Over the last 40 days:
– I’ve been trolled, bullied, and threatened online by hundreds of people. People criticizing me for being too Black, too loud, too opinionated, too everything. Belittling me because I dare to insist that Black Lives Matter and white people need to do better.
– I’ve reeled from terrifying news reports. I’ve had waves of crushing anxiety about my own physical safety and my children’s safety. Because often, in our country, it does not feel safe to be Black in public.
– I’ve dealt with hundreds of other challenges, too. Major things. Micro things. Things I've shared online. And things I keep private. All the daily drama that comes along with being a working parent, household breadwinner, pandemic homeschooler, and CEO with a staff of 10.
Also, in the last 40 days or so:
– My company generated over $1 million dollars (a record-breaking month).
– I led a Town Hall meeting for over 3,000 live attendees.
– And I finished writing my first book.
A colleague recently posed this question to me:
“Rachel, you've had to deal with so many painful, draining situations lately. And yet, you continue to accomplish huge things. What's your mental self-care routine? How do you stay mentally strong? What would you recommend to others?”
I can’t speak for everyone, but I can speak for myself.
This is how I stay mentally strong even when life feels absolutely bonkers:
– I check in with my squad. Daily.
My best friend Robert is one of the most resilient, positive people on the planet. We text back-and-forth daily to hype each other up. These friend-texts (along with a few other group-texts with dear friends) give me life, and give me strength.
– I shut out the noise.
Do I stay on top of the news? Yes. But I also carve out large chunks of time for uninterrupted, distraction-free work. Phone: off. Kids: handled. Office door: closed.
This is crucial, because there’s just no way I could do high-caliber work if I were being interrupted by social media notifications, emails, texts, calls, or frightening news stories 100 times a day.
– I do angry Peloton rides.
Because sometimes you just gotta ride it out, cry, curse, and let the sweat cleanse you.
– I feed myself joy and delight.
I bought an inflatable waterslide for my kids and we’ve been enjoying joyful playtime and making silly videos together. Delight feeds my spirit…and gives me a reason to keep fighting for a better world.
– I delegate…all the things.
You’ve heard me preach about the importance of delegating and outsourcing before, and I will continue doing so until the end-times!
I have a chef. I have live-in childcare (thank you, amazing mother-in-law!). I have a housecleaner. I have not washed my own laundry since 2008. By delegating household chores, I’m able to free up 20 hours of free time and tons of mental bandwidth every week.
I’m able to focus on the *big things* (write books, parent my children, lead movements, run my company, generate massive income, be a wife/sister/daughter/friend) because I’m not drowning in all the *little things*.
(Note: you don’t need to go from “zero help” to “Downton Abbey staff” overnight. Start by hiring a wash-and-fold laundry service or personal assistant for $100 a week. This, alone, will change your life.)
– I stay focused on my mission.
I’m on a mission to make every woman I meet a millionaire.
That’s why I started my company, Hello Seven. That’s why I founded The Club. That’s why I wrote my book. Because I want to live in a world where women, especially Black women, hold serious economic power.
In those moments when I want to give up, when I want to inhale an entire bag of cookies and numb out, when everything feels too hard, I remind myself why I started this journey.
Because of my children.
Because of you and yours.
Because we should all be millionaires.
. . .
What keeps you mentally strong?
Maybe it’s therapy or God or RuPaul or your best friend or your dog or watching your toddler giggle and squeal while he goes down a slide.
Whatever keeps you feeling steady, make sure it’s a regular part of your routine. Please prioritize your mental self-care, because nobody else is going to do it for you.
Stay strong, future millionaire.
xo,
R
PS. Today, do something *extra* for yourself to bring more joy, peace, and power into your life. This music playlist (filled with songs hand-picked by myself and the Hello Seven team) is a good place to start!
PPS. Because of the serious growth Hello Seven has just experienced, we’re growing our team in lockstep. This means we’re hiring for a variety of roles right now, and when we say, “we should all be millionaires,” we mean ALL of us. This is why we are committed to honoring, celebrating, and fostering diversity on our team, in our clientele and within our community. Our team must reflect our community. Which means we’re looking for candidates that represent diversity across all identities including, but not limited to, ethnicity, race, gender, LQBTQIA, age, religion and abilities. If you’re committed to our mission and our values, take a look at all our open positions here.
