‘Tis the Season … to Love Life and Business
By: Jennifer Jank
Tags: Winter, Entrepreneur, Women In Business, Self Love, Small Business Owner

I mean, who wants cocoa when it’s 115 degrees during the summer? Photo by Carolyn Christine on Unsplash.

Why do people become entrepreneurs? To run our own show, help as many other people as we can, get our message out there, showcase our brilliant ideas, make a living and more. But not least to lead a life we enjoy.

Right? Did you go into business to be miserable? Did you hang out your own shingle thinking, I can’t wait to give up a regular paycheck so every day can be terrible, just in a different way?

It‘s so easy to get caught up in the daily routine, prospecting, converting, creating content, etc. that you might have forgotten about the fun part.

I get it. I’ve been there. (And will probably be there again, because why would I learn from my mistakes? Ha ha ha you are so funny thinking I’m over here “learning lessons”.) Being an entrepreneur is hard, and we all have hard days. That’s why it is so important to bring back fun where you can and enjoy the moment as much as possible.

A great opportunity occurs this week. Not only is Monday December 21 the Winter Solstice but ALSO National Short Girl Appreciation Day, which is a particular favorite of mine. (This particular short girl appreciates dark chocolate, shortbread, NA “alcohol”, and books. Just saying.*)

Hmm, feasting and drinking… ah yes, I was talking about Winter Solstice of course! You don’t have to be short to participate.

“In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus

The thing about solstices

There are two major solstices during the year, summer and winter. They occur when the Earth is tilted the closest or the farthest away from the sun. In the northern hemisphere where the vast majority of my readers are located, the summer equinox is the longest day of the year, with the shortest night.

By contrast, the winter solstice we’re about to encounter is the longest night and shortest day of the year. It’s when our hemisphere is tilted farthest away from the sun. (The southern hemisphere experiences the opposite, so their Yuletide festivities take place in the summer.) In other words, our planet’s axial tilt is the reason for the season.

For our ancestors, winter solstice was a time for feasting, drinking, and… uh… other things, nudge nudge wink wink. Way back when, before antibiotics and other medicines, wintertime often meant death for the old and the weak. You’d party with your village because it might be the last time you saw them for a while. Some of them you might never see again. The feast, in the days before refrigeration and preservatives, used up some of the harvest before it could go bad.

Unfortunately this winter might be reminiscent of those old days, at least here in the US. Coronavirus, currently on the upsurge again, is particularly, though not exclusively, deadly to the old and sick.

Which doesn’t mean you should rush out and party with 100 of your closest friends in the smallest broom closet you can find! Cherish the time you have with family and friends, even if you’re cherishing over Zoom like me.

Why seasonality is still important in the modern world for entrepreneurs

Except for COVID-19, modern humans don’t face the same dangers that our forebears did. We have ways to preserve food so we don’t have to worry about running out of food from the fall harvest.

We have central heating, insulation, and moisture-wicking fabrics designed to keep us toasty warm in subzero temperatures. Rational Americans have southern California to keep us toasty warm by skipping subzero temps in the first place.

We can all eat strawberries out of season (which taste terrible), tomatoes at any time of year (which are useless raw except in summer), and any other food. Whether or not it’s best eaten in this hemisphere at this time of year.

Not only do we have adequate lighting to stave off those early dark nights, we’ve also got screens that trick our bodies into thinking it’s daytime so we can’t sleep anyway! Alarms wake us up when it’s still dark, so we can rush into work before the sun’s up. We’re no longer dependent on the natural world for knowing when to work, play, and sleep.

But doesn’t it seem like we’ve gone a little too far with making everything available all the time? Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Having the ability to eat fruit out of season doesn’t mean the fruit will taste good. Being able to work 24/7 most definitely doesn’t mean you’ll be more productive or make more money. Even if you work for yourself.

Creativity is based on making connections, not logical thinking. If you want to be creative, you must have time set aside for daydreaming or resting. That way your brain can take a break from all the reasoning and rationality you’ve been asking of it.

