-
When Hindsight is 20/20, and the Future is Bright.
A couple of months before I quit my job, I was talking to a friend about a friend. The friend I was talking about made a big, hairy, audacious decision (I’m tweaking “BHAG“), and her life flourished afterward. I explained that is how life is supposed to go. Things are supposed to fall into place when you’re making the right decisions. Under tears, I asked, “What are the right decisions that I’m not making?” Because both my work life and my personal life had gotten much harder. Going into the new job in 2021, I was aware of some reservations. Ultimately, I chose to listen to my head rather than…
-
All the Things I Can Do.
I have never been a big dreamer, and I’m actually somewhat thankful for that. I’m far too practical and reasonable to dream big. I feel big dreams have the potential to put unattainable goals in your distant future, and too many variables can pop up between now and then. I would rather take opportunities as they come or plan for things within a timeframe that is practical, reasonable, and attainable. I’m also quite aware that the future is not guaranteed. I have a hard time dreaming or planning too far ahead knowing full well the opportunity may never come. In the beginning of a leadership training I attended, a group…
-
Dreams.
I have so many unpublished post drafts in my dashboard, countless others in a Word document, and several others in a Google Drive folder. As always, I’ve been taking some time to reflect. When I read through these posts, it’s an insightful reminder of the emotions felt, lessons learned, and journey taken over the past year. Many posts do not get published, because my thoughts feel incomplete or I feel the post will be read in standalone judgement rather than in the greater context of who I am and what I write about. I don’t want my thoughts on a specific topic to be taken the wrong way, especially when…
-
Standards.
I had the TV on in the background one evening, when I overheard something that made me pause. He said, “Maybe your standards are too high.”She replied, “Our standards are who we are.” They weren’t talking about dating. They were talking about quality of work. Now, I’ve been thinking about my own standards, both personally and professionally, a lot over the past year or so. Am I setting my expectations too high? Are these realistic things to achieve? Honestly, I get teased a lot because I was a straight A student, and I always strive for 100% on my audits. I set my sights for ideal. And if I talk…
-
Expectations.
I had several conversations this week that essentially revolved around expectations. Each conversation was unique with different circumstances, different personalities, different goals, and different intentions. So when I said intentions don’t matter, I was kind of lying. But really, it all depends. In one conversation, we were talking about how a specific person has a reputation of over-promising and under-delivering. The consistent under-delivery has now become my expectation. Whether he cannot produce due to intentional or accidental circumstances, it doesn’t matter. The habit formed has shaped my opinion of him, and I now find him unreliable and untrustworthy. This will ultimately lead to a dissolution of the relationship, unless he…
-
Work-Life Balance.
Rachel Hollis says the work-life balance is total crap. She says that the media caught on to the phrase and overused it to the point that we believe it’s an achievable goal – when it’s not. I don’t think she’s entirely wrong. I have a friend. I love him. He’s great. But every once in awhile he says something that makes me want to straight up punch him in the face. We’ll be talking about something, and he’ll say, “Well, you’re not married, and you don’t have kids.” While I try to casually let it go, my internal response is more a series of: 🤯😡😤🤬. You guys – that is…