I’ve been away for the last 5 weeks in Arizona.  My husband and I have a condo down there that we’ve rented out part-time and used as a get-away for ourselves. 

But having a second home hasn’t been all it’s cracked up to be, so we decided to turn it into a full-time rental.  That meant finding a rental agency…figuring out the legal filings we needed…and selling all of our stuff.

I had no idea how to do any of that and, before we left, it seemed incredibly daunting and overwhelming.

And now that I’m home, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed in a different way.

For the first 3 weeks in Arizona, I was pretty good at staying on top of my business and keeping up on my blog.  But as we got closer to moving out of the condo, it became too much.  I had to just focus on getting our condo wrapped up.

We got home two Sundays ago and for most of last week I felt pretty overwhelmed about how to start again.  I feel like I’ve been out of touch with you, my readers, with my MeetUp group, and with my friends and networking groups.

My mind has been telling me all kinds of stories, like…

…”Everyone’s forgotten about you.”

…”No one is going to read your emails anymore. You haven’t been consistent.”

…”People won’t be interested in your MeetUp. The energy has faded.”

…”There’s so much to do and you’re not making progress!  You’re not going anywhere!”

…”Look at what everyone else is doing!  Look at the connections they’re posting on Facebook and the launches they’re announcing! Meanwhile, you’re not doing anything!”

It’s amazing how fast the mind can spin stories of gloom and doom – especially when it’s downing a bottle of Comparison Blanc!

Can you relate?  

Have you ever taken an extended break from your business or your workouts or just the natural flow of your life and then, when you returned, wondered… 

…“How do I start again?  Where do I even begin?”

Well, with summer vacation season upon us, I thought I’d share my experience.  

It comes back to that old saying we all know is true, but that’s too easy to forget when we’re in the thick of it:

“How do you eat a whale?  One bite at a time.”

How do you start again?  You just start.  

If you can figure out a logical order for all the actions you need to take, that’s great!  That’s how I tackled the condo project.  

I broke it down into steps and then just tackled one at a time. Some took research…some required asking for help…some just took time over several days, but I just kept plugging away and eventually it all got done.  

But what if there’s no logical order?  What if there are multiple places you could start?  That makes it hard to decide where to begin and, if you’re like me, it can lead to analysis paralysis.

In that case, you just take one action.  

And then another.  

And then another.  

That’s how I got back into my business last week.  There were multiple places I could have started and I just had to choose one.

I began by reaching out to a few people I wanted to reconnect with and setting up in-person meetings with them.  

Then I RSVP’d to a social event with a networking group I’m in.  

Then I wrote the description for my next MeetUp gathering and got that posted. 

 Then I started writing this post.

With every action I took, I felt a little more momentum build…

…and as my momentum started to roll, those stories of gloom and doom started to fade.

This week I’m 100% back in my groove.

If you’ve been away from something for a while, I hope this post helps you start again!  

And if you’ve got a vacation or some other kind of break coming up, I hope this helps ease your mind for when you return.

I think the biggest thing about “eating a whale” is recognizing that, most of the time, it’s only a whale in our mind.  In reality, we’re probably just dealing with a marlin or maybe a big salmon.  

Still a lot, perhaps,  but a far cry from the image our mind creates.  You got this!  And so do I 🙂

Cheering you on!

Terra