Differently

Systems that Steady (Part 2)

• Carla Reeves

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I sat down to record an episode about business systems.

And as I started organizing my thoughts, I realized the systems that are actually holding my life together right now aren’t the ones we usually talk about.

They’re quieter.
Running underneath the surface.

This episode is a look inside these daily rhythms, movement, and practices that help me stay grounded in this season of life.

This conversation is an invitation to look at the real systems that sustain our work and life a little differently.

Enjoy!

-Carla

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Website: https:/www.carlareeves.com/
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Thank you for listening!

SPEAKER_00:

A deep change in the way that we live requires a deep change in the way that we think. I'm Carla Reeves, and this is Differently. Welcome back. Today we're talking about systems again that help my life and business work. In the last episode, I talked about systems that help my life flow and some daily rhythms that really ground me and steady my days. So if you haven't listened to that one yet, I want to encourage you to start there because this episode is really a continuation of that conversation. So when I first, as a little recap, when I first started thinking about doing an episode on systems for you, I honestly was thinking about just talking business systems, tools and apps and the practical stuff. Um, the thing we usually think of when we think of systems. But as I started putting my thoughts together and realized there was so much more to share, and maybe um kinds of systems that we don't often think about that are really a steady force in our life or that could be a steady force in our life and help with our not just our work and business, but our our clarity, our headspace, our well-being, um, our marriage, all the things. So, and one of the most, you know, some of the most impactful ones were not actually anything to do with business systems, which totally surprised me. And it's counter what our brain, at least my brain, is always telling me that I have to do more, work harder, be better, be more efficient, optimize, maximize all the things. So, in this episode, I want to give you a peek into the a few more of the systems that are helping my life and business work in this season. Some are relational, some are more practical, and then we're definitely gonna get into just some business tools that are so fun that have changed the way that I do business. So, as you listen, you're I want you to notice what's already happening in your life. Um, the systems that are already supporting you that may look similar or totally different than what I'm doing. Um, and maybe you're gonna see some small space that you could make a simple shift. Um, sometimes this the things that were working last year maybe aren't the things that you're gonna need this year. And as the world is changing faster and faster, I think we have to be looking at all of this a little bit differently. As leaders, I think it's gonna be more get more and more and more important that we know how to keep ourselves healthy and grounded and our mind um in the right places so that we are healthy in our thoughts and so that we can stay grounded and support all the people around us. Okay, let's talk some of those systems. So the first one I want to talk about today is really about kind of relationships and community. Um, and I think that this is something I'm really excited about because we live in a lonely world and I talk to a lot of people who are lonely, and I get lonely too. Um, I think our world has changed since COVID. I mean, you think about, I was just talking to my husband about how much time I spend on Zoom and how many friends I have that are virtual that I've never met. And I think this was the first time I really sat down to like deeply think about that. Um and I was, I think before that, I was kind of discounting some of these virtual communities and relationships. And as I sat down and really thought about where I spend my time every week and every day, these people and these communities have a deep impact in my life. And they're some of my very best friends. So I'm wondering what you're thinking about that. Like these relations do read these relationships and communities matter and they count. And I'm wondering if, you know, our local communities have kind of changed the way we connect and finding like-minded people, it may become more and more virtual. And so I'm just kind of wrapping my arms around this and feeling really, really grateful for the the relationships that I've built in that way. So that when I talk about like a system for this, it's really like making sure that you have those touch points that help you thrive, that help you feel connected, that help you feel alive, that energize you and inspire you. That might be touch points via text. It might be people that you talk to on a regular basis. Like my niece and I, we've been talking like every day for the last year. We talk almost every day. It's a really important touch point in my life that um is life-giving. I have a friend that I we try to get together once every two weeks to have coffee or go hiking or go to lunch. That's so important to me. Connecting with my boys, whether it's on FaceTime or via text or a get together, those are important. My virtual touch points. Um, so what are these touch points for you? And I'm not, I'm not talking a system like you have to have some rigid system, but I'm sure you can think about like, oh yeah, I sometimes scan my phone and kind of look and make sure I've responded to all my people on text that are important and that are a priority. Um, what are the touch points in my week that are relationship-based that give me energy? Um, and really thinking about it like that, even inside of your marriage, um, because