You know how it feels when you finally get a chance to catch up on sleep after going for days running on empty? Like when you've been getting up early AND staying up late, working hard for 2 weeks straight and you finally get a chance one glorious Sunday to sleep in all day?At first you feel guilty about it, telling yourself you're just going to take a "nap" for an hour then get back to doing the things you need to do. But as soon as you lay down, your body DEMANDS the rest and before you know it, you've slept all day. And when you wake up -- you feel great! Refreshed! You can't believe you actually slept all-day, but upon waking, you shrug and think to yourself, "Hey, I was really tired. I need this."That's pretty much how I feel after emerging from my month-long blog break. I can't believe I actually "slept" that long, but looking back, I see just how much I needed it.As I shared in my August B-Side post, I had gotten to a place of such burnout that I literally felt spiritually led to take a "time out." I had gotten so obsessed with working on my dream -- growing this blog and building a business -- that I had allowed my life priorities to get all out of wack. I was spending less and less time with God. And my husband. And my friends. And myself!I felt creatively stifled and chained to all the "tips and tricks" the business "gurus" said I must do. I was so focused on doing what I believed I had to do, this ceased being a space where I could do what I wanted to do. If this was the dream I chose for myself, then why was I so burned out? Why wasn't I fired up anymore?I spent my month off praying, dreaming, and generally re-aligning myself. Getting back to my center, you know? And now that I've had a month to "sleep in", I truly do feel awake. I see where I was going wrong and want to offer you some encouragement just in case you are spinning your wheels too. The following are the "epiphanies" I had during my hiatus that have helped me go from burned out to fired up!

Focus on Action, Not the Goal

My first epiphany was realizing I had to stop stressing out about the end result and instead, focus on my day-to-day actions. I'm pretty impatient, so I would do different things to move my business forward then immediately go check to see if it "worked". I was basically like that girlfriend who is always trying to lose 20 pounds but gets frustrated if she doesn't immediately lose weight every time she eats a salad. What I should have been doing was giving my all to whatever task needed to be done that day, and trust that the result will come if I kept it up. Success is in consistently doing the daily actions -- reaching the goal is just a by-product.

Realize you already have the time

I was always feeling like I didn't have enough time. It didn't matter if it was a jam-packed workday or a 3-day holiday weekend -- I would constantly be stressed out about not having enough time to work on my goals. But then, during my sabbatical, it hit me: you don’t need a huge window of time to get things done. What I was failing to do was make the most of those "cracks" of time. You know, the times when you are waiting in the lobby for an appointment. Or when your class ends 15 minutes early. Or whenever you suddenly have a little window of time you weren't expecting. Honestly, most of the time I used up those "cracks" by scrolling through my instagram feed. (So addictive! Ah!). I finally realized that I could at least start working on a business idea during that time and keep working on it throughout the other "cracks" of my day. I may not have long blocks of time but if I'm honest, I do have enough time overall...and I bet you do too!

Seek Different Sources of Inspiration

Looking at the same information all the time is going to burn you out. If you keep going to the same well over and over again you are going to run dry. This is what was happening to me. Every book I bought, every blog I read, every video I watched, every social media account I followed was based on the same topics: internet business, social media marketing, self-help, and natural hair. I pretty much had no variety in the things I was taking in, which eventually led to feeling like I had lost my ability to come up with good ideas. I was sooo stifled creatively. Which leads me to...

Trust Your Own Creativity

Remember that post I wrote about following your own intuition? Yeah, I fell back into the “Google everything” trap again. I know first hand how hard it is to do, but during this sabbatical I realized that you have to stop believing everything a guru or expert tells you to do. There’s nothing wrong with good advice but everyone’s journey to success is different because YOU’RE different (!!!) and your definition of success is different. There is no one-size fits all answer that will magically take you from where you are to where you want to go. More than anything during this sabbatical, I realized that I am simply going to have to figure it out. You are going to have to figure it out. So follow your intuition and strive to be creative. Every great innovation we take for granted today happened because someone chose to think differently.

Hold Timelines Loosely

I was reluctant to follow my intuition and trust in my own creativity because I had set a very firm deadline in my head of when I wanted to “blow up.” I told myself that I wanted to be 100% self-employed by 28, so turning 26 this summer had me feeling a bit anxious about meeting this goal. I have list of creative things I wanted to do, "hunches" I wanted to try but I was so committed to "making it" by my deadline that honestly, I felt to scared to try new things! What if I try something new, it doesn't work out, and then I miss my deadline? If I follow my intuition and I'm wrong, how far off course will that take me? This look ridiculous even as I type this but that's seriously what was going through my mind. While it is still my desire to reach my goal by my 28th birthday, I don't want to be so stuck on it that I get fearful of trying new things. I just have to trust that I will definitely get there and I will get there when I'm supposed to.

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Talk to Me

Are you fired up about your dream or are you feeling a little burned out? Which of these lessons is the hardest for you to follow? Share your story in the comments, I'd love to hear from you!