The Power of Oxygen 1st
When my son was little, I was a single mom who was doing it all alone. I was putting everyone else first and my own needs last. To everyone around me, I was successful but little did they know that my success was tied to pushing, stressing, sleepless nights and early morning workouts pushing my body and my limits to the extreme. Until one day I was flying alone and nearly crashed an airplane and I realized that I needed to take care of my own needs first before anyone else. You see, when you’re a pilot, if you have any issues in the plane, you put on your oxygen mask 1st, not your passengers. They need you to land the plane.
This podcast is all about this journey to healing, to getting clear on the desires of your heart… and stepping into them with courage while leaning into, asking for and receiving support. I hope you feel inspired to do less, to follow your passions and infuse them into your daily life and truly claim the life you were meant to live: a life filled to the brim with epic ADVENTURE.
The Power of Oxygen 1st
EP 82: How To Rise From the Ashes When Life Interrupts
Life has a way of interrupting our best-laid business plans. Just when things seem to be getting back to normal, the universe throws a curveball that changes everything. That's what happened to me recently when my son went from enjoying a beautiful Mother's Day dinner to being critically ill in the hospital within hours.
The experience was terrifying - his fourth or fifth hospitalization in eight months. As I stayed by his side for days, exhausted yet present, I was reminded of a profound truth: when business and life collide, clarity emerges from chaos. After four days in the hospital, I didn't wake up overwhelmed as expected. Instead, I woke up transformed, having discovered something golden in the depths of that rock-bottom moment.
What emerged was a powerful reminder about authentic leadership. I am the leader who sets the tone not just for my team, but for myself. I am the CEO of a business and life that prioritizes nourishment over depletion. This embodied leadership - flowing from the inside out - creates true sustainability. Since that experience, I've been showing up differently. Building client relationships based on energetic alignment rather than desperation. Protecting my schedule as sacred ground. Incorporating practices that make me feel alive and create space for innovation.
What if your business plan started with how you want to feel? What if your marketing centered around what genuinely lights you up? What if your client strategy reflected the version of you who radiates from wholeness, not burnout? This is how we shift from hustle to magnetism.
Remember, you're allowed to pause. You're allowed to prioritize what nourishes you. And the universe only has three answers: yes, not yet, or something better. If you're ready to rebuild your business with clarity, strategy, and soul, visit dotrockconsulting.com. Because you're not just a business owner - you're a visionary. Let's treat you like one.
Download my free Support + Breathe Calculator here: https://dotrockconsulting.myflodesk.com/hiring-calculator It’ll show you how much time and energy you can reclaim by letting go of what’s not yours to hold.
Remember: your energy is your greatest asset. Protect it, invest in it, and always put your oxygen mask on first.
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Remember: your energy is your greatest asset. Protect it, invest in it, and always put your oxygen mask on first.
Hey guys, this is the Power of Oxygen First podcast and I'm your host, dot Rock. I am an entrepreneur, a mom, a stepmom and a scaling consultant who is obsessed with the art of hiring, support and that dirty word we call delegation. I'm a recovering perfectionist who pushed my body and my limits to the extreme until one fateful day I learned that, just like pilots, I needed to take care of myself first. This podcast is all about the journey to healing, to getting clear on the desires of your heart, stepping into them with courage and leaning into and asking for support. I hope you feel inspired to do less, to follow your passions and infuse them into your daily life and truly claim the life you were meant to live. Welcome back to the Power of Oxygen. First, my pod squad friends Remember this is the business edition, so welcome. So this is the podcast where we just talk about what it really means to lead, live and thrive when you put on your oxygen mask first. As you know, I'm Dot Rock, a consultant, a CEO, a solo parent and someone who has just lived through the kind of week that really stops you in your tracks. This episode is for anyone who's had to lead after life side swipes you when you're deep in the vortex of hospitals uncertainty and, quite honestly, just sheer overwhelm. Today's topic is all about what happens when we emerge from the fire and how the real clarity both personal and professional honestly really comes after we hit rock bottom. It happens to us all. Life interrupts business.
Speaker 1:Last week was supposed to be a reset. My son had just recovered from pneumonia and bronchitis. I was thinking I'd be sending him back to school. We were tired of being home. We went to Albuquerque for a baseball tournament. We manifested s'mores. It was amazing. On Saturday we played baseball and we were just really grateful to be there. We went out with friends and had a Mother's Day dinner. It was amazing Saturday night Because we didn't know what was going to happen with the kids on Sunday with the baseball tournament. And then bam, vomit, all the things. Everything shifted. My son went from a beautiful dinner to, within hours, starting at 11 30, at night, 11 45. He was vomiting, dehydrated and really terrifyingly sick. I listened to this little whisper in me say when it said take him to the hospital. I didn't even know where the hospital was and we ended up in the hospital for several days. Quite honestly, he was in critical condition, um, and it was terrifying, um, just really scary. He needed a lot of support and we stayed, and I stayed present and grateful and scared and exhausted, and it changed me.
