In November I traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to attend Blissdom, a conference for writers, speakers, and entrepreneurs hosted by Alli Worthington. If you’ve been a subscriber for a while, you’ve likely read this guest post from Alli.
I had such an amazing time! From start to finish, I was so blessed during my entire time away. God is so good.
It was a lot of little things, like meeting some really kind strangers while sightseeing, who offered to take my picture and talked to me about faith. It was delicious food. (Have you ever tried a praline? Oh my goodness, so amazing!)
It was a lot of big things:
I don’t know exactly how else to describe it, but I felt so very much like myself during this trip. I had introvert alone time to explore the city. I met lovely people. I had friends attending the conference and we roomed together. I volunteered. I met new friends. I learned. I was encouraged. I felt like I was in my sweet spot.
As busy women, sometimes we have a hard time finding or living in our sweet spot. We’re so busy taking care of other people and responsibilities that we put ourselves on the back burner and neglect spending time on the things that fill us. Of course, there are different seasons in our lives when we’re able to devote more time to this than others. But I also believe it’s possible for us to live in our sweet spots more often than we realize.
Here are some of my recommendations of how we can do this in our every day:
Be a curious observer of your own life:
What do you love doing? What makes you happy? What makes you feel refreshed and alive? Spend more time doing those things. You’ll have to give up something else to do it, but it will be worth it! For example, I love books and reading. But sometimes I get in the habit of just turning on the TV after a long day. While I do enjoy the entertainment, reading fulfills me in a different way. I must make the intentional choice to read instead of watching TV.
Identify whether you’re an introvert or extrovert:
The main way to do this is to think about what restores you: is it being alone or being with people? I love people and relationships are so important to me, but I restore by being alone. Knowing this encourages me to prioritize alone time before and after I will be pouring out or with a larger group of people.
Be brave and authentic:
As an introvert, it’s not always been comfortable for me to walk into a room of people I don’t know and make friends. But you know how I get over it? I face the fear and do it anyway! I walk in confident, not in myself, but in who God has made me to be. I smile and extend kindness to the people I come across. I try to be my most authentic self wherever I go.
Identify your gifts and strengths:
How has God gifted you? What do you do well? How can you live out of those strengths in your everyday life?
I’d love to know: when do you feel like you’re in your sweet spot?
Do you need some additional coaching to help you find your sweet spot? I’d love to help. Send me an e-mail to request more information on how we can work together.
Next week I’ll share Part II of my Blissdom recap. Have a great weekend!
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