7 Cozy Journal Prompts For Your Business

*This is a raw and unedited transcript.

Melanie Knights ( 00:06 ):

Hey Outlaws. Welcome it to our first episode of autumn, I feel like I am missing some kind of like sound effects because I am giddy with excitement. I feel like I need to like do a little, whoa, whoa. I don’t know how that’s gonna sound. I apologize if I’ve just deafened you, but I, I’m so happy to be sitting down and chatting with you today. I’m so happy to be back and working in this cyclical and seasonal way. And this season of the show is going to be epic. Let me just start by putting that out on the table. It’s gonna be amazing. We have the most badass guests, some new, some returning. We are gonna be diving heart first into what is to be an entrepreneur right now. And we are gonna be exploring the topic of entrepreneurial burnout, because this is the season where this comes up for so many of us.

Melanie Knights ( 01:12 ):

And whilst I am currently sitting in my office and it’s gonna be a heat wave, I have my candles out, my crystals out. I even have my Oracle deck in front of me because I wanna pull a card. I feel like that’s how we’re gonna start this season. We’re gonna pull a card together today and I’m gonna see what’s in store for our autumn, because at the time of recording this, I have made a big decision in my own business. You may well already know this, but I’ve decided to take a step back from Instagram for the rest of the year. I have been talking about doing this for like 12 months. I’ve taken two accidental breaks, come back with so much inspiration and creativity, but it’s like fizzled out really quickly. And I can’t ignore the fact that the only thing that keeps well, the thing that keeps me coming back to the platform has been your, you know, if I’m connected with you on Instagram, we chat and we connect there.

Melanie Knights ( 02:16 ):

That keeps me coming back. But at the same time, I’m scared to leave. And I reconcile that I am connected to most of my community elsewhere, whether it’s on email or talk or Pinterest or in a different community, or even offline, you know, in, in my small biz, snail mal community. And now we have Patreon. And so many of you have joined over there. And I was like, that’s why I created Patreon. That’s why I created small biz. Snail ma was to facilitate communities that allowed us to connect a away from the algorithm. And I just decided I had to rip the bandaid off and try it because for years I have seen business owners talk about how they built a brand and a business away from Instagram. And I honestly feel like I can’t be on that just a little bit. I have to be completely free of it.

Melanie Knights ( 03:17 ):

And so I am, and I’m going to still continue to share my content, my stickers, this podcast, we will still be creating amazing content and sharing it, just not on that platform. And I’ve reconciled that it’s either going to be absolutely incredible or a big mistake either way, January we’ll have a great story to tell. So <laugh> stay tuned for that. And of course over the coming weeks and months, I’m probably gonna update you here on the show as to how I’m feeling and whether I’m experiencing any of that FOMO. But right now, making that decision feels really, really, it feels like I can breathe and it feels like the right move. And I’m giving myself till the end of the year to see, to see what happens to see what I can do with my business off of Instagram. It’s an outlaw move for sure.

Melanie Knights ( 04:18 ):

But as Wayland says, we have to give ourselves the opportunity. At least once we have the right to make that decision just once and it worked for him. So, you know, let’s see. So anyway let’s pull a card. Let’s start with that. Okay. So I’m using my belief in your own magic Oracle deck. That is me shuffling with the ASMR for you. If you don’t like ASMR, I’m sorry. I love ASMR SOS. Like what, my favorite things on TikTok. I feel like we’re starting this episode off and the way we’re gonna continue, which is just me being me. Okay. I’m feeling middle of the deck.

Melanie Knights ( 05:01 ):

Okay. So this is the believe in your own magic Oracle deck. It’s by Amanda. Lovely. it’s one of my favorite decks. I own the, the cards are really big. The imagery is so beautiful. We’re linked to in the show notes. So I picked up card number 23 card number 23. And the card is confidence. It comes with time and practice. She is looking out of what looks like a train or a bus window. There is like a sun setting by the looks of things. And she kind of looks, she looks nervous. She looks unsure of herself. She’s hoping, I feel like she’s wishing and hoping, and her bag has got like a fiery sword on it. So let’s have a look to see what the book says.