Your brain also needs rest to make repairs to your mind and body. Some of the fixes can only occur when you’re sleeping. We may be living in a space-age environment that doesn’t depend on the natural world. However, we’re still using brains that evolved on the savannah and depended on nature.

That’s why it’s key for sanity to spend time with nature. At this time of year, you can also bring nature in the house with garlands, wreaths, etc. Another key is spend at least some time right here in the present. Not worrying about the future, or ruminating about the past. Being “in the now”, not to be all Age of Aquarius about it.

Becoming more attuned to the seasons is a good way to be in the moment. Sure, you can buy strawberries from somewhere at the store now. How much better does a ripe strawberry taste in the early summer, when you haven’t had any for months? Absence makes the heart grow fonder!

If you try it, you’ll find out how much better it is to eat the seasonal stuff. Apples and pumpkins in the fall make for great pies, which are great treats when it’s cool outside. Winter squash is so much heartier than summer squash, which you appreciate on cold days.

How to perk up business owner doldrums with seasonality

I promise this whole post will not be about food. But I think it makes the seasonal point pretty well.

There are other ways to notice and pay attention to the season that we’re currently in. This helps you avoid burnout and care for yourself and others. You know if you’ve been reading my posts that simply grinding it out for hours on end is the way to lose productivity, not be more effective.

It gets dark a lot earlier now. A great time to be at home with family or friends, wouldn’t you say? Leave the artificially lit office. Use these early dusks to marvel at the beauty of the sunset. Stop work for the day soon after the sun goes down to spend time with loved ones.

Usually there are plenty of parties in December. Hopefully, to keep everyone safe, if they happen this year they’ll be over video. Introverts aren’t necessarily upset about not having to attend a ton of parties, to be honest with you. Feel free to adorn your desk or wherever you video from with seasonal decorations!

2020 has provided everyone with a great opportunity to be creative and do things differently. Maybe no parties, but instead you call to catch up with people you haven’t talked to in a while. Strengthen your existing relationships and make some new connections too.

Building relationships with other people is really what business is all about. Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are taking over tedious administrative tasks and things like number-crunching. Which they can do far more accurately and quickly than humans.

What computers and algorithms and programs can’t do is develop bonds with people. Only humans can have real conversations and get to know prospects and clients better. If you’re taking time to reach out now, you might end up with real fans by the time spring rolls around.

Self-care for entrepreneurs is all year round, but seasonal touches make it fun

Some entrepreneurs, especially women, look on self-care as self-indulgent and selfish. And if you’re dumping all your work on someone else so you can go get a facial, maybe there’s a point. But as I noted earlier this year, self-care isn’t so much about bubble baths and pedicures as it is about recharging.

It also doesn’t mean slouching down in the old recliner to binge-watch TV shows. Which of course is fine from time to time! But things that truly recharge you are the things you enjoy, like hobbies you don’t think you have time for.

Or spending time with friends and family without talking about work. Creating your own content instead of consuming someone else’s, even just for your own enjoyment. Take the early darkness of the season as a signal to let go of the workday and recharge. Family, friends, hobbies, pets, whatever.

Winter is also the season of giving, which is pleasurable to your brain. Scrooge experienced some major dopamine release when he woke up the next morning and paid the kid to go grab a turkey. (Apropos of nothing whatsoever, my favorite version of A Christmas Carol is A Diva’s Christmas Carol, which starred Vanessa Williams in the Scrooge role.)

Money is tight for a lot of people right now. Especially since businesses have been shut down to help stop the spread of coronavirus. What can you give instead?

Your time and attention, for one thing. Wear your mask. Be kind. Give people the benefit of the doubt, including yourself. Give up on controlling the outcome and instead work on the things you can control.

Yes, Desert Diva is giving this season! Click here for your FREE guide to creating content that attracts your ideal audience.

*In case you want to celebrate National Short Girl Appreciation Day and you don’t have a Short Girl in your life to celebrate with. Or you want to add another in for funsies. Like I said, just saying. Ahem.