The full moon helps me enter the next season of life a little lighter than before. Here’s what I mean.

When you live a busy, on-the-computer lifestyle as an entrepreneur, it can be easy to take on extra stress without realizing it.

Well, I’ll speak for myself.

As I’m serving small businesses by writing lots of content and copy, I find myself criticizing my work on the daily. This criticism is necessary. Otherwise, these small businesses wouldn’t remain competitive within their industries.

But at the same time, if I’m not careful, I can get carried away by overly critical thoughts. Thoughts that lead to questioning my qualifications as a writer and marketer. And knowing myself, this could spiral into all the memories of failing in school and at work and blah, blah, blah…

When I designate at least one day each month (i.e. the full moon) to reflect on how I feel about my professional work, then it becomes easier to work out the tension that results from self-criticism. But if I weren’t intentional about creating these reflective moments each month, it would be quite easy for my body and mind to grow more tense with each new client project.

Of course, I don’t expect my work to reach an unrealistic level of bliss over time. The reality is entrepreneurship is way more exciting when challenges are placed in front of us.

What I’m saying is: I don’t expect an absence of challenges, but I do want to help my body and mind move through the challenges as gracefully as possible. That is why I write in my journal and share full moon reflections with you.

Now that we’ve talked about self-criticism, let’s look at criticism that comes from outside of ourselves.

Be cautious about receiving business advice as 100% truth when it comes from people who have not grown their own businesses. These folks will naturally address your questions or challenges from their biased perspectives.

At the same time, I recommend leaving some room for hearing those people out, since you might learn a valuable lesson from their experience in the corporate world – or whatever line of work they’re in.

Now, this is assuming that people are trying to give you constructive criticism.

But if you jump to the other end of this spectrum…some people might make it their hobby to be hyper-critical of your business decisions. This is when you take a deep breath and embrace the fact that your priorities and values will not align with everyone else’s. The world is too big for you to please everyone at once.

So send those folks a blessing, and be on your merry way, as you grow your business, serve your people, and make the beautiful impact you desire to make in today’s world.

Further Reading from KatQuintana.com: Did you enjoy this personal reflection? Check out more posts about entrepreneurship here.

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Working with a coach isn’t like working with a genie. They can’t grant your every wish on the spot…and that’s not a bad thing!

I think the real value of coaching is stepping into a relationship that inspires thoughtful conversation, full of curiosity and divergent thinking.

Over the last month, I’ve plugged into online coaching and community support way more than I had earlier this year. Between business coaching, alcohol-free coaching, and energetic coaching, I was in it! 

Important to note: Those labels of “business,” “alcohol-free,” and “energetic” only scratch the surface. I give these coaches tons of credit for the depth of their work. I’m simply keeping this blog post short and sweet. 

While no single coach gave me the exact road map to my business or personal relationships (because no one can see into the future), they did prompt me with proven frameworks and questions that have helped people like me in the past.

These questions have taken my journaling practice, my relationship with songwriting, and my approach to business to another level.

More on those details to come, y’all! For now, I’ll say…

Whether you hire a coach or not, here’s one simple way to start creating change in your life:

Ask the right questions.

The ones that make you pause. Make you imagine. Make you excited. And yes, even make you cry.

Further Reading on KatQuintana.com: Did you enjoy this personal share? Check out more of my full moon reflections.

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Instead of only looking at the current month, I’ve been tidying up my calendar and creating content months in advance, because I’m anticipating a super busy season throughout the spring and early summer.

Not only will it be busy, but it’ll be full of new projects and goals I’ve never tackled before. I’m 100% up for it, but at times I can’t help but feel nervous.

It’s like starting a new semester at school. In a general sense I know what to expect. I’m happy to be here. But there are still surprises coming my way, which sometimes feel like cute butterflies and other times more like creepy crawlies.

At the end of the day, I know I can only control so much. There’s no predicting what the next few months will look like. All I can do is my best.

If you’re also anticipating a full schedule or new challenges during quarter two (April – June), then maybe these safety nets will help.

Safety Net #1: Expectation Setting

• Clearly communicating expectations with clients during onboarding
• Pacing myself within a given month so my clients see firsthand how I prefer to do things
• Using my words intentionally, so they match my actions (and vice versa)
• Leaving room to pleasantly surprise my clients and audience, by not overextending myself from the start

Safety Net #2: Stress Relief

• Dedicating time each day to physical exercise, both indoors and outdoors
• Being mindful of what I’m feeding my body, and how it might affect my brain power
• Sticking to a standard sleep schedule, but giving myself extra rest when I need it
• Spending time on activities that don’t have a particular goal attached to them (AKA play!)