Melanie Knights ( 05:51 ):

It seems like everywhere around you, people are chattering about how confident they are and just how freeing it. You wish you could relate to them, but you haven’t gotten there yet. Listen, it’s all right. Confidence is not an instant or overnight evolution, just like with everything else. It takes time practice and a lot of unlearning of toxicity. Ah, I feel like that’s very outlaw. I feel like that’s a great way to start this season of the show. It comes with time and practice like everything, right? Like everything in entrepreneurship, like everything in life, it comes with time and practice and confidence is one of those things that for so long, I truly felt like I didn’t have it. And I think being an introvert in my other introverts out there will know what I’m talking about. You kind of, you feel like you’ve been preconditioned that you can’t be confident because you’re in IVA, but that’s just not what that’s not what being an introvert is.

Melanie Knights ( 06:45 ):

Right. and I like to use the quote that confidence or self-confidence is my perception of myself in any given situation, right? Because there are certain things that I’m really confident with podcasting, for example, sitting down and chatting with you. I’m really confident with that talking in general, I’m pretty confident with it, but writing or being in social situations, I’m not so confident. Those things are not so easy for me. And so I have to really practice that, right. I have to practice that and not be hard on myself. So if you needed that message today, I hope it finds you well. And let me know if you would love to have a reading at every episode or once a month, let me know what you think. I really enjoyed that. So I mentioned a little while ago about Patreon and I do just wanna mention it before we dive into today’s episode.

Melanie Knights ( 07:49 ):

So you may have seen me talking about this over on Instagram before I left. And if you’re on my email list, we’ve been talking about it over there as well. Patreon the outlaw collective is on Patreon and I’m so, so excited to get started. I mean, we’ve already got started, but this is one of the ways in which I’m going to be really connecting and sharing with other business owners away from social media. It’s algorithm free. It is a paid community. The membership is eight pounds per month. I try to make the payment as accessible and as inclusive as possible. And I really feel like this is going to be an incredible place to stretch your outlaw wings. So within the outlaw collective, we have bimonthly or twice a month bonus podcast episodes. So these episodes I edited <laugh> and it is me sitting down with my microphone and going through a new moon and a full moon cycle with you.

Melanie Knights ( 08:51 ):

So each month you get to access a new moon and a full moon of podcast episode during these episodes during these journal circles, really I will share with you the energy of that new moon, I’ll remind you of what the new moon represents. And we talk about the energy of that particular Zodiac or astrological events. We’ll talk about what the vibe is, the energy, how you might be feeling. And then we work through journal prompts. The episodes are less than 30 minutes. I don’t pause for you to write your, your, write your answers out. So you can just pause and kind of navigate your way through it on your own terms. You also find that we have uploaded PDF versions of the journal prompts. It’s very simple, but those are uploaded as well at the same time. So that if you want to work away from the recording, if you wanna listen and then write out those prompts and use them after the new and full moon, you can, the energy of the new rooms, four moons extend to beyond that day.

Melanie Knights ( 09:58 ):

You feel the energy for a few days before and after, depending on what type of moon it is. And honestly, the journal prompts are great at any time. So if you ever need to come back to a journal prompt, you are looking for something to prompt you in your journal. One day you’ll be able to come back to this kind of resource library of journal prompts. When you join, I also send you a sticker. So you’ll get a vinyl sticker sent to you in the post. Of course you don’t have to, you can opt out of giving me your address and then I won’t send you anything, but I’m not sending you crap. I’m sending you a vinyl sticker. And the sticker says, what would an outlaw do? And I think that this is a question that I have not asked myself enough this year, but have been asking myself a lot just recently.

Melanie Knights ( 10:48 ):

It became a question. I asked myself so so much last year in 2021. And I really, really believe that if we can pause, take a breath. When we feel overwhelmed in our business and say, what would an outlaw do? Because I know that every single one of you listening knows what it means to be an entrepreneurial outlaw in your own business. Whether you feel like you are fully there, you are practicing, you are learning your unlearning wherever you are at in this stage of your business. I know that you know that on a soul level. And so I know that if you can ask yourself, well, what an will do? You will be able to tap into your intuition and come to that answer, come to the conclusion that you, you really need. Ah, so that is enough of me talking about Patreon, but I’m so excited.

Melanie Knights ( 11:40 ):

Make sure you head over to the show notes and you can learn more about our Patreon over there. Or you can go to patreon.com/d OOC. So that’s P a T R E O n.com/the T H EOC like the TV show, like the place in California, but better <laugh>. So without further ado, let’s dive into today’s episode. We’re gonna be talking about seven ways to pumpkin spice, your business at life. Really, this is all encompassing. I felt like it made sense to start this season off, talking about autumn, talking about some of my favorite things, which is the symbolism of autumn and how this can really help us tap into our intuition and what we need during this season, September is definitely a time for new beginnings. And I am absolutely here for it. I have continued into adulthood to feel that transitional feeling that back to school vibe, even if I’m not the one going back to school, I absolutely feel that every September and I may have been dreaming of crisp at mornings and pumpkin picking since may.

