We all need room to grow. We also need the energy to grow.

Seeds need a space to be planted. And, seeds need fertile soil, water and sometimes extra food to turn into productive plants.

Plants have a wisdom where they will slow down their production of shoots or leaves or go onto a dormancy or adapt in other ways when the conditions for growth aren’t optimal so that they can survive.

We humans also have those instincts, but it’s more common than not to override them and stay up three hours longer, take on more that feels “natural,” do way more than we need to simply because our will can be so strong…

Basically, we can work against Nature– and our true nature- in the name of creating success. But… that doesn’t create thriving.

Listening to your own calls to break, sleep, walk away for a few days or simply drop something(s) off the to-do list can be life-changing.

This is my new thought every time I feel myself tempted to thwart what feels good in lieu of what I used to think created achievement.

I take a break. I cross things off the to-do list. I cancel what’s not urgent.

This was so impossibly hard to fathom even five years ago, and it still, to this day, occasionally feels bizarre.

You may have been raised like I was with voices that were very persuasive letting you know that self-sacrifice and pushing to the limit were the key to success.

I even had 80’s self-help cassette tapes and VHS tapes from age 10 onward filled with men (exclusively) who extolled the virtues of breaking down doors and tirelessly working that were my “model” to achieve.

Those voices have not gone away. They’ve become louder, from what I’ve seen. They now include some wellness tips, or they’re meant to be wellness methods, and while it’s less brutal than my cassette tapes from the 80’s as a kid, anyone extolling the virtues of sacrificing yourself for some sort of achievement as a lifestyle (ie: not a season or a special event) is still caught in the 80’s.

And, in the process of embracing this “extreme” philosophy, we can get exhausted, unhappy and possibly even physically imbalanced.

Its a completely backward and antiquated idea.

It runs counter to nature.

Just like old ways of mining energy and fossil fuels are outmoded and devastating to nature, old ways of working are also counter to the power of our energy systems.

I’m a believer in following your energy and going the distance in a marathon of work where it feels like a big flow or a fun creative challenge.

There’s nothing wrong with working a lot or challenging yourself in my view.

There is something wrong with needing to suffer in the name of success.

Taking a big break when you need it, respecting your energy and being in tune with how much harmony you’ve got in your life to “fertilize your garden of ideas” is incredibly important.

You’ll feel better, you’ll be more genius, you’ll have more of those flow-state brilliant moments… and you’ll be so much more satisfied with your success.

You’ll have the room in your life to grow and you’ll have the energy and fuel to grow.

And… you might just see growth in ways you haven’t in the past as a result!

Breaks are a part of break-throughs.

Give yourself as many of them as you need!

xoxo!!!

Dana

P.S.: The School of Intention Professional Feng Shui Certification Program starts soon. HERE is where you can get the details and register for this one-of-a-kind Feng Shui training.

Welcome to Creating Genius!

I spent the last year creating this e-guide to balancing and unblocking life by pulling together the best of a decade of space-changing and life-shifting feng shui! It’s 50 days and 50 ways to use feng shui to shift your space and your routines to move from “stuck” to creatively inspired and alive.

Start Creating Genius right HERE!

Gather up your magic & make gorgeous dreams come true!

xoxo Dana