You can listen directly here. 

You know that spring in your step you may get after a coffee in the morning? Or the drive to power through your to-do list or action list each day? 

Do you still have that? Or is it lacking at the moment and you are wondering what is going on….. 

I was recently talking with my Mum (a chaplain and counsellor) about the loss and feelings that I was having and I was hearing within the Travel Agent Achiever community. 

She identified it as grief. Grief and loss of a business we have grown. The stages of grief and how it may pop up at random times and we may also revisit the stages at different times. 

As small business owners and the impact COVID-19 has had on our industry and businesses, I wanted to address this today and the feelings that we have experienced and then things that you can do to help right now within your business. 

If you are feeling any of the emotions and feelings we discuss, please first and foremost seek help from either a professional or  close person to you. You are not alone and I want you to know that you are worthy and you can do hard things. 

One thing that we have been talking about inside our Travel Agent Achievers group is the process of grief. Dealing with the current situation as small business owners, I know we may have experienced this.

Not knowing who to talk to or not even sure how to open up are ok. I'm no expert but I've had my fair share of personal experiences to know when to seek help and support, and I encourage you to do so as well. 

So in this episode, I will be sharing with you my own experiences with these different stages of grief. Some of my personal challenges and how I managed to move forward. Not to ask for sympathy but to let you know that you are not alone. 

As you're listening to this episode and happen to find yourself in one of these stages, I want you to acknowledge that and know you are ok. Everyone deals with grief differently and whatever you decide to do for your business, the journey is one you can take. 

If you want to invest in yourself and your travel business, know we have different levels of support for you as well here at Travel Agent Achievers. 

We want to support you now and always into the future, so please plug into the community and share. 

To help you make your first step, join us in our upcoming 5-Day Social Media Challenge.  I want you to come through this time stronger than ever and this is a small but mighty step in that direction. 

Make sure you join our email list to get an EXCLUSIVE bonus just for Travel Agent Achievers listeners. Sign up for this bonus HERE 

Show Transcription: 

Announcer: Welcome to travel agent achievers, the place to learn how to grow your travel business and have fun with it. Join Roslyn and her guest as they walk you through proven steps to a fulfilling and profitable business.

Ros: Hello there, everybody. Welcome back to the Travel Agent Achievers Podcast. I'm Ros your host. And I am so glad that you've joined me here today. I know, it's been a few weeks since our last episode. And I apologise for that. There's been a lot going on. And I really wanted to touch on a couple of things today, because I think they're really important.

But before we do that, I just wanted to give a huge shout out to everybody who has messaged me and emailed me over the last couple of weeks checking in and sharing your feedback around the podcast.

I want to know what you want to hear. What do you want to learn about? And how can I help you and serve you right now to make sure you get through this time. 

Today's topic is, you know, a little bit harder than some of the others that we go to. And I do like to be able to give you the How-to and the step by steps and taking action, because I'm all about accountability and making sure that we can continue to move forward or be in a safe environment where we can communicate and really share our experiences.

So my question today is, have you lost your mojo? Have you lost the enthusiasm around travel, because you're not alone. And I will dive straight into this.

I have asked my mom to join me on the podcast, but she needed to prepare. And for me, I just wanted to take action. I'm sorry that today, you're not going to get my mom here with me on the podcast.

She is somebody who I go to in my times of need. And I can be really open and honest with. She has a background in nursing. But not only that she has counselling experience, she's been a chaplain in hospital. And she understands a lot of what I'll talk about a lot more than I can.

However, I want to jump straight in. So if you've lost your mojo, this is the episode for you. Because there are so many things that we can do right now. And you might be feeling as though you just don't know which way to turn.

So if you've experienced a sense of loss, if you are stuck, if you are procrastinating if you've lost your focus, your attention and direction is all over the place, you are not alone. And it's okay to feel whatever you're going through.

I know in speaking to a number of agents over the last few weeks, there has been this time and time again, come up around Mojo. And I say that with a giggle because it's such a word that has just come out, particularly over the last few months. And it's due to being locked down. And our sense of self. And our purpose has really taken a back seat.

A lot of people are lost or just don't know how to move forward in in the time that we're going through with COVID. Not only here in Australia and New Zealand, but globally. The challenges that so many people are coming across and as small business owners we are facing as well. Not just for our own health, but in lockdown, or whatever your situation may be. It's tough. And I just want to acknowledge that right now.

One thing that we've been talking about within our Travel Agent Achiever group and the students that are currently going through our programme, and this has come up a couple of times, not only in one on one coaching calls, but also within the group has been the stages of grief.

And I think that as small business owners, we've all experienced this. And it may not even be as a small business owner or as a travel professional, it could just be globally than a number of us have, or are still going through these stages of grief.

If you don't know what they are. The first step is denial. The second step is anger. Third step is bargaining. The fourth step is depression. And the fifth is acceptance.

