kind of getting started getting going and then maybe I'll check something on my phone but it'll be something positive it won't be checking social media on scrolling Facebook, it'll be like checking. I don't know like, like looking at a more positively based website or again maybe just continuing to read something that is personal development or self help based but I do not turn on the TV and I do not scroll social media just just mindlessly scroll and I don't check email or voice messages first thing in the morning. So just do what you like to do make your morning relaxing. If you if you like to exercise in the morning, take time for that. I mean, you know, whatever works for you. Same thing with nighttime routines I think are important too. And just How are you going to bed? How are you winding down at the end of the night? Do things that really make you relax? So that's up to you as an individual?
Collin 56:09
Yeah, I know in your in your book, you break it down into you take 30 minutes and you go here's here's a way I could spend 30 minutes and this is a reminder of this doesn't have to be a long like four hours session of anything right? We're not getting up and doing this long really intensive thing. This is just little things in our day that we do consistently so that we're starting the day you don't start the day on the right foot what side of the bed Did you get off in the morning? Well, you can control that partially right you can we can we can give ourselves the best opportunity. We can right at the very beginning of the day, and just having that that book or that website that you can pull up that actually that feeds you and lifts you up in some way, as opposed to tearing down or is just full of bad news are things you know, it's what you lay your eyes on first thing in the morning will really stop The tone on the rest of your days most times. And so what do you want that to be? And that's a very conscious decision that we choose to make.
Nicole 57:07
Absolutely. I mean it and again, it's up to the individual. It's up to the to what what do you really like to do or, and some people say, Well, I really don't like to read books, they like Audible, okay, then listen to something, listen to a podcast that you know is going to be informative and it gets into your brain first thing in the morning and that's the first thing that you're the first information you're taking in not some annoying email not scrolling Facebook and seeing everything sad going on in the world or whatever that people are posting about. Not that that's all Facebook is but you know, just getting triggered first thing in the morning is because it's not good for them for the rest of your day. So and you mentioned being conscious about it and being being deliberate about what you take in and what information you take in. And that's just important. I think that's important all day long. Right? As far as self care and it really is. And it's like, part of it again, that goes back to for me with boundaries. You can have boundaries with social media you can have boundaries with you need to. And you do have boundaries with your friends, your family, your business, your employees, if you have them just boundaries are so important. Like what am I going to take on? What am I saying yes to? And what do I need to eliminate? What do I need to say? No to? Yeah, it's important for self care as well.
Collin 58:23
And a lot of this is a lot of introspection, it's a lot of intentionality. It's a lot of purposeful kind of decisions. And many of us that may be the first time this may be the first time we've ever thought about doing that. And so sometimes we may need help, right? We may need to reach out to others. So I'd love for you to talk about the role of a mentor and in mentoring in in self care.
Nicole 58:46
Like you said, it's about reaching out. And I always say look in not out and that doesn't mean don't seek out support. That doesn't mean that we don't need a support system and in the online world. It's Facebook groups. I mean, that's huge. I have a Facebook group at self care is the Facebook group. And I think it's important for pet sitters, dog walkers, pet industry professionals to have a real support system. And I'm trying to put this delicately that isn't just a group and I'm not saying all pets in groups are like this because I don't believe this at all that at all, but that isn't just a group where people are going in and let's say complaining about everything and not really seeking solutions. So I think it's important to look for solution based support from a mentor a coach like myself, who's been in the industry a while, who really is big on personal development and self care. And yes, if you want to talk business stuff, of course I can help with that. But my big focus my main focus with pet sitter self care is the personal development aspect mindset. Of course coming up with a personalized self care plan for you as an individual and that will in turn again it maybe it'll make you be more honest about the state of your business for for right now and for last year, the year before and you're looking back going, well I was stressed out or maybe you do, maybe you say yeah, you need to take a break from from it right now because it's so slow and do something else. And when I come back to it, then I'll have these tools, the self care tools, and personal development tools and I would have, you know, been mentored by someone who's gone through some of these things and you'll come out of it a better person. So I think having a coach if you're looking for a coach, of course, you can join my group, pet sitter, self care and get information there. Same same name across the board website is the same and everything pet sitter, self care, calm and contact me there. But it's really as a coach. I look at the individual I don't look at us do a sweeping gesture and say every I used to do this because again, if your personality type is more intimate, I'm a total extrovert. But if your personality type is I'm an introvert. And I'm telling you to do something that's more extroverted, that you're not comfortable with, it's just not going to work. So it's really getting to know what that individual and that's just one example of course, but it's really getting to know the individual who I'm coaching needs and having a plan getting a plan done with them. For self care and personal development that's going to help that person grows and individual and helping them to self discover on their own and, and look in and not out at what everybody else is doing really making that a big part of the plan is to say self reflect self discover, and working with that person to to be in a self care routine for the long haul that's just going to help them personally and professionally.
