The Joys...and hazards...of slowing down

Although this is one of several weekends I've enjoyed without commitments this fall, I'm still getting used to not having to be somewhere.

For so many months, it was go-go-go with barely a day to just stop and BE.  Then, when the dance stretch ended in mid-October, the slowdown began.  The first couple of free weekends were difficult.  There was a strong feeling of emptiness, like I was cheating myself and others by not doing something or going somewhere.  It's better now, but it still feels strange.  Decompression is not easy I guess.

One way I've tried to ease into slowdown mode is to keep busy in my free time with my efforts to network here in central Iowa, especially regarding the DJ business.  Just when I felt like I was pounding my head against the wall, I finally booked that first local gig.  Here's hoping its not an isolated incident!  I keep pushing, sending emails, making phone calls, updating the various internet marketing venues to try to build a buzz.  I'm sure it will be a slower than usual summer of 2012.

The real fear I have about slowing down-and especially about the prospect of a light schedule next wedding season-is that I'll get used to it.  That's right...what if I start to LIKE having free time?  A few years ago I felt like it was time to hang up the headphones and stop doing the mobile DJ biz.  Thank God I didn't, because it has allowed me to accomplish many of my financial goals over the past few years.  And I've been in a pretty good groove...just the right number of events (busy with an occasional summer weekend off).  It's kept me motivated with a goal of continuing to keep doing 20-40 events a year over the next five years (with similar numbers by Chris and Eric), followed by easing back on the throttle as we become debt free.  

But if next year only has me working 10-15 events, a pace that will be about half of what I'm used to, I fear that old, bad habits will reappear.  By bad habits I mean things like wanting to start golfing again (and thereby spending heaps of money and putting myself through heaps of self-loathing), or that I'll start to let my financial goals slip.  

So I'm planning to stay vigilant and keep pushing the business through the winter months.  I'm looking at it not as a chore, but a challenge, to re-establish myself in a new area where they don't know me , and where I face a very competitive marketplace.