these things impact both your business and your life. It gives you personally, it gives you a space to talk things through, to be inspired, to be challenged, to grow. And in your business, like having business besties that I'm consistent with, that I've created some depth with over time, who understand really entrepreneurship and how passionate we get about that, and the challenges and the wins and the ideas and the questions and the creativity. Um, like those connections spark all of that. It gives me a space where I'm challenged to grow. And it also means my husband doesn't have to hear everything about my business. I mean, he hears a lot, and any more than that is too much, to be honest. So that's truly a gift to our marriage. So, connection isn't extra, it's foundational. And what does it look like in your life? You probably already have this, but it might be important to just kind of look. What does this look like in your life? What are these touch points? Do you need to add them? Do you need to eliminate them? Like, what does that look like? Okay, the second system I want to talk about is really just a snapshot of what's supporting my business right now. Um, and before I share these, I want to just say like, this is not, you need to have these tools. Um, I this is really just me sharing because I think it's curious. I love to hear what other business owners are using. Um, and so over time I've learned that the tools that I choose matter more than I think I initially realized. And I think we all have different desires. Like I like to choose tools that give me creative freedom, that help me show up consistently in my business, and that provide a structure where I can deliver really good service for my clients that keep me organized because, and that are simple and kind of easy to use, intuitive, because when I dread opening a tool, or there's something about the tool that keeps robbing my time and energy over and over and over again and creates frustration, that has impact. It has impact on my work, it has impact on my energy, on my creativity, and often can like derail my day. Um, you know what I mean. When you have to get on tech support or it's just like an ongoing issue that never gets resolved, that robs your energy and your time. Okay, so the first one I want to share is Notion. Notion is a writing tool or app, and it's where most of my writing lives. Like some of my writing still lives in Google Docs. A lot of my writing lives in paper notebooks. Um, but Notion is really my digital thinking space. It's where I do timed writings, it's where I do my online journal, it's where, like in the last episode, I talked about, you know, kind of um using writing, you know, throughout my day. That's usually where I do it, is in Notion or in a paper notebook. Um, everything content related starts in Notion. It either starts in my journals or it starts with me kind of, you know, just riffing on a topic in there. Um so I love Notion because it's all in one place. And it allows me to kind of organize it by folder. And so that's Notion. Flowdesk is my email platform, and I switched last year from MailChimp that I used for years and years and years. Um, and I love Flowdesk. It's simple, it's clean, it's visually beautiful. I feel like I can be more creative inside of it without adding complication. The the um visual side of it and the reporting is really clear and simple. They don't have a ton, a ton of features that overcomplicate the system. And it makes connecting and staying in touch with my email community feel enjoyable. Um, and like I want to get in there. So that's huge. The third system I use in my business that I've used for years is Coach Accountable. I had the founder on at the end of last year, and we had a great conversation. Um, but he's the founder of the software, and this is a big one for me. It organizes everything client-related and keeps me deeply connected to the people that I work with. It hell it holds content, it allows me to repurpose content and brand content. It um keeps me and my clients deeply connected between conversations. So we're we're interacting over their writing in between our sessions. Um it allows me to, yeah, I talked about repurposing. It allows me to be prepared greatly for our sessions. So there's so much there that I can log in and get prepared for a session with a client that is relevant and deep, and we can get right into what really matters for them. So that's coach accountable. That is really the coaching structure that has helped me thrive and grow my business and support people really, really well and deeply. Canva is where creativity happens for me as far as graphics and images and presentations and freebies. And I'm sure that you use all of that too. Um, but Canva is a fun one. Chat GPT is kind of a new one for me and one that I have been experimenting with. And there is, I guess, kind of the good, the bad, and the ugly. And I I do my best to stay in the good zone with it because I find that it can give you so much information, it can lead to overwhelm. And like I just want to like shut down and walk away. Um, but I've learned to use it as a creative thought partner, um, is really helpful and really fun. So it also is great for scanning and sorting large amounts of information, creating documents inside of my business. Um it doesn't, it's also reminded me, I think, of how important um our own thoughts are in our own creativity and like listening to our own spirit and making sure that that is always, always, always inside of everything we do because that is where cheat chat GBT cannot compete. Um yeah, and then so those are just some fun business systems. They're not all of them, but there's some fun I wanted some fun ones that I wanted to share with you. And if you're ever wondering anything that I use, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. I am happy to share anything I've learned and anything that I am uh