You can listen directly here. 

For once you don't have to answer with the universal response 'I'm fine'. You know the conversation. We’ve been here before. This episode, however, is a timely reminder as we have all experienced a tough couple of weeks. It’s time now, for YOU. It's okay to not be okay. Just know we are here for you. 

Business comes and goes. We build and sometimes we win and sometimes we learn and face challenges. It’s ALL learning. Sometimes the lessons are just harder to take. 

This week, as we all go through a tough period, I want to talk about YOU. Do you allow yourself to get upset, frustrated, angry at what’s going on? Do you take time out to give yourself some grace and breathe? Are you taking care of yourself? 

If not. I want you to give yourself permission. Permission to have a time out. Time to take care of you and your family. 

We can’t control what’s going on in the world, but we can control ourselves. Our actions, our reactions and taking care of those closest to us. Sometimes, and this is a good reminder, we often take care of our clients, before we take care of ourselves.  Conflict and turmoil are not good for our bodies. Remember we are all processing things differently. 

I’d love for you to listen to this podcast and take a deep breath. Have a walk outside if you can, drink a cup of your favourite coffee and spend time with yourself.

Know I am here for you, I am with you and we will get through this together. 

Ros x

To ensure you are moving forward in your business and also getting any additional advice, tips and help, make sure you join the Achievers in Travel - Facebook group. Achievers in Travel - Accountability group. 

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 guests as they walk you through proven steps to a fulfilling and profitable business. 

Ros: Well hello there Travel Agent Achievers. Welcome back to another podcast. I am so grateful that you are here with me. It's Ros, your host of Travel Agent Achievers.

My goodness it has been another one of those weeks. You know, the weeks that we kind of had back in March or April this year and I don't know about you, but I wanted to check in this week as across the board, things have just been a little chaotic.

So my first question is, how are you? I love to hear from you. I love receiving your emails and messages on social media. So please reach out to me. And just let me know. How are you this week? Because that's what this is all about.

And this week, I have been speaking to a number of different travel agents around the world. And there's been tears, frustration, backlash from clients, and it's almost felt like it was back in March and April when our whole world got turned upside down.

And I honestly think that there's something going on either, you know, and I'm not a weather person or atmospheric pressure or the universe is having a go. Or maybe it's even just plain frustration globally with what's continuing to happen.

And my heart goes out to everybody who has been affected by COVID. I know that in the travel industry, we have lost so much. But I also know that there are people out there who have also lost businesses, lost houses, but also lost so much more.

So I'm, I'm thinking about you, and I want to know how you are.

Today, I do want to talk to you though, about a particular topic. And it's just giving yourself permission. You run your own business, you are allowed to call the shots, no matter what that is, with who you work with, how many hours you do, what you're specialised in.

I used to be at the beck and call at all hours of the day on my phone. And you know that when it became really tiring, but I thought that that was how I had to be in order to be successful.

I felt as though I wasn't allowed to take a weekend off. I felt as though I had to work all hours when my clients were travelling and you know, if something happened, I needed to know about it.

I also felt that I needed to know exactly the finer details of every single one of my client’s trips right down to, you know, one of my closest girlfriends would call me and she'd say, oh, Ros what time's my flight to LA tomorrow? And I would know that off the top of my head. Why I knew that? I felt as though I was responsible for it, I think and also, I felt as though I needed to prove not only to myself, but to everybody else out there that I was a great travel consultant.

I knew exactly what all of my clients were doing. And I was there for them no matter what.

Now, I had to change this. Because I knew it couldn't last. And I got to a point in my business where I just felt as though my business was controlling me. Not the other way around. I left the corporate world for a reason I left it to be my own boss to call my own shots, to build something that I was really proud of for myself and my family. However, my business became controlling of me.

And I had to change my mindset around this, which is why I talk to you all so much about building systems and having processes and really thinking about what you want for your business looking at who is your ideal client who are the people that you want to serve in your travel business, not just now.

And I think we've all certainly seen the true colours of people come out. And I'm not just talking to clients that you may have booked one or two trips for, but I am talking to family members and friends. People showing their true colours in all shapes and forms.

So think about your business and what you actually want out of it. It got to a point and it still does to these days when I'm travelling with groups, but I'm paid to do that. So my clients pay me for my expertise. They pay me for my time. They pay me for my skill set when I am travelling with them.

And even now when I travel on a group trip, my husband says to me because he often comes with me as well as my now five-year-old son who's been travelling with us since he was three months old. He will say to me, but you're working all the time. And I have to remind them that while I'm on this group trip, this is my client, and we are paid, or I am paid to be doing a job.