So I want to address this because a lot of us can also feel quite isolated when going through these stages of grief, not knowing who to talk to or who to surround yourself with or what to actually do. So I'm no expert. I'll say that straight up. And I have had my own fair share of personal life challenges. Which one of which includes depression.

Now I share that with you, not for sympathy. But so you know that if you are struggling with something, you are not alone.

And I've had a number of things come up with me since childhood that I've had to deal with over and over again. And I'm quite comfortable in talking to a therapist or professionals around the different things that I've come across. But particularly this year, I was able to identify myself very early on the how grief was impacting my life, the disbelief initially, and the denial that anything was happening to my business,

I think that affected me straight up, and that my team and I, we forward planned and said, okay, what's going to happen, this will only last a few months, we've seen something like this before, we've experienced, you know, an epidemic breakout, but it didn't actually hit us personally or as close to home.

So there wasn't that familiarity of it, it was more it's a new story happening in a different destination, we just know to avoid that. Right? So there was the denial that came up for me very early on. Then there’s clients, you know, got angry or upset, I had maintained a very level head and a lot of balance in my business where I was able to communicate the messages and communicate the facts very clearly.

I got ahead of a lot of things and said, Well, this is how, what's happening right now, this may change tomorrow, we've had three different airfare rules changed in the last 24 hours, but I kept my clients informed. But then the anger came and I got really upset with not just the situation. But how could everybody be taking this out on me? It's not my fault.

So I went through a short anger period. The second the third stage was in bargaining with it. And okay, well, if this kind of happened now, I'll then plan for this and, and then depression hit. And for me, it happened very quickly. Because it was like it was an impact, an impact of everything shutting down. I've, I recognised as I went through, you know, the first couple of months, I was running exactly like all of like you on adrenaline.

I needed to ensure that my clients were home, I needed to ensure that everybody was safe, I needed to ensure that I didn't have money just disappear or get lost, or suppliers go under, or we could get credits, I wanted to make sure that everything was done.

So depression didn't hit that stage of grief, probably for me until about May when I realised the impact that COVID had had on my business. And even though I was still able to function, and I've recognised this in myself over a number of years, how things can hit, I was quickly able to pull myself out of it.

And it happened very quickly for me of an afternoon. I acknowledged it, I sat with it and when, okay, where is this coming from? And the techniques that I have learned over the years and through therapy and a lot of communication tools, I was able to identify what was going on for me to then move into the next stage of grief. And that was acceptance.

So the work that I have done in my business was really, to come through these stages of grief, acknowledge them and realise what was happening.

I was quite fortunate that I've been able to identify these stages, but you may not have and that's okay. So you could take this time right now and as you're listening to this podcast even think, okay, what happened for me at these different times? So as we come into the acceptance stage, and if you're there, okay, that's great. If you're not, that's also absolutely okay. You might still be back in denial, you might still be bargaining.

You might be in a stage where as I said, have you lost your mojo? You might be in a stage right now where you can't get out of that funk. And if you are really struggling, then I highly recommend you reach out to your own support network and let them know seek professional advice and help, because you are not alone.

And I want you to come through this time. I think it's really important for the travel and tourism industry to recognise how tough things have been. But we aren't alone. And we can get through this, things will be different, no doubt about that. I think that things will be different. But we can do things right now as well to help us with our business.

So, yes, I have experienced loss this year. I too, have gone through some grief. And I was asked as well, just recently, whether I had taken a break. So when I ask you this right now, have you actually taken a break? Or have you done something for yourself to really nurture yourself? Now, this came up for me, because of a couple of things. And the first one was that I just, I felt like I couldn't keep going. As I said, my mojo had disappeared, I wasn't sure what to do with my travel business, because I wasn't as busy.

As I used to be working in my business, it was certainly to work on it. And I love doing that you guys, you know that I love working on my business and being able to help you work on your business gives me so much gratitude, but also it's really life giving, because I can see the impact and the changes that a number of our students have already made.

And that lights me up. It gives me the energy and the enthusiasm to keep going because we can continue to learn during this time. But I was asked whether I'd taken a break. And I have always been somebody who is up for a challenge is a go getter, we'll chase down a dream, we'll put something out there and really take action on it.

And busy, you know, I've always had something just going on, I've always worked in my business, I have built it from scratch, I have lost a few times where things in my business haven't gone to plan. But I've always known what I could do to get back on the horse or just keep going whatever saying you want to use.

So when I said that I hadn't actually taken a break, I was challenged to take a weekend off. And that we can look like no social media, not answering emails, not checking my emails, and really just switching off and connecting back with my family, with my community with my surroundings.

