Inspiration to use your voice, share your story, and move with confidence in this world of entrepreneurship. This newsletter is lovingly crafted by Kimberly Crossland, a bestselling author who has championed a freedom-filled lifestyle since before it was trending on Instagram.
This time last week, I was sitting in the front row of my son’s closing school chapel, sobbing my eyes out. My youngest graduated Kindergarten, and I’m in disbelief that he’s this old. I’m this old.
To avoid that disbelief, our family jumped on a plane the day after we cleaned out all of the papers (so many papers) from the boys’ backpacks and headed to Disneyland for a whirlwind end-of-year vacation. After months of prepping, planning, and researching ride wait times and how the Lightning Lane pass works, we packed in 15 rides and 9 miles of walking in one day. It was truly a magical experience, except for this ride.
I’m in the back right seat. Don’t let that smile fool you. I’m not a roller coaster fan, but I did this to make my dad (who was on the trip with us) happy. These are the things you do for the people you care about.
Speaking of doing things we don’t love for the people we do love, as soon as we got back, I got to work on one of my summer bucket list items — “hushing” the boys’ rooms.
Have you heard the term “hushing” before? It’s a nice way to say purging or cleaning out all the crap the kids don’t use anymore. I like “hushing” better, though, because words matter.
Here’s how the hushing process works:
Step 1: Pull everything out of the room except the furniture.
Step 2: Let the room rest. Sleep in it without anything else taking up space. Live in the quiet a little bit.
Step 3: Clean up (I might’ve added this in).
Step 4: Slowly and ruthlessly add things, donating or trashing the rest.
While we were going through this process, I realized that this concept of hushing was almost identical to what I’ve spent the last year doing for my business.
That process was deeply necessary after my life was turned upside down in the most beautiful way after having kids. For years, I held onto everything, hoarding opportunities and clutching to old ideas because you never really know when you’re going to play with those action figures or action items again. I wasn’t cleaning up; I was piling up.
Perhaps you’ve felt the same in your life or business. And if so, there’s a chance you’ve felt like you’ve lost your voice throughout the process.
Your messes and overwhelm makes it hard to hear yourself through the chaos.
As you’re looking at things through a cluttered and sticky fingerprint-heavy lens, it’s hard to see what’s working for you and what isn’t. It’s hard to listen to your heart throughout that process. It’s challenging to know what you sound like anymore.
And when you cannot hear your voice, you sure can’t amplify it for others to hear so they know what and how to buy from you.
If you’re sitting in a rest period this summer like many entrepreneurs do, try the hushing practice on your business. Here’s how:
Step 1: Remove everything from the room except the things that are making you money (your essential furniture).
Step 2: Live in that quiet for a day or two (or seven or longer).
Step 3: Start adding your voice back into the empty-ish room. Listen to how it echoes. Listen to how you sound when there’s no more stuff holding you back. Listen to yourself again.
Step 4: Add your voice, ideas, and products back in with ruthless intention.
BONUS STEP: Sign up for my free five-day writing workshop on reconnecting with your voice and amplifying your ideas with more ease, flow, and conscious excitement. You can do These actionable lessons in ten minutes a day next to your pool, making it the best summer school you’ll attend yet.
The Results of Hushing
The process seems nice, doesn’t it? You’re not purging (such a gross word) or throwing everything away (so harsh). You’re quieting your space, your mind, and your business so you can make room to keep only what’s working while leaving out what isn’t.
Here’s what came out of my hushing exercise.
Step 1: Nine months ago, I closed down my old memberships and group program and cried because I actually loved that program but knew something was out of alignment.
Step 2: I lived in that quiet for a few months, leaning exclusively into client work and allowing myself to continue showing up in the inbox to stay connected to my voice and present with my people (that’s you).
Step 3: I spoke up and sought help from a trusted friend and resource to discern what should be added to my business room. I let her voice echo. I said the ideas out loud and listened to how they sounded when I said them in this empty space.
Step 4: I added just a few things back in. Some were old. Some were new.
If you’re wrestling with how to proceed with adding things back into your room, perhaps some inspiration will help you, too. Here’s what’s now living in my room.
I continued client work but through a more focused lens. I love writing copy and content for clients (yes, both), but knew that I wanted to be more discerning about the projects I took on to protect my space, my ability to travel (an essential in my room), and my creative energy. See the new copywriting and content marketing packages here.
I refined old products that I’m crazy proud of and added them to my site. These digital courses have helped hundreds of people, so there’s no reason to hide them now. They went back into the room. You can see those digital courses here.
I created a new, innovative group to work shoulder-to-shoulder and amplify the voices of entrepreneurs doing really cool things in this world. The scaffolding for this new program has been built, and now I’m getting ready to unveil it in a few short weeks. I cannot wait for you to see what’s coming because it is powerful.
I’d love to hear more about where you are in this process and if the concept of hushing is helpful. Hit reply and share your ideas with me!