Melanie Knights ( 13:01 ):

But for me, September’s basically just an excuse to get to October. It’s like, it’s this, this lead into the cooler weather to pumpkin season to spooky season. And I am so, so looking forward to this autumn, I have been creating bucket lists with my son films we wanna watch, I feel like he’s the right age to start watching a few more Halloween films. We’re gonna go pump Kim picking. We’re going to be, I’ve been baking apple sided donuts. I’m just, I’m giddy with excitement. So whilst we are rolling off of that late summer vibe, autumn truly has a deep symbolic meaning, which we can use within our business planning, which we can use as we enter into this season in our business, because autumn is a transitional season. It is symbolized by the harvest, ripening and abundance as we get ready for winter, which is the time of hibernation. So to start this brand new season and month here at entrepreneurial Outlaws, we’re going to explore seven symbols of autumn, and I’ll be sharing with you how we can integrate these into our planning and our journaling practice. So there are gonna be some journaling prompts in today’s episode. So if you want to follow along, you can pause here, go and grab your journal, grab a cup of tea. If you wanna refer back to the prompts later, you can visit the show notes@outlawcreatives.com slash podcast.

Melanie Knights ( 15:03 ):

Okay? So we are gonna go through these seven symbolic meanings of autumn and these, these symbols really remind us how amazing this season truly is. They remind us the power of letting go of releasing of change. And I think that is such a beautiful lesson that we could all use at this time of year. So I’m gonna go through the seven symbols and I’m going to explore them with you and share with you. Some journal prompts that I think could really help us to lean into this symbolism as we start this new season and transition of our businesses. So the first symbolism, so the first symbol is change. Unsurprisingly. We are going to talk about change, changing of the trees, changing color of the leaves, the leaves falling. I feel like there is so much change at this time of year, both personally, within nature.

Melanie Knights ( 16:18 ):

And inevitably that leads to change within our businesses. It’s unsurprising to me that the last year or two, this time of year, I’ve made big changes in my business. These changes have been fully aligned with the direction of my business. These changes have been soul level. The things that I really feel rather than things that I feel I should be doing. And I feel as though this, this change that’s all around us, it really allows us to go inward, right this season, before we hibernate allows us to go inward and really evaluate or reevaluate where we’re at in our business, take it slow and decide if there’s anything we would like to change. Decide if there’s anything that’s no longer aligned with the direction we’re heading in. And this time of year, we can see so much online about finishing the year out strong. That’s the marketing that we typically see finish the year strong. You still have time hustle, hustle, hustle, and that’s fine if it’s not going to lead you to a place of burnout. But as this season, we are talking about entrepreneurial burnout now and exploring it. I think it’s only right that we look at some softer, gentler, and slower ways of approaching this season. So ask yourself, is there anything I want or need to change in my business in order to achieve my goals during this season?

Melanie Knights ( 18:03 ):

If yes, am I ready and willing to make these changes? And it’s so important to ask yourself that second question, because there might be things that you need to change, but are you ready and willing to make those changes? I mentioned earlier that I have left Instagram still makes me pause a little bit when I say it out loud, but I had to change something in my business in order to achieve my goals. And I hadn’t been ready or willing to make that change. But I finally was finally ripped the bandaid off. And your change may not be as big or small, depending on your perception <laugh> of Instagram. It may not be anything like that. It may be a change in how many clients you wanna take on this season. It might be a change in your working hours or your response time. It may be taking a day off each week or half day or anything at all, but it’s time to really lean in and ask yourself if there’s anything you want or need to change.

Melanie Knights ( 19:14 ):

It’s also really important to ask yourself if there’s any changes, which you cannot control, are there changes, which you cannot control during this season? Are there things in your business that you can’t really can’t account for? You can’t control them. You don’t have control over them, perhaps look at how you can be better prepared in your business. For those changes. There are different ways of approaching change, because we all know that there are things that we can’t control. We’ve definitely learned that lesson in the last couple of years. And whilst there are things we can’t control, we can always explore what it would be like to be prepared for them. And that might not be physically prepared that might be emotionally or mentally prepared for them.

