Getting to the mid-point in the year got me thinking.
The business world traditionally focuses on mid-year reviews, looking at the WHAT and HOW of goals met and progress made. Some years you’ll feel like a bullet train, going hard and fast on your goals, and excelling in the desired leadership traits.
Others you’ll be like a slow train, stopping frequently along the way to overcome obstacles and not quite making it to your destination.
As an achiever, the latter can feel disastrous - your inner voice can play havoc and your stress levels end up through the roof. One ‘less than’ performance year and you convince yourself your career is over.
Typically, this happens when we are juggling too much. Whether its multiple demands on your time and energy, difficult work or home relationships, health issues, caring for loved ones, or life events that are needing your attention - it’s inevitable performance may be affected.
Last year was a tricky one for me and my family. We were dealt three simultaneous situations that we’d never experienced before. Navigating them felt like swimming through choppy waters and the weight of it felt heavy.
Getting to mid-year seeing a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel felt like an achievement.
Had I delivered for my clients? YES.
Had I achieved everything I'd set out to achieve? NO.
Did I have huge life lessons learned and a family safe and well? YES.
Did I still beat myself up for not doing it all? OF COURSE!
Then I reframed what goal setting and success looked like. I needed self-compassion, not self-criticism.
It didn’t have to be wholly about career success. It became about ‘whole me’ success.
Whole me success is about looking at all areas of your life, personal and professional and ensuring there is balance or attention in the areas that need it most. It evolves as life ebbs and flows.
Since experiencing burnout in 2019, my mission has been to help leaders to be happy, healthy and high performing. After my experience last year, I’ve taken this to a different level, with wellbeing being an even stronger pillar of my business.
If we don’t take care of ourselves and treat ourselves with compassion, we will never perform to our potential. Success will continue to be what we think we should achieve or be based on what other people expect us to achieve.
So as we head into the second half of 2024, I encourage you to look reflect upon:
the life events you’ve got through or are going through
how you have helped or taken care of others
how you have nurtured and taken care of yourself
what you have learned about yourself, and others, that you didn’t know at the start of the year
Then, if you want to set goals for the rest of 2024, ensure they focus on the whole you, not just the work you.
I absolutely believe we can achieve great things, but not at the cost of our health, wellbeing, relationships and finances. So, if you want someone in your corner who can help you to DO well and BE well, drop me a line to arrange a free curious virtual coffee. I call it a curious coffee (or tea, whatever beverage you prefer!) because I’m curious to get to know you and understand how to support you to be the best you can be.
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