Release yourself from the "busy" trap.

As someone born to a family of entrepreneurs—parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents—the word "busy" has become a somewhat loaded word for me. It's not that I don't appreciate busyness and all the opportunity it provides, but I've also watched family members struggle with heart attacks, autoimmune conditions, ulcers, and cancer—stress-related illness I've seen play out again and again in a culture of busyness here in the UnitedStates.

As someone with two autoimmune conditions myself, the word"busy" has, literally and figuratively, made me sick.

Here in Sonoma County, we are in the thick of busy season.It's beyond go-time. It's time to harvest the business provided by all the visitors to our beautiful home, make sure they are happy, and also manage full staffs of employees to service and host them. So when a leader I’m trying to reach misses an email or doesn't return a phone call, I don't even flinch. I get it. We are all making hay while the sun is shining. That said, this is also the time of year I start getting more clients—leaders who are burnt to the crisp with responsibility, staffing issues, and the key task of creating impactful hospitality events for paying customers.

When it comes to their own healing and self-care, my compassion draws the line when I hear, "I'm too busy to care for myself."

Bullshit.

You just think that somehow pushing through it is going to help you avoid more problems. But it doesn't. It causes you stress, raising yourc ortisol levels and testing your patience. That tension doesn't stay contained to you—it tests the patience of your team, and eventually your guests, too. And if you're lucky enough to push through, you'll probably catch a cold or get knocked flat by a migraine, the body's first line of defense trying to tell youy ou're doing too much.

But the fun doesn't stop there. It becomes a pattern. And every time you're stressed, you just keep pushing through. Without stopping fora break. Without taking a mindful breath. Without movement or healthy eating.Without honoring your own needs at the most primal level.

Connected leadership isn't about pushing through, picking yourself up by your bootstraps, or making the impossible work. It's about noticing where you fall short in your leadership or on your team, and adjusting your sails accordingly. And this isn't done by asking AI to hand you a quick fix, or by taking a single weekend off. It's done by building a sustainable model of leadership—not just for you, but for your business. At the end of the day, you are only as good as your ability to see clearly. And you can't see clearly when you treat every day like a fire drill.

I think often of the family members I watched burn themselves out long before I understood what busyness was really costing them.I don't want that for you, and I don't want it for the leaders I work with. You deserve a season that doesn't cost you your health to get through.

If this sounds like what you're going through, you're probably well overdue for getting some help. Coaching is an incredibly effective way to help you get to the solutions you need, without telling you how to run your business or your life. Sign up for a free, 30-minute chemistry call to see if it's right for you.