Melanie Knights ( 20:06 ):

The second symbol of autumn is the unknown. Now as a little bit of a controlling person that freaks me out slightly <laugh> I don’t like the unknown. I like to know I’d like, I’d really like a road, or at least I think I’d like a roadmap. And in reality, I really wouldn’t. But the unknown, those little mysteries of each day, waking up and seeing it Misty, waking up and seeing that it’s raining the smell of fresh rain outside or waking up and finding that it’s really bright and sunny. And then you open the door and it’s cold. I love that. I love a bright sunny day where I have to wear a sweater. Oh, that makes me so happy. There are so many mysteries within business as well. There are so many mysteries that are things that we don’t know. We don’t know how they’re going to play out.

Melanie Knights ( 21:08 ):

There are. When we go into a launch, when we post on social media, when we create content, we don’t always know how it’s going to be received. It can feel a bit like a mystery. I encourage you to lean into what feels right for this season in your business. For example, when I’m in a busy season of launches and projects are tend to be more focused on strategic progress, but when I’m slowing down, I’m more focused on rest days and taking time off. So how are you going to measure your progress and success throughout this season?

Melanie Knights ( 21:50 ):

Right? We know that there are things that we can’t control. We know that there are, where’s going to be those little mysteries within our launches within our business, but having some ideas of how you are going to measure your success and your progress will help you to really tap in and align to what is most important to you and your values. Right now, you can use your journal for this. You can use a planner, however you choose to do it. But I really encourage you to write a list of the ways that you’re going to measure your progress and success throughout the season. Come back to it, refer back to it. Whether you wanna take one of those CEO days every single month and go through and, and check it off, or whether you wanna check in with yourself every week. I love to check in with myself each week in my journal and just kind of have a look through and see if I’m on track. You know, this is how I’m saying, I’m gonna measure my progress. Am my success. These are the ways I’m going to do it. Am I doing that? Or have I completely gone off in a different direction? Have I got distracted by some kind of silver sparkly, sexy thing that I don’t really need to be focusing on in my business? We all do it. <Laugh> we all get distracted.

Melanie Knights ( 23:35 ):

The third symbol is preservation, right? If we, if we think about autumn as a time of harvest, abundant harvest time of getting ready for winter and hibernation, we look at that abundant harvest and we preserve the fruits of our labor. We preserve the outcome, the results, but I wanna switch the way we look at this preservation and talk about it in terms of energy, optimizing your energy is so critical as an empath, as an entrepreneur, as a highly sensitive person, as someone who needs rest, it’s really important that we understand the ways in which we can preserve our energy over the coming season.

Melanie Knights ( 24:32 ):

Autum tends to be a busy season for entrepreneurs. And unfortunately, a lot of the marketing, we see the gurus, the expats they feed into that time and time again, every year we see the same thing. What is most popular on Pinterest at this time of year? It is productivity. That’s, what’s trending at this time of year productivity workflows, very, very, very, very strategic ways of working. And there’s nothing wrong with a strategy and there’s nothing wrong with a workflow or being strategic. But I want you to also ask yourself how you can preserve your energy over this season. This might look like writing a seasonal bucket list. It might look like creating a self-care menu, something that you can kind of pick and choose from rather than telling yourself that you’re supposed to do all these things in one day or one week. Because those of us who are ambitious and have a tendency for perfection, it can be really easy to fall into that kind of trap of putting our desire to achieve on something that is supposed to be gentle and compassionate.

Melanie Knights ( 25:55 ):

So creating a menu can be a really beautiful way of allowing yourself to pick what feels right that day. I do this a lot with different areas of my life and business, because I get bored very easily. I’m someone who likes to try different things. So I have a number of different things I can do that are creative. That way I can pick and choose. What’s the right thing for me this season, I even started two journals because I wanted to be able to go between just writing out how I’m feeling and also drawing and doing visual journaling and creating spreads with my stickers and washy tapes. I wanted to give myself that flexibility, but I didn’t wanna necessarily put it all in one place. That’s just an example of how I preserve my creative energy. I allow myself to have different places and I don’t put my pressure on myself to do all of these things in one day, because I’d have no time to do anything else.

