I know I seem to really go on and on about being intentional when it comes to making your business as pleasurable as possible.
And I’ve blogged many times on things like building pleasure into your strategic plan and why pleasure is a birthright in your business.
But I still get asked about the HOW when it comes to injecting more pleasure into our daily lives, both personally and professionally.
And I get it. Often I have to see things to believe it.
++ I only work 3 days a week
++ This week that I’m sharing is a non-coaching week for me
++ The rituals and structure I share are present in each and every week
++ This week I’m in my Luteal phase of my menstrual cycle and my energy was extremely high (slightly unusual for me!).
For me, my week starts on a Sunday evening when I sit down with my Pleasure + Productivity Planner (you can download yours here)
I like to go into the week with a clear idea of what I have coming up and how I can make my week as impactful and pleasurable as possible.
I make this process as sensual as possible (usually Xanthe has gone to bed!). I light a candle, put on some music and do an embodied movement practice so I’m completely present in my body.
Then I pull up my google calendar, get out my Magic of I diary and refer to my Pleasure + Productivity Planner. This allows me to tap into my Pleasure Anchor, Pleasure Non-negotiables, where I am in my menstrual cycle (so I can plan all my activities around this) and then finally I plan out my 3 Most Important Tasks for the week. (You know those ones that are really going to drive my business forward all while honouring how my body is feeling).
This is the KEY to working smarter rather than harder. For ALL the details on my unique + impactful weekly planning process do yourself a favour and head here.
AM – Before breakfast
Ok, so this day didn’t start off how I had planned.
My spiced chia puddings I made weren’t as delicious as I hoped (Xanthe hated them!). Then I had to take Xanthe to school (James usually does this), James and I had a disagreement and I didn’t get to sit down at my desk until well after 9am. Very annoyed and no pleasure insight.
Before sitting down to work I felt like I needed to really ground into my body before I leapt into my to-do list for the week, so I took a considerable amount of time to just feel.
What did this look like?
Lighting a candle.
Putting on music and doing a moving meditation.
Sitting on the floor and tuning into my body.
I still felt so much tension and I actually had a lot of sadness in my heart. To my surprise, I started to cry and the tears streamed down my face (not ideal as my mascara ran and I wanted to film some videos!).
But I knew I needed to cry and liberate this tension otherwise pleasure would be illusive. I worked my way through the tension and then found pleasure in my sacral chakra, which was light-filled and eventually rippled through my body.
When I was ready I drew some oracle cards (while still sitting on the floor) and then I journaled for about 15 minutes. After this I felt more present, grounded and a slight inkling of pleasure was swirling around my body.
9:30am Getting into work
My initial plan was to film some videos while the morning light was good but due to crying my face looked puffy and I wasn’t feeling camera ready if you get what I mean!
Instead I looked at my 3 MIT’s and also tuned into my body – content creation was going to be the pleasurable and productive task for me this morning, so I dove into that.
I’m pleased to say I really enjoyed creating my content for upcoming weeks and I went into lunch feeling good. (Even though I WAS pissed with the air conditioner guys who were supposed to come an hour ago and decided they’ll come tomorrow. Um no!).
1pm Lunch
The food that I ate for lunch wasn’t actually all that yummy or pleasant. However, I spoke to mum during my break which was lovely and then I did some research and planning for our summer holiday to Spain.
1:30 pm Planning Holiday to Spain
Recently I shared how planning ‘pleasure dates or pleasure retreats’ can bring immense amounts of pleasure into your body through pure anticipation. For me, planning my trip to Spain is bringing a lot of pleasure into my life and body right now!
2:00pm Magnetism Practice
Before I jumped back into my work I did a 10-minute magnetism practice. This is an embodied movement practice and helped me sensitise to the internal felt sensations, (particularly pleasure) and tune into my desires – ie. what I want to magnetise into my world.
2:10pm Content Creation
I completed another hour of content creation and felt inflow. I made myself a cup of fragrant tea, had some tunes playing and I moved my location to the dining table. Bringing my physical senses out to play really helps.
3:15pm Yoga
Recently I made a commitment to myself that I would move my body everyday, whether that be through intentional exercise or embodied movement. So I decided to do a 30-minute online yoga practice with Yoga With Adriene which focused on softening. I felt so much more grounded and ‘in my body’ afterwards.
3:45pm Virtual Coffee Date
I genuinely love my clients, including past clients, and so I try to regularly catch up with them to hear how they are going. I had a 45-minute catch up with one of my past dream clients and I just ADORED hearing all the amazing things she is up to both personally and professionally.
It was so great to learn how she’s implementing the work we did together and I got goosebumps when she shared that she’s been able to quadruple her design fee since we started working together…and she feels like she has more space for pleasure in her business + she’s working with her ideal clients!