Speaker 1:This is fourth or fifth hospitalization in the last eight months. It's been a lot, and still business lives on, my business does. The emails piled up and some decisions needed to be made and some things needed to be done. Clients are waiting and I have to let people know what's going on. And you're over here just living in it but barely breathing, and that's why this oxygen first.
Speaker 1:Philosophy is not fluff, it's actually strategy. So what emerged from this chaos is that rock bottom teaches us so much about leadership. After we got out of the hospital, after three nights and four days there, I went to sleep in my own bed and slept for like 12 hours and I woke up thinking I would feel overwhelmed, but I didn't. I woke up different, not better, like awake, like I'm in a new world, and not because life just handed me clarity. I'm in a new world and not because life just handed me clarity, but because I dug to the very bottom and came back with something gold, and I want to tell you what it means for me in my business. I remembered.
Speaker 1:I am the leader who sets the tone, not just for my team, but for myself. How I show up for myself, how I fueled my body the best that I could while I was there, how I did those air squats and pushups in the room that matters. How I left the hospital room for 15 minutes a day to get some sunlight outside and made sure the nurses knew where I was that matters because it pours into my business. I am the leader who sets the tone in my life and for my team, not just for myself. I am the CEO of a business and a life that prioritizes nourishment, not depletion. I am the kind of founder who doesn't chase urgency but honors alignment. This kind of embodied leadership, the kind that flows from the inside out, is the kind, is what allows us to build something sustainable, a business that isn't going to just crumble. What it means to act from alignment, even after crisis is that since that day, I've been showing up differently. And this version of me she's powerful, she's bold, she's brave and she's powerful, she's bold, she's brave and she's a badass. She's the woman who builds client relationships based on energetic alignment, not desperation. She is the entrepreneur who protects her schedule like it's sacred ground, because it is. She's the entrepreneur that schedules workouts every day in the middle of her work day, because that matters to how she shows up for her clients. Those are the moments she solves some of the biggest problems. She's the entrepreneur that protects that schedule. She's the entrepreneur that protects that schedule. She's the consultant who wears earrings, reads Harper's Magazine, drinks green juice, because those things make her feel alive.
Speaker 1:So what if your business plan started with how you want to feel? What if you built your marketing around what actually lights you up? What if your client strategy reflected the version of you who radiates from wholeness, not burnout? This is how we lead when life crashes into our goals. This is how we become magnetic and this is how we shift from hustle to magnetism.
Speaker 1:So what do you need to do? You need to call in your alignment. Here is your oxygen. First business reminder. Number one you are allowed to pause. Number two, you are allowed to prioritize what nourishes you. And number three, the universe has three answers for you in your life and in your business yes, not yet. And something better.
Speaker 1:So if you're navigating a hard season, I see you. And if you've hit a wall in your leadership. I've been there, I promise it has not been an easy year and if you're ready to lead from a place of alignment, I want to invite you to shift Not your entire business, just your focus. Not your entire business, just your focus. Shift from proving to receiving, from surviving to creating and from burnout to brilliance. So if this episode sparked something in you, share it. Tag me at dot underscore rock underscore on Instagram, or shoot me an email, dot at dot rock consulting, dot com, and let me know what you're shifting into.
Speaker 1:And if you're ready to work together to rebuild your business with clarity, strategy and soul, I'd love to invite you to learn more at dot rock consulting, dotingcom. You can even call myself. The chief energy officer model is calling. We have chief energy officers to offer you and your business to provide support. So let's put on your oxygen mask first and then build from there, because you're not just a business owner, you're a visionary. Let's treat you like one. Just a business owner, you're a visionary. Let's treat you like one. But until next time, breathe, lead and trustconsultingcom.
Speaker 1:If you download it, you'll get some valuable insights that are simple and fast that can help you shift into understanding why hiring, or just plain asking for support, can help you save precious resources and increase your time, your energy and your freedom, and they can help you delegate in your business and personally. And it's backed up by data. So head on over to dotrockconsultingcom to access the very first Oxygen First Hiring Return on Investment Calculator. You'll be able to finally hire with confidence, make some data driven decisions, but also really shift into the mindset of receiving this support and how it's going to add to the bottom line of fulfillment and joy in your life. I hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 1:Thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening to another episode of the Power of Oxygen First podcast. I hope you walk away feeling inspired to do less, to follow your passions and infuse them into your daily life and truly claim the life you were meant to live, and I hope that you start leaning into the art of receiving support. I'm here to support you on that journey. Find me at dotrockconsultingcom or dot underscore rock underscore on Instagram. Dot com. Or dot underscore rock underscore on Instagram. I'd love it if you'd go, follow me and shoot me a quick DM and let me know what takeaway from this episode hit you the hardest, sending you love and adventures on this beautiful day.