Melanie Knights ( 26:50 ):

Also coloring books. I’m sorry, but if you can find an autumn or like a spooky horror coloring book, they’re great at this time of year, I have a couple and I’m doing some of those as well, and I’m sharing those over ONT TikTok and, and with my email list. So it’s also really important at this time of year where this preservation of energy to ask yourself, which practices you let slip during busier times, even though, you know, they are of great benefits. I, I wrote this out because honestly, this is something I do way too often. And I’ve noticed this past two years, that it’s the same time of year, that my practices slip. It’s usually late spring and early summer. I get myself so busy and I’m so consumed with all these things that I’ve decided that I’m going to do. I get really overwhelmed and I let all of those practices, even the ones that I know are of great benefit to me, I let them slip.

Melanie Knights ( 27:57 ):

I stop journaling. I stop practicing guitar. I stop reading. I just feel like I’m nonstop. And that’s one of the reasons why I’ve been streamlining my business now, so that within the next nine months, by the time we hit that time of year again, I’m hoping that I will have already created enough space that I can balance or harmonize these areas. So a couple of questions for you is in which ways can I preserve my energy over this season and which practices do I often let slip in busier times, even though I know they are of great benefit, the next symbol is protection. It’s going to start getting colder. We’re aware that that weather is coming. And I want us to look at the ways in which we can protect our free time and energy throughout this season of business. You know, you’ve looked at how you can preserve your energy, but how can you protect that free time during this busy season of entrepreneurship during this season where we see, you know, black Friday sales dying earlier and earlier Christmas shopping sting earlier and earlier.

Melanie Knights ( 29:19 ):

And one of the things I really have always struggled with is this idea that we are going to suddenly be able to pull together a last minute promotion and that we’re going to also be encouraged to start planning the next 12 months. It’s a lot it’s so, so much. So you do, you, that’s the first thing I’ll say, <laugh> you choose which of these things you want to do if any, but I really encourage you to look at the ways in which you can protect your free time. And it may not even be just from your business. It might be on a personal level with your relationships, with family, even with your kids, if you have children, right. I consistently feel like I’m not spending enough time with my child, even though I make sure there are pockets of time that we can spend together and do things together.

Melanie Knights ( 30:15 ):

I’m there for him every single day. But unfortunately, society tells me that I’m never doing enough. And the fact that I challenge the status quo so often in business and life kind of brings up that guilt even more. So, which ways can you protect your free time from whomever is that could be trying to infiltrate that time. How can you say no when you need to, and how can you ensure that your business allows you to have the lifestyle that you want to have? I mentioned earlier about creating an autumn bucket list. This is something you can do every season. I love to do this in my copy of planning by the moon in the front of planning, by the moon, I created a section for a vision board and you can have CR course, you know, create a vision board where you print out pictures and, and write quotes.

Melanie Knights ( 31:08 ):

I’ve done that as well. But one of the other things you can do is create a vision board for that season. So you can use seasonal imagery to kind of create a feeling through images of how you want this season to look. So my vision board right now would look like some spooky movies, lots of pumpkins candles, really creating that cozy environment for me to work from because I work from home and that’s important to me. It also looks like making sure I have time to read and time to rest in the evenings. I’m not great at going to bed on time. That’s been a thing since COVID. So I feel like trying to notice when I maybe should go to bed a bit earlier, but also taking that time to get outside, making sure that I have time to go for walks. I’m also looking at perhaps going somewhere new locally, every single week, that feels a little bit more luxurious, actually taking a day and saying to myself, I’m gonna visit this beach or this nature reserve or wherever it might be this coffee shop anywhere where I’ve not been before, especially during this season.

Melanie Knights ( 32:19 ):

Because what I find is that when we allow ourselves to explore, we can find so much beauty and joy in the unknown. So what does this look like for you? Right? And really just allow yourself to sit with your journal or your vision board, however you want to do it and explore it because it doesn’t have to look like mine or anybody else’s. But we created these businesses for a reason. Some of us created out of necessities. Some of them created because we wanted to escape the nine till five and a structure of a corporate employed job. For me, I wanted to be able to have more time with my son. And now he’s in school and he’s older. We don’t need to have as much time together, but I really want to be able to allow him to have everything he needs. And I wanna be able to give myself the space to spend time with myself because I like being by myself. <Laugh>, I’m just gonna be very, very honest about that. And I wanna give myself that opportunity during this season.

