How slow-living transformed my business

In spring of 2022, I googled what it means to “romanticize your life” and it forever changed my life. Little did I also know that it would change even my business in the most enchanting way possible. 

I was swept away into a world of dreamy cottages in the Irish countryside, adorned with  sun-kissed flower gardens, cerulean skies, and bountiful meadows. Imagination filled up my senses with crisp notes of freshly-laundered linen and blooming wildflowers in the air. Hail to the heaven on earth abound! 

I know I was late to the party because the concept of romanticizing your life, slow-living, and cottagecore has been around since the pandemic. Regardless, the melodious joy that slow-living brought to me is timeless. 

Because before I discovered the concept of slow-living, my mind was constantly chasing for the next “high” on a never-ending hedonic treadmill. I did not feel satisfied in my life and was always thinking that happiness is somewhere out there in the future. My mind was also constantly chattering about what I need to do, what I should do, haven’t done, haven’t achieved etc. 

The truth is, I was against hustle-culture and deeply into spiritual “feminine” energy before I discovered slow-living. Yet, my mind wouldn’t stop bugging me with anxiety and “what ifs” about the future on the inside. 

And coming across slow-living is like finally shutting off a rattling speaker that has been in the background your whole life. It’s like you’re rediscovering a sweet nostalgia, a spring of innocence and freedom within you, as if you are reminded of your childhood when you used to climb over trees and frolic around the fields. 

At this moment, I still do have things “to do”-- such as, offers to create, content to write, and clients to serve etc. However, unlike before, my mind now melds into the simplicity and serenity of each present moment, no longer holding onto the heaviness of endless to-do lists and to-achieve agendas on my shoulders. 

And that’s just one aspect of how slow-living has transformed my life/business. There are multiple other ways that I witnessed, of how slow-living has lifted me up, rekindling magic back into my soul, and infused joy back into my business. Below are the specific transcendental ways of how slow-living has changed my life (and thereby business alongside). 

No longer seeking to the “outside” noise for answers

Before I discovered slow-living (and deepening my connection with nature), I trusted more of other people and less of my own intuition. 

In terms of building a business, this looked like pedastalizing people who claim to make more money than me, thinking that they must have “all the answers” that I need. And whenever we value the “outside noise” (i.e. opinion of others) more than our own intuition, we doubt ourselves, thinking that others have what we lack. 

However, through opening my senses to the beauty and abundance that exists in nature, it opened the doorway to seeing the abundance that has always existed within myself. It was like nature mirrors my own inner abundant heaven within me– reminding me that our creative ideas are meant to be expressed like daisies blooming prolifically in the meadows, and that our bodies are meant to unfurl and soften like a soothing wind that whispers through the trees. 

The more I turn my soul to nature, the more I see the richness that burrows intrinsically within me. In fact, nature taught me way more about growing a business that aligns with my heart, rather than passively scrolling on social media and signing up for programs in fear of missing out million dollar business strategies. 

Expressing my unique Self

One of the beautiful things about turning your head away from the noise of the crowd on social media and instead tuning into nature is that you begin to be more clear about who you are and what you are really here for. You know the unique value that your brand provides to your clients/customers even more deeply. 

However, when we are just chasing trends and are just following what people say will make more money/create success, we become a replica of them (the crowd) rather than honing into our unique gifts and expressing our true radiant magnetic soul essence. 

In fact, I experienced this myself in the past when I hired business coaches who told me to speak like them (i.e. use their exact way of writing copies) in order to make money like them. 

While most people may not see this as a problem, my heart was cringing inside, because trying to sound like someone I’m not, just so I could make money like them is like selling your soul for money. 

Back then, I thought I was the problem and that I needed to “fix” myself for feeling that way. Only now, hindsight 20/20–I saw that it was coming from a deep soul desire to be my true authentic self– where you do not need to try or force yourself to be like anyone else but be paid for who you are and how you express yourself. I have learned that this is where the source of abundant energy within our business comes from. 

And it was through nature that I learned to own who I was and to trust my natural way of expression. Nature shows us that when we express our true selves, without forcing ourselves to be like anyone else, we can’t help but attract the right people, just like how the wildflowers can’t help but attract the sweet-loving bees. 

Sensing the richness of stillness

I think the reason why a lot of people these days don’t experience peace is because we associate stillness with boredom. We are used to the chaotic overwhelm of life– whether that’d be scrolling through micro-content screaming at our faces for attention, or the spontaneous buzz of notifications– and we are addicted to it. 

Slow-living, on the other hand, invites us to embrace the gift of stillness and quietude. Not only it gives us calmness and serenity, it allows us to sense the subtle, soul-enriching whispers from life– such as an abundance of heart-filling creativity, wisdom, and content ideas, wanting to be expressed through you. 

To me, what I’ve learned was that through slow-living and immersing myself daily in quiet contemplation and stillness, I have become more productive and thereby, feel fulfilled in my business more than ever. That is not to say, the kind of productivity that comes from force and hustle, but rather from letting my ideas and action flow without distractions nor hesitations. 

Not only that, I’ve also noticed that the women who come into my world resonate deeper with my content and can feel the freshness of ideas and perspectives that my content brings to their lives. One even told me recently that she believes I was “onto something.” And to that, I agree because I am onto nature and I choose to listen to my inner stillness, away from what’s popular in the coaching industry!

Communion with the Divine

What I’ve come to realize is that anxiety happens when we think we are going through life alone. 

Yes, you can be with friends and family, but when it comes to facing your inner demons and personal challenges, it can feel like it’s all on you. That was what I felt before I deepened my connection to nature through slow-living; I would always be anxious and overthinking about the future, plus my mental chatters were loud *and I mean very loud.

However, nature (more specifically, the Divine expressed through nature) showed me that I am not alone, nor you are. She held me in her green bosom and showed me how I am in her and that she was in me. It's as if I could see the branches of the trees like the branches of my very own veins; and that my problems were also hers and that she wants to take care of me, you, us. Nothing in this world could ever soothe the ache in my soul like that. 

~

To us feminine beings, to live slowly is like to inhale a breath of fresh air, because we no longer chase after the suffocating ‘noise’ that everybody else is obsessed about.

 Instead, we experience peace in what’s here now, and through simply embracing our expressing our natural self, we fill up our hearts, our souls, which translates to filling up bank accounts (in more sustainable, abundant, and life-giving ways), just like how nature exists.