Collin 1:01:54
Yeah, having you're having a partner, you're having a helper, you're having a coach accountability partner right accountability to come alongside you and go, yeah, this is hard. These are hard things to do to look inside and to really learn about ourselves and set these routines in place. So if you need help reach out like there's nothing wrong with that. Like there's no there's nobody looks down on at all who reached out for help like that is that is absolutely one of the best things you can possibly do is to get help from somebody or some some people if you have a group around you that you can do that for are with.
Nicole 1:02:31
Absolutely, absolutely. So again, it's about looking in and not out. But it's also about getting that support system, that really strong support system of people, whether it's on in a Facebook group with a coach, whether it's I mean, local networking groups, I don't know if people are meeting up a lot depends where you live again, you know, I understand places are more locked down than others. Things can be different. Maybe people are like, well, I can't really get out to a networking group and some people I'm not big on networking groups. I'm just using it as an example. have like maybe some local support right? Or even maybe you're working with a therapist or counselor. I mean, there's absolutely no shame in any of this right. And I think mental health and mental care mental, you know, I don't wanna say mental illness but like your people's caring for themselves mentally and emotionally and caring for their own mental health. I think it's almost like the last taboo, like sex was and finances were and how it's like mental health is almost like, it's not like nobody's talking about it. But it's like, it's kind of the last thing that people are like, ooh, I don't know. I want to talk about that. I don't want to talk about that I've been to therapy or that I've had anxiety or Oh, let's keep it all. Hush, hush and I. So I do think it's one of the last one of the last taboos if not the last taboo that people are kind of like, Who do I want to admit it? And do do I want to admit negative feelings. That's another thing to look into as well. You're allowed to have negative feelings. You're allowed to say, this sucks. I am not happy right? And then but then you can't live in it. You can't ruminate in that negativity, then it's time to say, Okay, now what am I going to do to grow? Not lack mindset? Let's change that. Let's change that to a growth mindset and get on the right track. Right?
Collin 1:04:14
Yeah. And in that same vein is we're reaching out for help as we are seeking out advice from others. I was curious what kind of tools maybe apps or programs that you use would you recommend that other people look into?
1:04:29
I
Nicole 1:04:30
just got on Audible. I know I'm like late to the game here. But I just got on Audible and I absolutely love Mel Robbins. I'm sure a lot of you have heard of her. But I downloaded her book. It's called take control of your life. And it's not like it's it's not really a book more or less. She does coaching calls in this audible version of that book. I think it's only on Audible. I don't even know if she has a physical book of take control of your life. It's by Mel Robbins. She's a great resource. I think there are some of these guru types out there. You know, I'm not even gonna mention them, but it's like, oh my gosh, if I hear one more cliche quote, or one more, oh, just hustle and no make all this money. It's like, Oh my gosh, I'm just gonna scream but you all listening probably you're like, Oh, I can name a few of those. Yeah, I know who you're talking about. But I'm, I'm a big reader. So yeah, audible I downloaded that because I got it for free. I guess they were giving away like your first audible download for free because of the COVID pandemic but I have a ton of podcasts downloaded, I kind of listened to like, whenever I feel like listening to at the moment, I don't have like, only personal development podcasts or self care podcasts downloaded, but I kind of just listened to like, if I need something, you know, I go Okay, this is what I need to listen to you today. Um, there is a podcast that I listened to and they do. You know, it's different interviews and stuff. It's called the one thing and it is a book I can't think of who the hostess or the author is off the top of my head right now I'm having a brain blip because I'm staring at a bunch of books here a stack of five books on my coffee table that I wanted to mention, but the one thing is the name of the podcast. So you'll find it that way. That's a great point.
1:06:17
Gary Keller is Thank
Nicole 1:06:19
you. Yes. Is a Real Estate guy. Keller Yeah. Okay. That's who I was thinking of. Yes, it's Gary Keller, and they do different interviews and stuff. And it's very, it's business oriented, but it's also life oriented, relationship oriented stuff, too. So I think that's a good one to mention. Again, I have so many that I could, you know, write like a blog on and just say here, here's my 100 podcasts I have on my phone like literally, but just do what resonates with you. Like if you're looking for a self care podcast, type in self care and the podcast search, search bar there, you know, and you'll you'll find stuff that really resonates with you. Sometimes I download a podcast Cast and I listened to half an episode or, you know, five minutes and I'm like, this isn't for me. I mean, sure, but I'm, I'm a big reader. So I do have a few books here. I hope I can mention these. Um, okay, the first one, there's five books. So, if you're a list maker, get out your pen. If not, I guess you'll just, you'll just remember, whatever works for you. Right? Okay, so feel
Collin 1:07:22
so attached. Anyway.
