The importance of foundations in your life

This newsletter has never been much about the actions for growing or scaling in business.

Boring Issues is more about the surrounding factors in your personal development that affect business, success and life. 
 
And you might not realise just how important those things are. 

I would say they are just as important as building or taking action on the business or your exterior goals.  

Because when something is rattled in your personal life, your work is affected. 
 
So today I want to talk about how you can build strong foundations so that when something goes wrong, your building (you and your business or work) doesn’t shake. 

Foundations took me yearrsss to build, mainly because I didn’t know I was building them or needed them. 
 
There was a time where an un-responded message or a comment like “you can’t do that” would rock my entire world.  
 
I would spiral, get upset, question myself… Why? Because I didn’t have foundations like values, standards, strong self-respect or non-negotiables. 
 
Other factors like who you spend your time with can affect building these foundations too because if you’re constantly hearing negative talk from others about you or themselves, it obviously seeps into your foundations (or lack of). 
 
Now, I am much older and wiser and people’s comments or actions don’t affect me as much. 
 
Why? Because I am sure of myself through my foundations; values, standards, non-negotiables and self-respect. 

• I take care of myself through diet, movement, rest, sleep, learning, exploring, creative activities, friends, and family. Taking care of yourself and ensuring you’re watering your own garden is self-respect.
• I hold my values close to everything I do and listen to: Honesty, Creativity, Kindness, Courage. If someone who doesn’t have the same values as me says something to question these, there’s no need to listen to them.
• My non-negotiables include things like not over-explaining myself, not chasing people who aren’t interested, not comparing, not listening to gossip or putting other people down.
• The standards for people in my life have been significantly raised and are sifted through what I care about. Not chosen through vanity or ego but through their own self-respect and character. 

Obviously, like you, I am much more complex than this short list, but it is a good representation of how you can build your own strong foundations. 
 
When you’re lost or something has happened, you’ve got yourself to return to, and that’s pretty cool. 

Try writing out your own;

• Self-respect practices
• Values
• Non-negotiables
• Standards

These are the kinds of foundations that can’t be shaken by a comment or thought from someone else or even a bad thought from yourself. 
 
Follow them, evolve them and adapt as you need. Eventually they will become second nature and you will be able to handle anything life throws at you.  
 
You’ve only got yourself for life so build someone that you care about. 
Everything else will be built on top of your foundations. 
But you can’t build a palace on sand, so make sure your foundations are strong.
 
Love, 
Penelope   
Co-Founder of Boring Studios, Writer, Self-caring