4:30 pm Check-In with Business Mastermind Colleague/Biz Bestie
Every Monday my coaching colleague/dear friend and I do a voice message check-in and we share our 3 Most Important Tasks that we want to complete + our celebrations…..and a host of other things.
Connection and support bring me so much joy and pleasure, particularly when I’m pretty much-flying solo in business
(You can learn more here about how to use support as feminine fuel + the exact strategies I use.)
4:40 pm Celebration!
Checked my email and I had a new client confirm her spot for 1:1 Private Mentoring! Ah I felt elated and I made a note to myself – to fully experience this joy and pleasure in my body as I walk to pick Xanthe up from school.
4:45 Clock off and pick Xanthe up from school
I intended to let the pleasure and joy fill every cell in my body as I celebrated this spectacular new client signing up to partner with me! It felt like liquid gold was running through my body!
I don’t work on Tuesday’s but my colleague and I wanted to meet online to discuss revamping our shared Facebook Group – Feminine Business Mastermind for Health and Wellness Practitioners + Creatives.
You can join here – we would love to have you!
It’s always great to catch up with Nathalie and the ideas we have for the group are really exciting. I found myself buzzing with pleasure about all of our ideas and plans for online workshops and in-person Day Retreats.
After our conversation, my body felt completely lit up!
8:15am School Drop Off
Again I had to race Xanthe to school as I had work to do before an early client mentoring call. I ended up being a sweaty mess..which is not unusual in Singapore!
8:45am – Embodied Movement Practice
Before jumping into my work for the day I did an embodied movement practice. I put on some music, lit a candle and moved my body for about 10 minutes so I could ‘arrive’ and feel more connected to my body before filming.
(Prior to doing this movement I was feeling quite upset as Xanthe was crying at school drop off and didn’t want to say goodbye 🙁 )
9:00am Filming Videos
I planned to film some videos this morning as the light was good and my energy was higher compared to Monday morning. I filmed a number of videos and really enjoyed the experience.
9:50am Client Mentoring Prep
Before I have a client call I have a little ritual which includes looking over their ‘Mentoring Prep Form’ which I get them to complete (this gives me an insight into how they have been going in between sessions and what they want to focus on in their session).
I then light a candle, draw an oracle card and then do an energetic ritual by calling on my spiritual guides and asking them to help guide me and protect my energy, all while ensuring my client gets the most out of her session.
I love rituals as they provide so much pleasure and they really do help me bring my energy inwards so I can hold space for my clients!
10:00am Client Mentoring Session
I seriously LOVE my work and I really love this long term client I work with. The whole hour was immensely pleasurable as I felt I was so connected to my purpose and what I’m immensely passionate about.
This client was so magnetic and we were revelling in her magnetism and all the success she was experiencing!
11:00am Pleasure Date – Long Lunch with a Great Friend
I’ll admit that I often get lonely as a solopreneur so I actively plan face-to-face catch-ups with friends and colleagues during the week.
My great friend Desiree is also a solopreneur and we are definitely on the same wavelength….so catching up with her is always a dream…and we talk, and talk and talk.
Des snagged as a table at the famous Violet Oon’s National Kitchen in The National Gallery of Singapore. We enjoyed the most amazing Peranakan food and highly pleasurable conversation.
3:00pm Speaker Training
One of my intentions for this year is to do more speaking gigs and to work with corporate clients. To help me with this I am working with a brilliant speaking mentor and coach.
I am a lifelong learner and I love being mentored and coached….so this hour was extremely pleasurable for me.
I could actually feel my body expand with pleasure as my mentor shared ideas and reaffirmed my mission!
4:15pm Admin
For the rest of the afternoon, I completed a whole heap of admin including invoices, emails and replying to social media posts. I wanted to wrap all of this up prior to collecting Xanthe from school so I could give her my full attention.
To bring more pleasure into my body as I did this, I made myself a herbal tea and had a square of dark chocolate…activating pleasure through my tastebuds.
8:45 am
After dropping Xanthe off at school (in her QiPao for their Chinese New Year Celebrations) I took a slow stroll up to my favourite local cafe to do some work.
As I walked up to the cafe I took note of the beautiful breeze that was blowing, the crisp blue sky and the positive energy I was feeling in my body.
9am Content Creation at Micro Kitchen
This week is all about content creation and I finished off a number of blog posts, emails, and social media posts during the morning….while drinking a great coffee and savouring a cherry scone. (I derive so much pleasure from food!).
I also love mixing up where I work as it helps to energise and inspire me.
Pleasure really does fuel productivity!