And I have to say if you haven't done this already, I highly recommend it, just do something for you. Whether that is go for a walk, if you're able to have a meal with your family where nobody has phones, and you can just talk about the day or something if you're able to get away and have a staycation or go somewhere for a couple of nights just to look after yourself.

Taking a break is really important for your soul, your mental health, your physical health. Because if we keep running on the treadmill, you will always tire out. If you keep going and keep going and keep pushing and keep striving and just continue to go. Your body will tell you when enough is enough. For me I get headaches.

I know if I get a migraine or something that comes on it's my body telling me just to take it easy to take a breath and take a break and do something for my own health. So I'm going to put the challenge out to you. Have you taken a break? Have you done something for yourself? If you've lost your mojo, if you've lost the enthusiasm or the passion or the excitement around your travel business, I encourage you to please just take a couple of days off to refresh yourself. Take a breath. You know if it means writing in a journal or keeping a diary or just getting things out of your head, do it.

There is no thing and no one that can tell you. You have to do something or anything at the moment. But I'm encouraging you if you are going through these stages of grief if you've lost your mojo. If you're procrastinating or you can't focus on something or you're not sure of what direction you want to take, then just take a break. It will really help you with clarity and clarification as to where you want to go.

So now that I've taken in a bit of a break from myself, I have also learnt that I'm not a superhero. And there are so many things that can be done. But I need to make the wise choices in my business. And for you, I encourage you to do the same thing. I surround myself with people who light up my life, I surround myself with business owners and friends that are life giving, not life taking, as my mom would say, and I do what makes me happy.

Working in my business, and on my business, it does, it makes me happy, I get a lot of sense of achievement out of that. And it gives me a lot of encouragement and excitement to be able to work on my business. And another thing that's come up as well, if you're, if you've lost your focus, or your attention and direction is weighing a little bit, have a look at your to do list or your action list.

Because one thing that has come up a lot as well around this topic is that even though you may have been incredibly busy prior to COVID, your body may have been telling you it's time to slow down, but you didn't know how to yet now, you're actually still your to do list in your business, maybe a lot smaller, speaking to agents that are finding as they clean up their office pages and pages of to do lists that are so old, and they're like, oh, did this get done, and then throwing it out because well that's irrelevant. That was six months ago. And the now looking at it when there they get an inquiry or something comes in that needs to be done.

Are you somebody who has to wait for a full action list or to do list, because I know for me, if I have a big list, and I've got limited time, I will tend to power through that. However, if I've got a shorter list of things to do, I can procrastinate, I can go down a rabbit hole on social media, I can get lost, I can procrastinate.

Now, this doesn't help you move forward in your business. And I've acknowledged that as well.

So I also if my list of things to do isn't that big, I will make sure that I have things that do to give me life and take care of my own health. But I also schedule the time to make the work happen. That has to get done, it has to get done.

On my system, my eldest sister worked in mental health for a number of years. And she spent time in Nepal as an Australian Youth Ambassador. And she was there talking about mental health and suicide because they had one of the highest suicide rates in the world in Nepal.

And when she returned from there, I remember her saying to me very clearly one day, Ros, what are you doing working at 10 o'clock at night?

I would order and pizza to the office and just keep working. And she'd say, what are you doing? I said, Well, this needs to get done. I've run to these deadlines. And this has to get done. And if I don't do it today, it'll be adding on tomorrow, and my list will get bigger and bigger and bigger.

And she would ask me a question. And she only ever asked me at once because it really it really resonated with me and that was Ros, Will anyone die. If you don't cross off that to do list today if everything isn't done? And it brings a tear to my eye now because I thought that the work that I was doing was so important. It had to be done then and there.

But it made me realise that her work in mental health and suicide, if she didn't answer a phone call at 10 o'clock at night, that could be impacting somebody's life. And I have remembered that for I could maybe 20 years now, because it had such a profound impact on my life and the work that I did, but also recognising when I needed to stop.

So if you've got an action list or to do list and things that need to get done, I'm also going to encourage you to set the timeframe to get it done and then get it done. Do the things that light you up that make you happy and that allow you the opportunity to do what you love. If you have your own space business.

And I know you do, because you're listening to this and you are particularly in trouble, then know that there are people who can be there for you. And with you. And on this journey, if you need support, right now, if you want to have a strategy session, or one on one help, then I'm here for you and I will walk you through this time, I will be there to support you, I will be there to encourage you, to help you with ideas when you may not be able to see them yourself.

One thing that I know I am very good at is, is seeing opportunities or areas for others when they may not be able to see it themselves. So if you need or you want to have a one on one strategy session, or work together over the next few months to get you through this time, then please log on to the Travel Agent Achievers website and look for the strategy calls and just book one in, let's get it done. Let's get it organised. And let's get you through this time because you are important.

Your business is important. And I really want to see you soar, I want to encourage you and support you so that you can get through this time. There are three big factors to your business success. And as we come through these stages, I want you to think about these things.

