The SPARK 132 ~ Advice From Warren Buffet

Last week I found myself wondering what I had done to my hand and wrist because it was so sore (you know you’re getting older when you assume you hurt yourself but don’t remember 😂).

Midweek I started noticing weird blisters appearing on my palm.

I’d ice my hand and wrist at night but nothing was helping.

At this point, I figured it was probably best to get to a doctor.

Long story short…

Shingles.

The weird thing about shingles (never had them before), is that there’s a lot of pain inside that you can’t see. The blisters are healing and I didn’t have many, but the pain runs from my hand all the way up my right arm to my neck (I’m right-handed) and I’m pretty tired.

I have some meds, but it’s a virus so there’s not a whole lot you can do other than rest.

So I cleared my schedule for the week in terms of calls or appointments and set the intention to heal.

Here’s what I’ve realized…

I love having a week with no commitments!

I’m still working, but at a slower pace, am napping when I need to, and just taking it easy.

But these “wide open” days to focus feel delicious, which might not make sense, but somehow it feels like the best description.

Now I’m thinking about how I can work in a week like this every month.

I have two calls that I do regularly (one is weekly, one is bi-monthly), but those could easily be structured to support this.

With the upcoming ChatGPT Course Creator course (say that 10 times fast), implementing this will happen when that’s complete (live weekly calls), but just the idea of creating this week, every month, excites me.

A few things I’m noticing with this no-commitments week:

I can focus longer on specific tasks (working on a doozy of a blog post… will probably be over 4k words… spent hours on it yesterday)
Less context switching
Much more present
At the end of the workday, I don’t feel a pull to keep working in the evening (unless I’m feeling inspired)

While this NCW (no-commitments-week) was dictated by a virus, the fact that I could make this happen so quickly because I needed to makes us wonder what type of week I could create if I planned ahead?!

Maybe I’ll go somewhere else…
How much could I really accomplish, from a place of intention, ease, and focus?
Could I schedule some bonuses for myself? (gamify the week? A massage is always at the top of the list)

As business owners, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day without ever stopping to pause, take a breath, and think about what you really want.

“I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think.” – Warren Buffet

I’m all for taking action and implementing, but when we don’t take the time to just think – how much of our action is actually reaction?

I’ll keep you posted on how I’m scheduling in NCW later this summer… and ideally, how they become a permanent part of running my business.

Spark Spotlight

Passionfroot lets you handle sponsorships, collaboration requests, bookings, and payments – in one single place.

I signed up last week for both brands and am working on my sponsorship pages. The only cost is when you book anything (I believe it’s 2% of the transaction).

Check out passionfroot here.

Featured Articles

This sounds a lot harder than it is, especially when you’re writing consistently. ”Why You Need To Publish 1,000,000 Words On The Internet.”

This question is on a lot of people’s minds. ”Will Generative AI Kill SEO? What an SEO Expert Thinks.”

Looks like everyone is jumping on the paid blue checkmarks. ”Google Launches Blue Checkmarks for Verified Brands in Gmail.”

This issue is brought to you by LearnDash The course builder that offers complete control.

Tool Time

Fortunately, I’m still finding some great non-AI tools to share with you (as much as I love AI).

Screen recording: This has to be one of the easiest & nicest screen recorders I’ve come across. Right now it’s Mac only, but Windows is coming. Try Screen Story free here.
Video widget: Want to make a great first impression with website visitors? Add a video widget to communicate directly. Try PopMe free here.
Email: A MacOS email client built specifically for Gmail. If I wasn’t using Kiwi for Gmail I’d jump on this. Try Mimestream free here.
PSD Mockups: This site has the largest collection of PSD mockups on the internet! Great packaging options. Check out Yellow Images here.

AI Insider

Page/website builder: There are a handful of these out there but I gave this one a shot and LOVED it. You can export the HTML page and use it wherever you want. I reached out to the creator with some questions and he offered a 10% coupon for my readers.

Use Coupon code KIMDOYAL at checkout. Try AI2Page here.

Automate Zaps: WOOHOO! I love Zapier, and now you’ll be able to create a Zap simply by telling Zapier what you want. Learn more about Zapier.ai here (sign in to try!).

ChatGPT: Microsoft is going all in with AI and has announced it will connect ChatGPT with Bing for all users. Read more here

I’ve needed this reminder this week

Lastly, I gave a little tease last week about my upcoming LIVE course, ChatGPT for Course Creators. The course will go on sale next week, so if you’re interested, click here for early notification and a special discount.