Nicole 1:07:25
first book is called, going from top to bottom here is I'm looking at my list. The first book is called The Power of Habit. And that's by Charles duhigg DUH, GG. And that's all about how, why we do what we do in our life in business. And it's a great book, I've actually gone back to it from time to time, so I highly recommend that one. Um, the and these are all kind of different, but the other book is Bernie Brown. And of course, she's had, she's written several books. And the book I'm recommending is One only one of her books. It's not one of her latest ones. I think it was one of her earlier books she wrote, it's called the gifts of imperfection. And it is, it's about discovering maybe why you feel you need to be perfect, and why you how you can use your imperfections, to not feel shame, but to fuel change. So that's a really great book. I think there are a lot of people out there just in general who are feeling like totally ashamed that their businesses are closing or that you know, their finances are suffering right now. It's like, please don't feel like that. You know, there's always there's always something else you can be doing. There's always other ways to live life and make money. So I think that's a great book. If you're, if that's how you're feeling or if you're a Bernie brown fan, she's pretty popular. So the gifts of imperfection and the next book is self care 101 A Guide to nourish and flourish team you and that is by Shelley Hunter. Pilla shine her last name is spelled h i ll e s h, e. m. And that's called self care 101. A Guide to nourish and flourish. Jamia goes through a little bit of what I talked about today with mental, emotional, and physical well being and how to care for yourself through those aspects. So it's, it's a really good guide, you can read it from front to back, you can kind of flip through, and maybe there are some areas that you really need to work on. So she gives a breakdown of kind of how to care for yourself better physically, or maybe mentally and emotionally. You need to work on yourself. She gives just chapters on that. So it's, it's really a great guide for self care. The next one is called clearing emotional clutter. And that is by Donald Outman. I have not gotten into that book yet, but I picked it up at the Barnes and Noble A while ago as well as banish your inner critic that is by Denise Jacobs. I've read a little bit through that book. That is an excellent book, I would recommend banish your inner critic by Denise Jacobs. And that was last but not least, for sure. So, I think that's a very good book to read at this time, with everything going on with COVID. And businesses, you know, slowing down or shutting down. And even in business, even if we were in the midst of this pandemic, I would say, a lot of small business owners and just anybody in general, really, of course, with pet sitting, that's who I'm talking to the most yours pet sitters, of course, but I think we're our own worst critic, and we're very hard on ourselves. So that that is a great book I have I've gone through some of that book. I haven't read the whole thing, but that would be my first recommendation. All of them are great books.
Collin 1:10:44
Awesome. Wow, that's so many resources. And I'll make sure and have links to that and everything that we've talked about in this episode in the show notes and on our website, too, so people can find those super easy because there's just there's a ton of information there. But I know we only scratched the surface of this. So if people if people are want to find out more information, get connected and just get in touch and follow along with your work how best can they do that? Well,
Nicole 1:11:14
I'm on social media. I'm on Instagram, and Facebook at pet sitter, self care. And I have a Facebook page and a Facebook group with the same name, pet sitter, self care. And pet sitter self care.com is my website. I have a contact page there as a few digital products, I do coaching so you can contact me there for one on one coaching. I have a few products again, the E book and I'm hosting a course if you're in my pet sitter self care grip already, the course information is there, but I did put a link on the website for a journaling workshop, September 14, Monday, September 14 through September 18. And that is going to be hosted in a private Facebook group. So once you sign up for that, once you pay for that it's $19. That's it. So once you sign up for that, I'll add you to the private Facebook group for that journal workshop starting on September 14, I'm opening up the group on September Sunday, September 13. So it's just going to be like self discovery and what you as an individual need to do next. But I'm going to take you through some journaling prompts, I'm going to do some lives during the week to get everyone's you know, mind going juices flowing kind of thing. Get it all out on paper, I think is important. And maybe some stuff will come up for you and you go, Oh, yeah, I've always wanted to do X, Y, or Z. So it's good to just brainstorm like that, you know, it'll be like a brainstorming session. And as well as just, it's just going to be fun and insightful. It's nothing super serious. I'll, again, I'll be going on lives in that group. I don't have specific times for him because everyone's all over the place, but it'll be a daily thing Monday through Friday. And, you know, again, it's just self discovery through those journaling prompts that I'll be given that week.
Collin 1:12:52
Yeah, well, very exciting. So much going on and so needed. Nicole, thank you so much for coming on today. And helping us to work on our mindsets in our pet care businesses and start looking at those those boundaries. And whether we have healthy relationships with with our business and with our mindsets and start working on some better self care routines. So Nicole, it's been a real pleasure. And thank you so much.
Nicole 1:13:19
Thank you so much for having me. I looked forward to being on this podcast. And I'm just so happy that you asked me and again, I really appreciate being here. And any pet sitters listening, you know, just take care of you put your oxygen mask on first, and you'll get through this time we all will just focus on your needs and what you need to do to move forward.
Collin 1:13:42
Wonderful, thank you. It's been a real pleasure. Thank you. The mindset work not just in our business life, but in our personal life is so important to understand our attitudes around everything in all that we do, so that we can make sure we're making the best decision possible for us. We'd like to thank tiny pet for making this episode and this show possible. If you have any questions, comments or feedback, we'd love to hear from them. So check out our website pet sitter confessional comm to find past episodes, as well as a ton of resources on there, Megan and I would really appreciate it if you could leave us a five star rating and a review on Apple podcast. It helps others find the show and know what it's all about. Thank you for your support for listening and for sharing our episodes. Thank you