So if you've come through the grief process, or even if you're still going through it, I want you to remember, not every business will survive this time. And that's okay. If you choose to go into a different industry or come back to visit another time, that's also okay, you haven't failed.

But if you really want to make this a success right now, and you want to plug in for the long haul, invest in yourself and get something done. There are three factors for business success that I have seen in my time.

And I have spoken to a number of business coaches and my own mentors that have said the same thing. The first one is education, you need to invest in yourself to become a better business owner, better manager better whatever it is, but you need to invest in yourself and in education to improve your business.

That's the first thing. The second thing is to have a coach. Have a coach or have a mentor that's got your back. Now let's look at any sporting event. Right, let's say you play tennis. Now, you'll have a coach, when you play tennis competitively. If you didn't have a coach, then you may not make it to the next level. You haven't got that support person to encourage you to look at your skills to see things that you may not see and support you to get to the next stage.

So in business, why should it be any different? No, I was a dancer for many years I competed in gymnastics, I was a competitive sports kind of girl, you know, swimming, and running those sorts of things.

But I always had a coach, somebody who would help me, correct me and encouraged me and support me on my journey to wherever it was that I wanted to go. So the second thing is to have a coach, if you don't have one, I encourage you to find one.

If you need the support, you know that I'm here, I would be honoured to work with you. The third thing to having a successful business and three of the business biggest factors in business success that the third thing is your environment.

The environment could mean your mindset and even attracting opportunities, surrounding yourself with others that are going to a place that you want to be or even surrounding yourself with others that have got you back.

So the support structure of the Travel Agent Achievers community fires me up. I specifically wanted many years ago when I started Travel Agent Achievers, to have a community of like minded travel professionals who were heading on the same path that knew that they needed to have education and invest in themselves that knew that they needed to have a coach in order to take it to the next level and would be surrounded by people who could encourage them, support them and get to a where they wanted to go.

We have people as part of our community that are just starting out, we have as have others that are multimillion-dollar businesses. But one thing that I absolutely love about the agents that connect with us is that they all want to help. They want to support others, the more that we give, the more that we will also receive as well.

So it's just surrounding yourself with people that you want to be like, or you want to get to that level. So three things that and I can, again, jump onto the Travel Agent Achievers website, there is so much information resources and tools there to help you on your business journey, that you don't have to be spending thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars to have someone in your corner.

So I encourage you to jump on to travelagentachievers.com. And grab what you need, whether it's free, or whether it's one of our paid programmes, I am all in for you. If you are thinking, I really need to get back on the horse, I really need to do something for my business right now. But you're not sure what, then I encourage you to jump into our 5-day challenge that's coming up.

So in November, we'll be running a five day social media challenge once again, just to help you get some ideas, get some insight, reconnect with clients. If you haven't been doing this, then I encourage you to just reach out to us join,  the free five day challenge.

If we want to take it to the next level, and you're thinking I'm ready to really plan some things out and get organised for next year, then we also have a planning session coming up at the end of November.

So you can plan out your next 12 months of content, you can start planning what you want for your business. So that'll be at the end of November. Again, check out the show notes, we'll have the links to all of that they're also on our website, travelagentachievers.com, you know that I've got your back.

And there's a lot of information and things and tools and resources that I could give you. But I just want you to take the next step. I want to be there to help support you, and encourage you on your travel business journey.

Things have been tough, you might be lacking in your mojo. But I know you've got the fire in you so that you can come through this time. I'll be here to support you. You can listen into the podcast at any time, grab our resources, grab our free tools, because everything is there to help you. And if you want the one on one help, as I said, grab a strategy session, let's sit down and really talk about where your business was, where do you want to go?

And then come up with some ideas to take action on right now. Well guys, know that. If you are going through a tough time right now you are not alone. You are exactly where you know life is meant to be. We can't change what has happened. But we can change our future direction. And we can look inside ourselves, look at our business and see it from the outside and take action. If you need to take a break. It's okay. If you need to look after yourself. It's okay.

But I don't want you just to disappear. And I don't want you to give up if you feel like you're giving up because you are valued. And you know you are loved. Alright guys, that's it for me today. I wish my mom could be here and I know she listens to this podcast.

So Mom, I love you very much.

And guys, have an awesome day. Take care of yourselves. Take care of your loved ones. Wherever you are, you know that I am with you. I'm thinking about you and I'm on this journey with you too. I'm not giving up. I know that my business will come through this stronger than ever.

And if you need the help know that I'm here and I've got your back. I'll be with you. Always. Alright, take care. If you love the podcast, please share it around to your travel agent community and friends review us on iTunes.

And you know if you know somebody else that needs help right now reach out to them. Just let them know that you're thinking about them. Have an awesome weekend. Take care. Stay safe wherever you are. Bye for now.