Melanie Knights ( 33:25 ):

So the fifth symbol of autumn is comfort, creating a cozy and comfortable environment for you to work from. Now. I think that we can create comfort both in our physical spaces. As I said, for me, it’s all about having colors in my home, lots of dried flowers and candles, and I’ve been decorating since August <laugh>. I just love it. So that is what’s happening. It can also look like buying new bedsheets. That’s a really great way to create some physical comfort in your home and in your workspace, but also look at how you can cultivate more comfort in your business during this season. And that just made me feel very, very buzzy, just describing it in that way. How can I create more comfort in, how can I cultivate sorry. More comfort into my business during this season. Ugh. It just sounds so yummy and cozy and delicious.

Melanie Knights ( 34:35 ):

What does that look like for you? Does it look like slow mornings? Does it look like pushing back your start time? Does it look like spending your mornings slow slowly with your journal rather than diving straight into your inbox? Does it look like finishing an hour earlier and taking a walk in the chilly air? What does it look like for you? Maybe it looks like asking for help. Right? Maybe asking for help is how you’re gonna create cultivate more comfort in your business during this season. Maybe it’s doing less saying no to more things taking more time off, maybe it’s ditching Instagram. <Laugh> how can you cultivate more comfort into your business? During this season?

Melanie Knights ( 35:28 ):

The sixth symbol is balance. Now I have a cringy relationship with this word, but let me, let me explain what I mean, as we head into autumn and the days start to shorten and day and night becomes the same length and we experience Libra season with its balanced scales. It’s a time where balance really it’s both around us and it feels like something that becomes out of reach. I hope that makes sense. I know that in previous seasons I have felt like I cannot balance anything. And last autumn, I really felt that last autumn did not go the way I had hoped. I had created such a busy season in my business, but I didn’t feel like I had any energy left to give myself or my family. And I didn’t even decorate for Halloween. I didn’t do any of those things. And that’s one of the reasons why I’ve been really streamlining, cuz I want to give myself that opportunity to enjoy this season.

Melanie Knights ( 36:39 ):

I like cold weather. I love a cozy sweater and I live in a country where once we hit autumn, it tends to get fairly miserable in the sense of weather, but I’m here for it. I love the nights when they get dark. I love laying candles and having my twinkle lights on in my living room. I love getting cozy. So that is something that I really want to be able to bring more of into my life and my business this season. And that for me is all about creating perhaps not balance, but some harmony, some harmony within the way in which I approach my business and the way in which I approach my personal life. So how can you approach your progress and success throughout this season with more harmony and alignment, looking at those areas of progress and success from earlier on the ways in which you’re going to measure those pro that progress and your success, how can you approach it so that you are staying within alignment? I think that’s really important that you feel that you are aligned with the progress and success you want to see and ensuring that you feel that you’re creating that harmony within those areas, that it doesn’t feel like if you are focused on one, the other goes to ship because that has been my experience in the past as well.

Melanie Knights ( 38:06 ):

So the seventh and final season or symbol, sorry, <laugh> the seventh and final symbol is letting go. We know that the temperature is going to start to drop around us. The leaves are falling and Autum illustrates the beauty of letting go and trusting that everything is cyclical. There is so much power in realizing that these, these experiences are cyclical. The ways in which we run our business can be cyclical. The things that we struggle with and the things that we find really easy can be cyclical. And there are so many cycles around us, autumn and the seasons is just one of them. You know, that I love the moon cycle. I use that within my business. We use it within our Patreon community over in the outlook collective. That is one of the ways in which we kind of signpost and check in with ourselves each month, but you could also use other cycles.

Melanie Knights ( 39:18 ):

So this is a transitional season, you know, that there’s so much change happening and it really is a season of letting go. And I want you to ask yourself, what am I no longer taking with me into this season? What am I no longer taking with me into this season? What are you going to let go of? What are you going to leave behind? What are you going to put now safely? And you can always come back to it and which situations people or places do I need to let go of during this season? Which situations people or places do I need to let go of during this season? Because within business, it’s not always about not taking with us, not taking with us a client or a system or a workflow or even a social media platform, but it might be something emotional, something that we’re experiencing.

Melanie Knights ( 40:21 ):

It might be a way of working. Maybe it’s a strategy or a tactic that we’ve been using that we just maybe no longer works for us. And we don’t wanna take it with us into this next season and trusting that that’s okay. And that it is cyclical. And I’m telling you this just as much from myself as well, because I, I said stepping away from Instagram has about, it’s been really nerve wracking, which makes me wanna do it even more because it frustrates me that I have so much codependency on a platform, but I also encourage you to look at what is cyclical in your business. And as you do that, you’ll start to notice any trends, not just trends within business trends, personally trends within your energy. You’ll start to notice when you want to step back. Is it the same time every year that you actually want to kind of slow down, go inward, take a step back.

