And a few years ago, it would’ve stressed me out.
I wasn’t planning to send an email today — but something happened last week that felt worth sharing.
My sister surprised me.
Like, actually surprised me. I came back from picking up the kids from school and she was just… in my living room. There were screams, tears, the whole thing.
It’s her first time in New York, and she and my husband had apparently been scheming for months to make this happen.
There was a time when something like this would’ve come with a lot of internal math.
A lot of quiet rearranging of work stuff.
A lot of “okay, how do I make this surprise work without paying for it when she leaves?”
And also, “when is leaving again?!”
Of course, I would have been excited but I’d be lying if I said that there wouldn’t have been pressure underneath it.
What was beautiful about this, though, was that none of those feelings were there.
Nothing in my work schedule needed to shift.
No projects were put on hold or slowed down.
We have zero big projects right now, besides just ticking along with marketing the stuff we already have. And because our load is so light, I’m able to work ahead, which meant that emails and content were already done, even with me not knowing she was coming.
I had two client delivery points in the week. One call at lunchtime that I came home from after a morning of brunch and exploring.
Then on Friday, I did my normal office hours in my pajamas, in bed, while my sister was in the living room hanging out with my husband. Later, we went out and spent the whole afternoon together. No scrambling. No stress. No sense that I was borrowing time from somewhere else.
What’s important to say here is this didn’t happen because I “optimized my calendar” or “manifested” ease.
It happened because a few years ago, I was willing to tell the truth about a business model that was no longer aligned — even though it was bringing in a lot of money.
It happened because I was willing to strip back ruthlessly and create offers with delivery that works for me year round, whether I’m at home in London for the summer, have my kids home with me on break, or – as the case may be – have my sister jump out and surprise me out of nowhere.
I was willing to stay in build mode longer than was comfortable and truly set up an infrastructure that delivers excellence predictably, without my input.
And I was willing to let my business evolve instead of forcing it to keep serving an older version of me.
There was a time when I had financial freedom, but not much freedom beyond that. And that makes sense. I grew up without money, so creating financial safety was everything when I was getting started. That was the need I had to meet first.
But over time, I realized freedom isn’t just money, and naturally moved up Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, shifting from necessity to desire.
Today, freedom comes with a nervous system that doesn’t panic when plans change.
It’s not feeling pressure in your body when the unexpected happens; and instead, an aliveness about your ability to cease those moments.It’s having a business that can hold you, instead of the other way around. And that you’re genuinely excited and energized to come back to.
If you’re in the thick of a rebuild or have an internal sense that it’s time for things to shift, I want you to know that there’s so much available for you when you decide.
It doesn’t happen overnight, but it’s buildable.
You don’t have to blow everything up or abandon what you’ve already created but it does require ruthless honesty about what you really want now… as this version of you… and be willing to go for it and not constantly second guess or renegotiate the decision you’ve made.
Change can feel daunting so if you want a supportive place to guide you through the process of building more than just financial freedom, that’s exactly what the Freedom-Focused Income Method is designed for.
It’s the container where we build toward this kind of life-first normal.
- Calm
- Stable
- Spacious
… and still deeply profitable.
If that’s what you want to be building toward next, you can explore it here:
→ Learn more about the Freedom-Focused Income Method
I promise you — you’re not behind.
You’re just refining what freedom actually means to you now.
