The Importance of Making Boundaries Part of Your Business Life – Part 1

The Importance of Making Boundaries Part of Your Business Life – Part 1

by | Dec 12, 2018 | Entrepreneurship, Life Balance, Life Strategies

Entrepreneurs and business owners know that owning and running a business is usually a full-time job. Many times, it flows over into your off hours, weekends, holidays and everything in between. However, I am a hardcore believer in creating boundaries, especially with your business.

If your boundaries are not managed appropriately, your business will very soon take over your entire world. It will take over your private life. It will consume and affect your relationships if left unchecked. And although it may be good for your business, ultimately you can be left devastated by the effects personally.
 

stressed-entrepeneur
 

I had a client who attributed the lack of boundaries in her business to the separation of her marriage. She had allowed her business to consume her life. She shared with me that she no longer focused or spent time with her husband, because she was too consumed with everything at work. She was very honest in sharing that it was the single cause in the downfall of her relationship. But I’m happy to share that after a year of being separated, they came back together and are now so much happier, because she made the necessary changes in her work life to support a healthy personal life and marriage.

One way to counter such potential devastation is to create specific, useful boundaries that you stick to in your business. Separate work time from private time. Schedule your days – specify specific days and hours for working, meetings, dinners and events. But you must stick to it. Make sure you are designating free time for yourself, your family and your intimate relationship if you have one.
 

planner
 

Before the real estate market collapsed, a decade ago, I use to be one of those entrepreneurs who was overtaken with work. My businesses totally consumed me. Almost all of my work was quite enjoyable for me, so I didn’t initially see the harm. I also didn’t have any real boundaries designated around my work. It was just work, work, work all of the time.

I come from a family of entrepreneurs. Both of my parents are entrepreneurs and they come from the school of working all the time and talking about business anytime, anywhere for anything. For me, after the market collapse and having to deal with all of the fallout and cleanup from it, I knew that when I rebuilt my business life, I had to do it very differently. No more late nights regularly, working on the weekend and non-existing vacations. I had to start creating new business structures for my businesses and create some serious, significant boundaries.

Check out Part 2 of this article on Friday.

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What If They Were Our Last Words to Someone?

What If They Were Our Last Words to Someone?

by | Dec 5, 2018 | Life Strategies, Relationships

Communicating with those we love and care about can be both quite interesting and challenging at times. Using our words, we can choose to use the ones that help to inspire or we can choose the ones that cause discomfort and pain. We can use them to uplift others or we can use them to bring them down. But when we love and care about people, we want to make sure that we are very conscious about the words we use with them and how they will affect them emotionally.

I was recently in a meeting with a married couple I work with. The wife was annoyed with the husband regarding a particular matter and her communication with him during the meeting was reflective of it. After the meeting, I told her how harsh she was speaking to him. She told me it wasn’t her intention, but clearly she was feeling some negative emotions related to him that made her words with him quite harsh.
 

words
 

I shared with her the importance of being very clear in her words and allowing them to reflect her heart and not her pain. It is important to be able to relay your negative feelings as well, but not repeatedly once they have already been expressed.

We all do this at times. As I was talking to her, I was also talking to myself. Sometimes we are consumed with the moments of our lives and the situations in our lives when we are not the most loving and kind with our words. But what if they were our last words to someone?

We never know the day or time when our current words will actually be our final words to someone – our last days or the last days of those to whom we are speaking to.
 

inspire-with-words
 

So, let’s all be very mindful of the words we use to reflect the feelings we share and the memories we are creating for ourselves, for our loved ones and for those we come across along the way.

There is healing and power in our words. Let’s allow them to uplift and support others rather than use them to bring others and their spirits down.

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Getting to the Other Side of a Breakthrough

Getting to the Other Side of a Breakthrough

by | Nov 15, 2018 | Handling Failure, Life Strategies

We all have different experiences and challenges to break through in our lives. Life without challenges is simply not life at all. But what’s important to do is to take the lessons you learn and use them to move forward in all areas of your life.

Although we all have challenges to break through, when and if we actually do often depends on our willingness to take the necessary steps to make it happen.
 

determined-man
 

You can have a breakthrough in your business. You can have a breakthrough in your personal life. A breakthrough can occur for you professionally. However it occurs, it is important to use it as momentum to get you where you ultimately desire to be.

Breakthroughs don’t normally happen on their own. Most often they require you to initiate some type of action or work to help you get there.

Sometimes it doesn’t look as if you’re getting anywhere. Sometimes it doesn’t look as if there is anything shifting. But if you keep putting one foot in front of the other and doing the required work, one day you’ll look up and see that you’re on the other side of your breakthrough.
 

woman-stressed
 

Breakthroughs are often times seen as an illusion to people, because many don’t believe they will actually experience it in their own lives, especially for those things that are most important to them. They only know about them abstractly without really feeling as if one is in their future.

Well, I am here to tell you that your breakthrough is coming. Your breakthrough is doable. Your breakthrough is possible. But you must first have the commitment to see it through.

It will feel uncomfortable at times. It will feel unbearable. It will feel impossible. But stay committed to the end for you never know just how far or how close you are to your ultimate breakthrough.

Some of our greatest blessings are found on the other side of our breakthroughs.