I would love to come and have dinner with you, I would love to, you know, be there and go and hang out with my son and go to the pool and drink cocktails. But that's not what I'm paid for.

So I usually extend my trips, especially when I've got my family around, so that I can make sure that I have that beautiful time with them. Now what makes my group travel and my group trips successful is this dedication, because I am there I am with them. And I am 100% committed.

Now it's not at my beck and call, I make the choices. And I also now have the boundaries set. I am there in an emergency if my client calls me at 10 o'clock at night and I know that person is travelling, I know that they're not just calling me to ask me what time the next flight is, then I know that there's going to be an issue.

So I'm asking you today to give yourself permission to look at your business and look at how you're calling the shots. How you are your own boss.

I now have in place boundaries for conversations. I think I've told you the time that I had my son Jackson, where I felt as though I couldn't even answer the phone. I got to a point where it was just all too much for me trying to look after a newborn trying to answer calls book travel, I felt that I could be Superman. But that wasn't the reality.

So I had to put boundaries in place for conversations when I could work on my business, and when I could also work in it. Right now, if you are having a tough week, or it's been one of those weeks where nothing seems to be going your way. I'd love for you to give yourself permission to not answer the phone call.

So it's all the time limit, come back to it later and answer and reply to things on your time. Take the time out to go for a walk, maybe even go and buy yourself a fancy coffee at your favourite cafe. If you're allowed to be out of the house, read a book for an hour.

What is it that is actually going to give you life as my mom says? She says Ros, I need to do the things that are life giving, not the life taking. And so I encourage you to do that as well.

This week, you are looking after yourself, because things are tough. It's been one of those weeks, where frustration and the tears as I said in the backlash, it's all been there. So what can you do to look after yourself?

The work is always going to continue to be there. You know that. You know that email is going to be there tomorrow. So is anybody going to get hurt if you don't actually reply to that today?

You are allowed, and you do have permission to give yourself the grace. Give yourself the grace and the gratitude to appreciate that you are alive. You are healthy, and you need to take this time to take care of yourself.

I'm not saying don't go and ever go reply to clients and completely locked them out of your life. That's not going to work for you and I get it, you run your own business, but timeout. Just be yourself is healthy.

During lockdown here in Australia, I was very fortunate enough that I could go and walk on the beach every day.

I chose to do this for my hour of exercise because it was a couple of kilometres away. But why did I do it? I did it because I needed to get out of the consistent agonising phone calls and emails. I needed to step away from the constant kick in the guts. I needed to take care of myself.

I chose a beach to go to that had no phone reception so that I could just take time out for me and my family. I knew that the work would continue to be there. When I got home, I knew that the work would be there. The next day, nothing was going to change, but I was able to take care of myself.

The fact is that over the last six months, and I'll confess this to you guys, I have definitely drunk more than I ever have. My husband Clint who used to tour the world with major bands, you know, I'd go out on tour with him and you know, his friends would always call me the librarian because I couldn't keep up drinking with them.

And over the last six months, even though I don't normally drink, I've definitely drunk more than I used to. I will be honest with you, and I'm putting it out there. I have also put on weight or killed me to say that but you know what, I've been like you and I've been doing everything I possibly can take care of my clients. I've been doing everything I possibly can take care of my family, but I have forgotten about myself and the bit of self-love that I own extra care that I've needed to give to me. But that is all changing.

Tomorrow I am moving house and not a decision that we wanted to make, but we made it and I am going to be taking care of me. It feels like forever now that you know I have been able to go for a walk on the beach because I got back into old habits. And you may have done this too.

But I am doing something for myself. I know that I'm not alone in this and I hope you send me a message and go Don't worry Ros I’ve actually drinking more wine than I ever have as well. So please, please tell me that I am not alone.

If you've joined a gym lately, awesome, I'd love any recommendations that you've got with what you are doing to take care of your health, because I know that I need to do that for me.

But it has also been really important to me to take care of all of my clients. Over the last, I probably say three to four months now, taking care of my travel clients, but also you guys as part of the Travel Agent Achievers Community.

It's really important to me that we work together to come through this time. I can say that more and more these days because I know we have heat, I know that we all care. And I know that I have the skill that I can help travel agents get through this time if they put in the work and they want to be there too. I know that I'm not walking alone in this journey, and I don't want you to walk alone as well.

So I want you to really reach out if you are struggling. Know that you are not Alone. If you are feeling like you need some time out, it's okay to give yourself permission to take a break, to really take stock of yourself, your family and family is the most important thing right now.

