Balance is another term that we often mistake for meaning “equal”. Work/life balance is not about spending the same amount of time and energy on work and “life”. It’s finding an equilibrium, a still point that allows for a sense of stability, even though things are still in flux around us. Likewise, equilibrium does not mean “equal” - where the equilibrium point is could be 80% of A and 20% of B or any other combination. It simply means that there is a stable quantity of each.
Balance is another term that we often mistake for meaning “equal”. Work/life balance is not about spending the same amount of time and energy on work and “life”. It’s finding an equilibrium, a still point that allows for a sense of stability, even though things are still in flux around us. Likewise, equilibrium does not mean “equal” - where the equilibrium point is could be 80% of A and 20% of B or any other combination. It simply means that there is a stable quantity of each.
Freezing office? It impacts more than just your wardrobe choices. It's time to speak up. It’s July, which means that pretty much wherever you are in America, the corporate overlords have set the thermostat to somewhere in the range of your average refrigerator/freezer. If you’ve noticed that it feels harder to concentrate in your freezing office while furiously rubbing the goosebumps on your arms, it’s not just you.
Life is too short and we spend too many hours of that life at work to settle for something that we don't love doing. Here's one shift you can make to move in the right direction. Throughout our careers, we seek the elusive “dream job” that will check all the boxes and be the perfect environment where we get the chance to “do what you love and love what you do”. The problem is that if we’re waiting for someone to create that opportunity and send us an invitation we’re going to be wasting a lot of valuable time.
ou’re maxed out on tasks that you now see will have no benefit to your promotional path but feel stuck doing them anyway. People see you as the “go-to” person for extra assignments and you only say no when you’re so overwhelmed it comes out as hostile instead of strategic and confident.
If this sounds all too familiar, you may be wondering….
How can I break the pattern?
It’s hard to answer questions about vision and passion when you’re having to scrape yourself off the couch to do the most basic tasks. The irony is that one of the most effective ways to move out of burnout is to have a future-focused motivation that aligns with your passions. Identifying the activities that fill your energy tank is the best way to gain momentum that will get you out of the fatigue zone.
Holding back pieces of ourselves deprives the world of our unique perspectives and leads to feeling unfulfilled and exhausted. I think this is something that we all grapple with, whether it’s doing the personal growth and exploration to uncover who we are, or finding ways to honor that authentic self in “the real world”. Here are some resources for uncovering and embracing authenticity.
I’ve been seeing a recurring pattern in my conversations and coaching lately. I hear a lot of stories about feeling stuck because of competing desires. At first glance, it seems like FOMO (fear of missing out): “If I go for option A, that means letting go of option B. What if I don’t end up liking option A?”
In my own in-house survey of women in STEM, a common source of frustration they mentioned was seeing women constantly overlooked for promotion. A seasoned engineer I spoke with reported a lack of change in the number of women at conferences in her field over the last 20 years. In networking events, I hear a lot of frustration over finding ways to self-promote that doesn’t feel gross or inauthentic.
How to combine values, passion, and purpose to uncover your WHY
Learn how decision fatigue can impact your personal health as well as the health of your business
Understand the uses of a mission statement, and how to make one that isn’t just BS
A quick centering technique you can use to get inspired and clear anytime, anywhere with no need for headphones, yoga poses, or privacy
How to apply your mission statement to make decisions with less stress and greater focus
