Yes, I did.
I just signed up for a half marathon. Now to somebody who’s been a computer desk potato, rather than a couch potato, it’s going to be a challenge. But I think I’m up for it. It’s for a really good cause, so it’s not quite as crazy as it sounds.
Hi, I’m Alison Vidotto from Push! Business Training & Mentoring, and today I’m going to talk to you about self care for us entrepreneurs, and how important that is. It doesn’t always mean you need to sign up for a half marathon, but that’s what I’ve done.
A little bit of background; recently, I was ill, very suddenly, it started out with a bad tooth on Thursday, at the hospital by Sunday. So, I was very sick, I’m still working through it, but getting better and stronger every day, which is great.
There’s nothing like a hospital bed to get you thinking, and reflecting, and looking at your priorities, and what they should be. And I can say, I got the memo, I learned the lesson. So I started looking at my self care, how much I focused on my health and my wellbeing. And, it wasn’t great.
Like many entrepreneurs, the whole COVID situation, working from home, it blurred the lines. Like, completely blurred the lines. Rather than my day being broken into sections, I’d have my morning routine, and I’d drive in the city, and I’d have a beautiful long walk around the city, or the river. I’d be meeting with people. Going off to lunch. Meeting for coffee.
So it was all broken up, and I would do things that were really good for me. Whereas at home, I fell into this work- sleep cycle. And I can tell you, honestly, that work won by a country mile.
I wasn’t sleeping a great deal either. Very easy to do, because I really love what I do.
So it snuck up on me. I found that I’d go, “Oh, I’ll finish this, and then I’ll go and do that.” Or “I’ll finish this first. And then I’ll…”
Until, in the end I was working really long hours and it compounded when my husband started to work away.
It wasn’t like he was getting home at a particular time to break up. So I’d just keep working.
I love what I do, so it was very easy, there was enough joy in my day. I didn’t feel like I was being ground down, or anything like that. It’s very different when you love what you do. And I’ve always had a work-joy balance rather than, work-home balance.
We’ve run a family business for almost 30 years. So that whole, work-life balance, has never been a thing for us. It’s been a work, joy, “how good is life?” and “how we’re doing?” sort of thing. So before I knew it, I was, work, work, work, work, work.
Then, my daughter’s getting married, so I thought I needed to shift some COVID kilos and get moving.
I was thinking about my own wellbeing. I have a mentor who’s been helping me to focus on that a little bit, and get that balance going. And so began the whole Voxer thing, which I’ve mentioned before with my friend, Carolyn in the US, and we, we’re doing a “Couch to 5k” and we would Voxer each other. And that’s a whole other blog article.
Then of course, I became ill, and that brought all of that to a grinding halt. So I started to focus and come up with a really good plan for my own health and well-being, which is going really well. We started back the Couch to 5k and loving that, getting moving. I love a challenge and it is a challenge I have to say, but I’m getting there and I’m really enjoying it.
Then came Blue.
Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation is a charity in Vietnam. It was founded by an amazing Australian man Michael Brosowski, who is just an earth angel, the work they do is phenomenal.
And I know this first hand, Blue Dragon was an incredible mentor for me and ACCV for the 10 plus years, we ran the charity that I founded in Vietnam. The work they do at Blue is just beyond measure. They work with, street kids, with other disadvantaged youth and they go in and they rescue young women who have been trafficked.
I’m not going to get emotional, but you can imagine the desperate situations these young girls find themselves through, absolutely no fault of their own and Blue Dragon rescues them. And when I say rescue, by the definition of the word, they go in, they rescue that girl, they bring her home. They rehabilitate her, they work with her and her family to help her to rebuild her life.
And that’s what they do. They rebuild lives.
So I saw that Blue Dragon are having their annual fundraiser now, as you can imagine, they have been very hard hit by COVID. So I saw that they’re doing this thing called the Blue Dragon Marathon Walk.
It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, you can sign up for a half marathon, or a full marathon. Needless to say, I have signed up for half. That’s 21 kilometers.
I’ll get there, but it will be a challenge, for sure. But, one I’m very, very happy to be involved with, so I didn’t hesitate to sign up. I signed my husband up too, because I’m a good wife that way. So he’s out there walking with me now.
So we’ve got September 19th, which is also my birthday weekend , that’s another bonus.
We will walk 21 kilometers and I’m hoping to raise at least a thousand dollars for Blue Dragon.
One hundred percent of all donations go to the actual project. So it’s, like I said, an amazing organization. I don’t want to be trotting out trite words, like, you know, amazing and fabulous, but they transform lives.
They help people who can’t help themselves. They are an incredible organization that rebuilds lives that need rebuilding.
So I’m really excited to be a part of that. Now I’ve set up a team which I could do in my little Blue Dragon Marathon Walk dashboard. We’ve called it Team Blue Sky. Blue, obviously for Blue Dragon, and then, Lou and I were chatting as we were doing our walk and we were looking because Brisbane has the most amazing blue skies in winter, and we were chatting about that. And then we were saying how it doesn’t matter where you are.
We have a son in Japan. We have friends in Vietnam, friends in the U S, friends and family in England. It’s all the same blue sky. So we’re all under the same sky and we all should have the same opportunity. So we’ve called out team, Team Blue Sky, and we’d love it if you’d join us.
You can walk the walk with us no matter where you are. You know, go at your own pace. You don’t have to walk if you don’t want to, just support us and help us to raise the funds for Blue Dragon.
So I’m going to put the link here in the comments. And also while I’m talking to you, I hope as business owners, you’re actually doing something for yourself. What are you doing to make yourself stronger? Healthier? And to make this whole crazy world we’re living in and navigating right now, easier for you?
Because, of course, when you’re stronger your business is stronger. And that’s my goal, to get stronger. My business will be stronger. My family will be stronger. And Blue Dragon will be stronger. That’s the goal.
Okay, click on the link in the comments below and take a look at what we do.