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The Importance of Leaving Dead Things Dead

The Importance of Leaving Dead Things Dead

by | Nov 5, 2018 | Handling Failure, Life Strategies

You can’t move forward and welcome new things, experiences and people into your life if you are still giving time, emotions, attention and energy to the dead things from your past.

It is important to clear the space and energy so what you truly desire can have the room and space to enter. Otherwise, you may be blocking all of what you claim you want from entering into your life.

It could be a person. It could be a situation. It could be an experience. Whatever it is, life will give you an abundance of opportunities to teach you that some things are meant to die right where they lay. They are not meant to be revived.
 

the-past
 

All things from your past may not be completely dead. You have to look at the totality of the situation to determine if it is something that is worth breathing life into or if it is something that should simply be left there to die. If you live your life consciously, life will give you the signs you need to determine exactly how to proceed.

Many times what we do, despite seeing the signs, is determine what it is that we want and decide accordingly based on that fact alone. We do it in relationships. We do it in different situations. We do it based on different occurrences that happen in our lives.
 

guidance
 

Sometimes it’s not that your blessings are delayed. Sometimes it’s the people you keep around and the circumstances you keep living in that can be blocking your blessings. Until you are able and willing to shift your own life’s circumstances nothing else new will be ushered in.

Leave dead things dead. Run on to see what blessings and life lie ahead for you. It very well may be far greater than you could have ever imagined it would be holding on to the people, circumstances and things from your past.

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Learning How to Celebrate – Part 2

Learning How to Celebrate – Part 2

by | Nov 2, 2018 | Gratitude, Life Balance, Life Strategies

This is a continuation of Part 1.

My lack of celebrating and taking the time to stop and enjoy life over the years is what made me commit to taking a vacation every four weeks this year. After not taking a real vacation in nearly 13 years and giving so much of myself to others, I needed to stop and give myself the time to start pouring back into myself. I am so grateful that process has begun.

We all only have so much to give away to others before the deficit for ourselves begins to take its toll. Fortunately for me, I did it while I was still whole. For some, once they actually do it, they have already compromised their health, their mind and it is too late for them to recover. If this is you, start giving yourself the time to heal yourself. Your responsibilities, your family and yourself need you to give from a place of being whole not a place of depletion.
 

having tea
 

I am so grateful it is my season to do just that. I am taking the time to live and celebrate not just the big things, but also some of the smaller, daily moments of my life.

The celebration doesn’t have to be outrageous. It can be quite small. It just needs to acknowledge that something good happened and you want to take a moment to enjoy that space and, for me, feel grateful in it.

My celebration can be as simple as getting a bubble tea and enjoying it while thinking of the celebratory event. It could be a massage, a lovely dinner out or doing something that you’d enjoy doing, but may not necessarily get the chance to do regularly. However, if you prefer to celebrate, just make the time to do it and follow through with it. Life has enough non-celebratory events on its own. So, take full advantage of the moments you have when something special and exciting occurs in your life to celebrate!
 

celebrate
 

Do you feel as if you’re currently celebrating the good things that happen in your life? Or do you have some learning and growing to do around celebrating like I do?

Share with me your thoughts and experience below or on Facebook or Instagram.

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Learning How to Celebrate – Part 1

Learning How to Celebrate – Part 1

by | Oct 31, 2018 | Gratitude, Life Balance, Life Strategies

I have been in the process of learning a few things lately. Not in the area of business where I am always learning or the area of life lessons which is a never ending journey, but to be quite honest in an area which seems to be a bit remedial to me.

After years of going from one crisis to the next, celebrating just wasn’t something I’ve been concerned with doing. From dealing with the fallout from the recession to having a period of double digit family losses to dealing with the niece I raised having a traumatic brain injury, contemplating celebrations was just not on the list of the important things to do in my life.

However, a new season has bloomed. Tragedies and traumas don’t last forever and when your new season comes in, you can’t taint it with the spirit of your past seasons.
 

learning-how-to-celebrate-monique-manigault
 

What I now acknowledge is that I don’t really celebrate good things that occur in my life. The reality is that I didn’t really do much celebrating even before those incidents occurred. The last event I really remember celebrating was graduating from law school, which was nearly 20 years ago. In recent years for my birthday, I wouldn’t really do anything unless my dear friend Stephanie forced me to go somewhere with her.

I talk about celebrating with my clients and the importance of enjoying life, but the fact of the matter is, I have not organically felt so inclined to ever really do it for myself. That was until now. While recently speaking with someone who works with me, she discussed my lack of celebrating. So, we agreed that it is time for me to start.
 

learning-how-to-celebrate-monique-manigault
 

We also talked about how hard I am on myself and my very high standards. She told me that I have accomplished more in 1 year than most of the business owners she knows. And that I don’t really think it’s a big deal. She’s right. I don’t.

Those words were familiar to me, because just the other day, a lovely 18 year old named Savannah that I had recently met told me that I’ve achieved more in my life than most people do in a lifetime. That was such an interesting comment to me shared from an 18 year old.

For me, I just know the work that lies ahead. So, I am constantly looking forward instead of spending any time looking at what has or is being accomplished. I am actually perfectly fine with that. But sometimes, every now and then, I need to take a break from achieving and just do some living and celebrating.

To shop my outfit, go to: https://bit.ly/2yffPuy

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