For better or worse, you are busy. You have a list of ‘to-do’s’ running around in your mind right now and more than likely that list will invite more friends to join in the fun for tomorrow. 

“Gee Kameron, that’s an encouragement. Please, tell me more…” 

More than likely, your stress levels are rising as I remind you about your to-do’s- I know I’m starting to feel a little anxious writing about it. But I think we can make a distinction here that will lower our stress and increase our level of fulfillment.

There is a valuable distinction between busy busy & fulfilled busy. 

Busy busy is that anxious-exhausted merry go round that everyone is riding but no one wants to be on. It is the result of saying ‘yes’ to things that we must or ought do but do not want to. It is the result of attempting to do everything yourself so that when you succeed you can tell everyone, “I did this without anyone’s help!” The annoying thing is that no one ever asks… 

Fulfilled busy is that rewarding feeling of kicking your shoes off after a long day and relaxing into your favorite spot on the couch… guilt-free because you know that you did work that mattered to you – and to someone else – and you did it well. You didn’t necessarily expend less energy, but you cared more about the object of your pursuit that benefitted from your expended energy.

From the outside, these two types of busy can look fairly similar, but we can feel the difference on the inside and know that the two could not be more different. 

Option #1: busy busy (Thumbs down from me)

Option #2: fulfilled busy (Big fan – can I get your autograph?)

So how do we spend more of our time and energy pursuing our passions that result in us feeling fulfilled instead of just plain old busy and exhausted? 

One place to start is to give up on the idea that we can do everything well – all the time – and without anyone’s help. This can be a problem for me. It kills me to pay someone to change my car’s oil when I know that I could do it myself. Take my damaged shoe to the shoe repair shop downtown? Are you serious? How hard could leatherwork really be even though I know nothing about it?

There is something admirable about being thrifty and taking care of the things that you can do yourself. 

But… taken too far, it means that we can end up spending our limited time and energy on things that we do not enjoy or value very highly at the expense of pursuing our passions that we do truly value.  

We are fortunate to live in a time and place where we do not have to be the renaissance person (Read: Proficient at everything) if we do not want to be. Because there are so many people that are skilled and passionate about their area of expertise, it means that you do not have to be skilled or passionate in someone else’s area of expertise. 

Businesses call it outsourcing, but I prefer the term partnering. 

This is the approach I’m trying on for size – Partner with brands and individuals that are passionate about and excel in areas that you do not. In allowing yourself to partner with these people, you give yourself more time and energy to devote to the pursuits you truly care about, which are usually the things you are better at anyways. 

With this small, but impactful shift in our approach, we can move closer to our goal of fulfilled busy – Where our days fly by, we dream of ways to keep doing what we’re doing, and that exhausted end-of-the-day feeling feels like a pat on the back instead of hamster wheel you can’t get off of. 

Here is the beautiful part:

When you choose to rely on a specialist to help you with something that they are passionate about, you give them an opportunity to be the best version of themselves – and in turn, you are freed up to bring the best version of yourself to the world through pursuing what you are passionate about.

You are going to feel more fulfilled when you start spending more time pursuing your thing and less time trying to succeed at their thing.

We can’t partner with a specialist for everything in our daily lives – but for the areas where we can, why not give someone else the opportunity to be their best so that we can be our best?

Pursue your thing.

Here’s a head start – I want you to look great and feel confident while pursuing your thing. My specialty is style, so I’ve simplified the process for you by putting together some recommendations for your wardrobe with the places you can go to find them online (Your first experience with partnering 😉) Use your freed up time and energy responsibly 👍

Didn’t find something that was right for you? Click here for more of my cheat sheets (keep scrolling, they are at the bottom of the page 😉 )