We've been given this gift of time to really reconnect wherever we can to work on our business instead of in it all the time. And I encourage you to really connect with those that are giving you life that are life giving during the tough that life giving not life taking, as my mom would say

This week, I have heard numerous times of consultants and agents just like you getting frustrated, you know, clients are starting to ask us about refunds again, I have had exactly the same and in all honesty, we don't have a response that we can give out to everybody. But I do encourage you to be present to be visible.

And these are one of the words that I would love for you to have on your desk be visible, so that your clients know that you are still there. Yes, you may not be booking travel right now, but you are still there.

Coming from a place of gratitude and really flipping the switch. As I've said, this week quite a bit has changed and can change your mindset, coming from a place of always being or feeling like we're attacked, or, you know, clients are annoyed and they are frustrated, but it's all way and I get it.

But sometimes we also need to rise above it, flip the switch, and that's where we've talked about or I have with clients this week is a lot around being grateful and showing gratitude to our clients.

So if you don't have a number of the resources, please go and check out the Travel Agent Achievers website. Go through our past podcasts.

I have a tonne of information and resources there for you right down to video scripts that you guys can use to really show your clients that you are there.

Now, it is completely okay and very normal to be annoyed. It's okay to be frustrated. And it's okay to be sad.

It chokes me out to see and to speak to my clients and travel agents who feel like they're broken.

And I want you to know that you are okay. You are awesome. And I believe that you can get through this, the more and more and more that you reach out that you connect with those around you that you want to be like or connect with those that are positive in your life. Help you really come through this struggling time.

So coming from places of being grateful and gratitude has really helped my mindset this week, connecting with our clients, making sure that you're taking care of yourself, looking after your own self and your own well-being as well as your family and your loved ones around you.

Now, I get it, it is completely okay to swear. Get out all of the crap stuff that's going on for you go and punch a punching bag or you know what, when I was a teenager, my mom taught me a fabulous skill, which was to grab a rolled up newspaper or magazine and whenever I was angry, I would go into my bedroom and beat my pillow. This is a true story guys.

I don't know where she got it from and I'm not a violent person. I hate conflict and, you know, conversations that are really hard to have. they frustrate me but it's, I find it really difficult to get you know, I avoid confrontation. Let's just be real here. Yeah, I do. I don't like it. I don't like people being angry, it upsets me.

There you go, I've said it. But one of the things that I have learned is that I can go into my bedroom and I can beat that pillow and I can get it all out. If you don't have any way to go. I highly recommend this. If you're in Australia, and it's winter and you have a lot of fire, then why not go out and say that you'll be the one that cuts the wood.

Because you can just get that anger and frustration out. And it's okay, you are real, you are human. And we need to get it out of our systems in order for us to actually move on to refocus and to take the next step.

Now, the last thing is that if you have family if you don't have daycare, you've got issues at home, family comes first. Your family is your priority because they are the ones that will be there tomorrow.

Clients will come and go. So have a think about your life and your business, where you want to go and what's happening right now.

Family is important. And if you can give your child or family members some time, I can guarantee they will appreciate it. Even if it is that you sit down at the end of the day and you're watching a TV show together, have the conversations over dinner. You know what, they will be there for you. And you might be even surprised that they see things in you that you don't even see yourself.

So what are you going to do to take care of yourself over the next few days and even in this next week? It's okay to take care of yourself. Remember, business will still be there tomorrow. Give yourself some grace. Take time to breathe. Remember you are amazing.

I believe in you. I know that you'll get through this time. And I'm right here in every step of the way. I will be here to continue to support you. Travel Agent Achievers in the travel agent community. We are in this together.

So if you need that extra connection, if you want to reach out and have somebody to talk to, please send me a DM, send me a message on all the socials @travelagentachievers, send us an email, reach out to us on the website.

Or even join us in the accountability Facebook group Achievers in Travel Accountability. And we will be there to connect and help you and support you as much as possible. We have got some incredible students in our Six week rebuild your travel business programme. I am absolutely in love with them. They are making progress. There's been so many aha moments already.

And it warms my heart to know that they have reached out and asked for guidance but they are putting in the work to actually get through this time. So I encourage you, if you need support, if you want help, reach out, join us in the next six-week programme. We will be here. I will be your cheerleader, and I will be here to support you.

That's all I've got for this week. I want you to know how much I appreciate you. I love that you are here. I thank you for listening to the podcast. You are absolutely gorgeous. No matter where you are in the world. Thank you for listening. You're wonderful. And remember your clients love you. Hopefully they love you just as much as I do.

So don't forget to subscribe to the podcast, write us a review, check out the website. Remember we've got so much good stuff on there. travelagentachievers.com. If you need help, reach out, I am here for you. Take care of yourself. Be kind to yourself. look after you. I'll see you next week.