Melanie Knights ( 41:19 ):

Other other times when you feel like you want to change the way in which you work, or you want to your business model, ways of working, noticing these little trends within your, within your business, within your personal and professional life, really help us to tap into our intuition because all of these little things are bread crumbs along the way. They’re parts of that season. They’re parts of our own cycles. And I think it’s really important that if there’s one thing you take away from today’s episode, it’s like, I want you to trust yourself. I want you to trust your intuition. I want you to trust that this season, it can be everything you want and need it to be.

Melanie Knights ( 42:07 ):

So those are the seven symbols of autumn. And I just love this season and how symbolic it can be a love, how it encourages us to slow down. It encourages us to get cozy. It encourages us to let go. And I feel like I start letting go earlier and earlier every year. And if you need to check in and tap in with yourself, you need to go back to those journal prompts. You can always do that. By going to the show notes, they will be over there. You’ll be able to find the journal prompt so you can refer back to them. And if you want to go deeper with these types of channel prompts, if you want to go deeper with your business journaling and have a journaling practice allows you to tap into your intuition as a business owner, then make sure you come over and check out our outlook collective on Patreon, because that is really why we are there.

Melanie Knights ( 43:09 ):

We’re there to create a journaling ritual, something that feels really something that integrates into our business and into our planning. It allows us to tap into our intuition and really sort through how we feel about our businesses without the pressure to create content without the pressure to share it with everybody in a public forum, you don’t have to share, you can take what you need. And that’s one of the values that I’ve shared within the community is that I don’t expect you to dive in and be everything to everyone straight away. That’s not why you are here. That’s not why I’m here. That’s not why I created the community. This community is about you. It’s about each of you as individuals about you as a collective, it’s about allowing you to tap into what you need in any given moment. You can share, you can share what you learn.

Melanie Knights ( 44:21 ):

You can share how you’re feeling. I encourage you to do that with love and compassion, without judgment for yourself or others. But, but this is really about you. This community is here for you. And so if you’d like to learn more, you can go over to patreon.com/the OC. Or you can go to the show notes where you’ll find a full transcription of today’s episode. Along with the links to our Patreon, also links to the Oracle deck that I used at the beginning of today’s episode. And of course, all of those journal prompts, ah, we’ve come to the end of today’s episode. So as I shared with you at the beginning, we have some incredible guests in the coming weeks and I’m so excited because next week we have our first guest episode and she is a repeat guest. We are gonna be joined by the wonderful all grandma.

Melanie Knights ( 45:18 ):

Allie is a very dear friend of mine. She’s the person who introduced me to cyclical line and business and body alignment. And I have so much to thank her for in terms of the way I now run my business. And it’s gonna be a really fun episode. We’re gonna sit down and talk about everything. <Laugh> I mean, everything, we’re basically having one of our cozy chats that we have on Voxer, but we are pressing record and you get to listen in. We’re gonna be talking about everything from cycle alignment, to being artists, to TikTok and everything in between. So make sure you tune in next Thursday for that episode. We are gonna be bringing you brand new episodes every single Thursday, right through this season. We’ll be taking a break at the end of the year and I’ll be letting you know more about that then.

Melanie Knights ( 46:13 ):

But yeah, so if you want to stay in touch, make sure you follow me along on TikTok and Pinterest. You can find me over there and it’s Melanie underscore nights 87. Again, we’ll link to this in the show notes. And if you would like to get regular updates via email, we send out an email every Thursday, this email contains notes from today’s episode, it gives you a direct link, so you can tune straight in. And I also share a few little things like what I’m listening to this week and any other updates as well. So if you want to get on our mailing list, you can do that via our show notes as well or via the website. You can just sign up over there. We don’t, we don’t believe in sending so you won’t get put into a funnel or anything like that.

Melanie Knights ( 47:03 ):

You will be added to the list and you’ll receive that email every single Thursday. That is the content <laugh>. So thank you so much for tuning in Fran. Thank you so much for being here for this first episode back of autumn. I, I am gonna, I don’t know. I’m gonna go either make a pumpkin spice latte or gonna go smell a really beautiful candle. <Laugh> I don’t know, maybe both, but I hope you have an amazing Thursday, an amazing cozy week weekend, whatever you are listening to this, I hope that you have a great day until next week Outlaws.