Safety Net #3: Energy Management

• Tackling the more complex to-do’s first so I can enjoy the sense of accomplishment
• Moving onto more familiar or less intimidating tasks later in the day
• Recognizing my most productive times of day, and applying those observations to my weekly planning
• Honoring the way my energy shifts as a result of my monthly menstrual cycle

The idea behind these safety nets is this: Instead of assuming everything will simply work out, you’re stepping up to the challenge, solving small puzzles before they become massive problems, and letting the rest happen as it may.

And if you fall, there’s something beneath you to keep you from completely wiping out.

It’s a mix of “be responsible enough to prevent major setbacks” and “life was never meant to be predictable.”

Well, my friend…enjoy quarter two!

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In the past, I’ve enjoyed seasons of making money by:

• building wooden longhouses (county park system)
• supervising children while running barefoot outside (being “Aunty Kaffy”)
• walking or standing for 7-12 hours straight (front-of-house restaurant management)

But this right here is completely different. I started booking KQ Writing Studio clients in October, and a lot has happened since then.

As a result, I’ve been experiencing back pain, tired eyes, tight wrists, and the mental wear that comes with jumping between projects at random times. I had an inkling that I wasn’t working in the most efficient way possible. I thought, “Maybe I can push myself to get more done in less time, so I can create more balance between KQ Writing Studio time and personal time.”

I thought correctly.

Last week, after two days of tuning into the Business Simplicity Summit, hosted by copywriter Molly Winters, I had several lists of action items that could simplify different aspects of my life and business:

• Health & wellness
• Legal
• Networking
• Branding
• Copywriting
• Finances

I knew now was the perfect time to test the action items related to my time, energy, and productive (or not so productive) workflow. Here’s what I did differently this week:

Goodbye, TikTok

I removed good ol’ TikTok from my phone. Yes, scrolling sessions had helped me learn important subjects, but they were also bombarding my brain with random sounds, faces, and ideas that distracted me when it was time to work.

I had been receiving positive feedback from my TikTok videos, but I was okay with putting that on pause for now. I knew if I was inspired to look up my notifications or a specific account, I could do that from my laptop.

Hello, Sunrises

I woke up at 5:55 AM. Originally, I thought I’d set my alarm at 6 AM because it’s close to sunrise. That became 5:55 AM, because it’s cuter. (I know, I know. Say what you want.). Previously, I was waking up around 8 or 9 AM. Basically, whenever it happened, it happened.

This attitude worked, because I am my own boss, I don’t have kids, etc.

Now, I had to remove the emotion of waking up “too early” and instead commit to 5:55 AM as a necessary part of my experiment. I knew starting my day earlier would afford me more quiet time and fewer distractions.

Biochemical Love

Immediately after waking up I moved my body, practiced yoga, journaled, walked outside, viewed sunlight, and drank hot lemon water with pink Himalayan salt. This all happened before checking texts, social media notifications, and emails.

I wanted to properly charge myself up before expecting my brain to perform well. And I wanted to make my brain happy without the projection of social media onto my reality.

Time Boundaries

I organized my Google Calendar with time blocks that left generous amounts of time for meals and breaks. Within each given day, I placed my business tasks before my client work, so I had time to work on my business and in my business.

My calendar included a clear end time that equally allowed me to step away from professional responsibilities or keep creating if it felt right.

Oh, and I turned on my email auto-responder for the entire (long) weekend, so no one will expect me to respond to their emails before Tuesday.

Aural Inspiration

During my work sessions I listened to jazz and other playlists that were specifically curated for deep focus and creative work. If I wanted some entertainment in between work, I tuned into podcasts or interviews that featured inspiring leaders, artists, scientists, teachers, and entrepreneurs.

I may not be in the same room as them, but I can tap into their energy, mindset, and mentorship from afar.

Social Support

I joined a virtual support group for sober and sober-curious women. The conversations shared in that space helped me recenter my “why.”

Why does it matter that I optimize my workflow? Why do I care about nurturing my body and mind? Why do I make certain choices when I know they will affect my mental performance?

No, the facilitator of the group wasn’t asking these exact questions. But by plugging into this source of support I was reminded to prioritize my being instead of my doing (being a human before being a business owner, for example).

Wrap-Up: 5:55 AM Wake-Up Calls

Some of the practices I mentioned above had already been present in my life, but this week I placed even more intention behind them. As a result, I felt tension in my body loosening up. I found myself writing with more ease and less self-judgment.

I felt more relaxed when stepping away from emails. I felt like I was completing highly focused creative sessions, rather than dilly-dallying on my phone in between typing.

The voice that reminded me to fear the outcome became increasingly quieter. And the voice that ironically told me to fear my success was shut down, every morning at 5:55 AM.

Further Reading on KatQuintana.com: Want more personal reflections? Check out my posts on creating authentic social media content and the tension of getting what you want.

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