11:30am Shopping
Before going home I had to buy a few groceries + I may have done a spot of shopping and bought a gift for a friend’s birthday. I love giving gifts, so selecting a present brought me a lot of pleasure.
I also ended up buying myself a dress to wear to my friend’s birthday dinner…even more pleasure! Ha!
12:15pm Lunch
I quickly had some lunch (leftover dry laksa from my lunch out yesterday – YUM!) while talking to my mum.
I would have preferred a bit more time in between calls just to slow the hyper energy I was feeling down!
12:30pm Call with Mastermind Colleague
A lady in my Mastermind that I’m a part of asked for some feedback on a new program she is launching. We enjoyed brainstorming her high end program and I appreciated her infectious energy and her sharing her big, audacious vision for her business!
This helped activate even more pleasure in my body!
1:15pm Content Creation – Social media/Eventbrite
I decided to sit outside on the balcony to finish up the last of my content creation for the week. I enjoyed the breeze (always welcome in Singapore!) and looking out at all the different colours within the sea I could see.
I worked on writing copy for an online virtual mastermind Nathalie Sommer and I will be holding in the coming weeks as well as finalising all my content for the next six weeks.
I also felt great pleasure knowing that I can outsource a lot of the admin work around my content as I have my VA upload all my editorial content (this is a task I really detest doing!).
2:30pm Call about joining a high-end marketing mastermind
This was an impromptu call that I decided to book in to investigate whether joining another mastermind would benefit me.
I’m already a part of a Feminine Leadership Mastermind but I knew that I wanted more support on the masculine side of my business – having a more expansive and consistent online marketing strategy.
After a long and lively conversation, I made a really big call and decided to go all-in!
Before making the final decision, I tuned into my body and felt into whether or not this opportunity would fill my body with pleasure. Did I feel lit up, expansive, excited, trusting?
Answer = YES!
So I signed up for the 12-month mastermind and I can’t tell you how excited and optimistic I felt.
Ahhhhh so much pleasure in the anticipation of what’s next!
4pm Admin + Moving Meditation
Before picking Xanthe up from school I moved back to my desk and put on one of my favourite playlists and worked my way through a few emails and replying to messages/social media comments.
The energy of this week felt huge for me and to complete the day I got on my yoga mat and I did an embodied movement practice. I took my time dropping into my body and I purposely moved each limb slowly and with intention. I did this for about 10-15 minutes.
I finished off the practice by laying on my mat and just letting the sensations of pleasure and gratitude sink in to all my cells, so I could really anchor in and embody these euphoric feelings.
9am Call with Business Bestie re Feminine Leadership Mastermind Retreat
Although I don’t work Friday’s this was a really exciting call that my friend Siobhan and I scheduled about our upcoming trip to the Sunshine Coast, Australia.
We planned out our schedule, (she’s flying in from Hong Kong and I’m flying in from Singapore), our transfers and our accommodation.
Again, the planning and anticipation of what will be such a pleasurable experience really helped to activate the pleasure I was currently feeling in my body.
And I can’t explain how excited I am to see all my mastermind sisters again in person!!
++ There is NO prerequisite for tapping into and experiencing pleasure in your body and business
What I mean by this is that your business doesn’t have to look a certain way or you don’t have to do specific tasks or have everything perfect to activate pleasure in your body and therefore in your work.
My weeks can look completely different to this one, but be just as pleasurable. And just remember, what works for me, may or may not work for you. I shared my week just as an example so you can gain some insight into what’s possible.
++ Pleasure is my GUIDE, it’s not my end GOAL
I am continually tuning into my body throughout the day and letting it guide me to experience pleasure.
If something feels forced then it’s not for me (eg. filming the videos on Monday).
This may mean that your plans for your work and business change throughout the week. But it also means you’re far more likely to experience pleasure, be more productive and find yourself in a beautiful state of flow.
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I hope this Behind The Scenes access of my ‘working week’ has given you greater insight and understanding into how I bring pleasure into my business.
Pleasure really does fuel your productivity, but it all also ensures your post has provided you with a deeper insight into what a Feminine Embodiment Mentoring Session entails and how it will benefit you both personally and professionally.
If you’d like to know exactly how a Feminine Embodiment Mentoring Series could help you and your business, then please do a book in a call here.
During our call I will provide you with insight and recommendations on how you can move forward in your business using both strategic marketing and feminine embodiment tools to ensure you have both a wildly pleasurable, successful and sustainable business.
Regardless if you sign up for us to partner together, I can guarantee you will walk away from our call with tangible tips and takeaways.
So if you’re keen, just book in a time to chat here.
Here’s to your wild pleasure and sustainable success in life + business!
Ainslie x