using to make work and life and business um a little lighter, a little more flow, a little easier. Okay, the last um system that I want to share with you is really more like a tracking, measuring, and reflection systems. Um, and this one is really important because without reflection, we miss things. Um, and as you know, like measuring things is super important too. But we miss those quiet nudges that happened during the day, but got lost in the shuffle of all the busyness, all the conversations. And we often just forget about them. And so without reflection, we're just on to that next thing and the next thing and the next thing. And honestly, in our head, it can feel like never enough. It can feel like we didn't really do much or accomplish much. And I even saw this this year, like at the end of the year, reflecting um with people in my free class and also in private coaching calls, often in in their heads, it's like, oh, I didn't really do, I didn't really do what I set out to do this year. I didn't get very much done, and they feel kind of down or discouraged about it. And the moment after they sit down and just start to write and take the time, I mean, just a few minutes to reflect and kind of sort look through their pictures of what they did, they're astounded by what happened in that year. But often our mind thinks it needed to look one way, and so we just miss all that did happen. And so power of reflection. Um, reflection often reminds me that like it's already enough, that there's enough instead of more, more and more. There are three more things I want to share with you. One is a tool that I have just started using that just in the last couple of weeks has really helped me, but it's a daily board and I've wanted to do this for so long, but I just got big giant paper from Michael's, and I just have literally like a sheet for Monday, a sheet for Tuesday, and it gives me a focus for that day. So, for example, like Mondays are more like CEO time and project admin time. Um, Tuesdays are podcast day, which it happens to be a Tuesday, and I'm recording my podcast. In the past, I've just recorded, you know, when I could. I never really had a rhyme or a reason. Um, Wednesdays are coaching days and spending thoughtful time like thinking about my clients and thinking about what they need next and having calls and sending, you know, a text or a thoughtful note or a resource. Thursdays are again another coaching day. Friday's more of a free day. I mean, I do calls and things, but um, as far as a focus, it's more free and creative. And then Saturdays are now writing days, and this is proving to be really fruitful. That's something new. Something else we started doing this last year is weekly recaps. My husband and I do that together, like on Sundays. And we look at not just business, but life. We look at our marriage, we look at our health and energy, we look at conversations and connections through the week, we look at our relationships with the boys. And I don't know, in this last year, we've been measuring by fruit. In the Bible, it talks about you will know by the fruit. And so the fruit in our life tells us if things are working and if we've got the right approach. And so these weekly recaps really help us to look like what fruit did we produce this week? Is there anything that needs to be adjusted? And instead of just focusing on business, we're looking at our whole life and business. So we're still measuring things like revenue and you know, new interest and the podcast and keeping our eye on those things, but we're keeping our eye on all the pieces and areas of our life. And so that's been really fun. It's also, again, a reflection tool that has just reminded us like, oh my gosh, so much to be grateful for and so much that is happening. Because as high achievers, as you likely know, it's easy to get focused on the more, more, more or the things that you haven't done yet. I highly recommend weekly recaps. That's been so much fun. As we wrap up, I want to bring this back to the heart of why I wanted to share these um systems with you in the first place. It was never about giving you more to add to your plate or more to manage or more ways to measure yourself, but really to give you a peek into what someone else is doing so that you might see something differently. You might see a possibility you hadn't seen. You might see that you have more systems than you realize, or you might find one that you want to just add this year. And friend, the world is going to keep telling us we need to do more, we need to be more, we need to be better, and we need to move faster. But what I'm learning over and over again is that the systems that matter most are the ones that stabilize us, the ones that calm us, the ones that keep us grounded and connected to the ones we love and present so that we can actually live and experience these moments that we're living right now instead of always planning for the very next thing and achieving more. And what I know about or I think I know about you is that the work is always gonna get done. And the world has us believing that if we just get that all systematized, if we get that all efficient, then we're gonna be able to relax and enjoy life. And that is a lie. We have to do the things, we have to integrate the things, we have to be an advocate for putting the systems in place in our life that help us to be right where we are, show up for this life that we're living, the work will always get done. Okay, friend, I'll see you next week. Hey, thanks for listening all the way to the end. Before you move on with your day, pause and capture one thought or takeaway that stood out to you. Write it down so it doesn't get lost in the noise. And if you're ready to go deeper, come join me in my free monthly class, conversation and guided writing to help you see things differently and move forward with clarity. Save your spot, Carlareeves.com forward slash free class.