Reflection Is Key To Personal Sustainability

My way of working has been nutty lately. Yesterday, I was up at 4:30am, worked on a marketing project, drove an hour and half during rush hour traffic, sat through a 6-hour training to help me better understand my company’s learning management system, and when it finished, I was frickin’ exhausted!

During the last hour of the training, I felt like I was working double-time just to focus and keep my eyes open when everything in me wanted to shut down and go to sleep.

So as I walked back to the parking garage, groggy, I passed a local coffee shop in hopes that a Dirty Chai Latte would perk me up.

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In some ways it did! (Hell, who wouldn’t get some kind of stimulation from a cup of caffeine topped off with a shot of espresso?!) 😀

But once I sat down, slowed down, and looked around for a bit, I realized that I hadn’t set aside any time for myself.

I need it, and if I don’t give it to myself, then I have very little to give those around me.

Lately, I’ve been wanting to rush and complete or move projects forward faster, so everything has been “Go! Go! Go! Learn more! Do more!” And despite all my training, my own life experiences with my health, and my work as a mentor and teacher of well-being, I still have to make a conscious effort to practice slowing down and just chill…

It’s funny…even as I wrote that sentence, I felt my body relax.

The fact of the matter is I’ve become accustomed to the “Go!-Do!” way of life, and it takes deliberate practice to do it differently.

In that moment of grogginess, I had been given a really great opportunity to reconnect with myself and do something that would help me feel better. I remembered just how important it is for me to take a step back, slow down, and create space to process and reflect and be present.

So as I sat at Bernie’s Coffee Shop in San Francisco, I enjoyed and appreciated the fact that I got to be outside in SF on a really nice day.

There was a sign on the window across from me (in the lower left-hand corner) that said “Awesome things live here.”

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I have a manager who supports my development. And I got to spend time with some really incredible people from other organizations talking about how we can make things better for the customers we serve.

I share this because it’s important for me to create space in my life and in my schedule. I don’t have to (and I can’t) “Go! Go! Go!” and “Do! Do! Do!” anymore. And quite frankly, I don’t want it. It’s not fun, and it doesn’t feel good. So I’m getting to do it differently. I’m getting to learn how to do it in a way that is personally sustainable and fun.

Here’s to creating a new, maximized life!!

I’d love hear about what’s working for you! What habits do you have (or want to put) in place to cultivate more of your own personal sustainability?

© 2016 Donell Hill

About Donell Hill

Donell Hill (“Donnie”) believes that people are here on Earth to thrive and live a maximized, joyful life through the circumstances that life brings them. He combines his life lessons until now with his Stanford University education, experiences as a Certified Cancer Journey Coach, a Health Educator, a NASM Certified Personal Trainer, a Presentation Skills consultant, a Leadership and Communication Coach, a Transformation Specialist, and as a professional actor. Now, as The Life Maximizer, mission-driven leaders who want to make everything in their life count hire him to help them identify, leverage and create new opportunities to maximize their impact and contributions, elevate the quality of life and well-being of those they serve and create a legacy they’d be proud to call their own. After all, our collective future depends on your willingness to own your rightful place as a leader and be your legacy now! See www.TheLifeMaximizer.com for more.
Photo (“This is my life”): Copyright: <a href=’https://www.123rf.com/profile_sondem’>sondem / 123RF Stock Photo</a>