The Secret Life Advice You Didn’t Know You Needed
Beating Burnout–Being Where You Are Instead
For a blog that focuses on building routines as the main niche, this post may seem off topic to you. However, I would like to add that while tactical takeaways are important I think it is also imperative to discuss a realization I recently had.
I have been interviewing for new jobs over the past couple of months. The process has been incredibly exhausting and humbling. Having a a physician assistant degree I was always told “Oh, you will always have a job” or the famous “Wow, amazing job security!” While this may be true compared to other professions, trying to land a role in a city that you just moved to with limited connections was fairly difficult. At this time, I was also in the process of transitioning industries. All of this to say, the past few months have consisted of resume rewrites, LinkedIn connection messages, and numerous cover letters. (Side note: is it just me or do cover letters low-key feel like begging but not lol?) I had one experience in an interview that I would like to discuss further.
I asked the person interviewing me for advice. This person had a long list of accomplishments and what anyone would call a successful career to look back on from an objective data standpoint and in regard to the lives he influenced. Do you know what that piece of advice I received was? He said after taking some time to reflect, “Be where you are”. This was right after he mentioend how impressed he was with all I had done in my few short years out of PA school. In my head I initially was like “Be where you are?!” Is this seriously the advice? Seemed a bit cliche to be honest, but I thankfully had the next few days to reflect on it.
Be where you are. What an interesting thing to say to a high achiever. To that person that is always looking for the next best thing to do or accomplish. Simply be where you are. I felt compelled to write about what I think that looks like in a world that is encouraging anything but.
Being where you are means
Allowing the house to be a little messy and instead spend the time listening to your spouse as they are talking about something important while you are trying to clean
Resting when you are tired
Celebrating EVERY SINGLE accomplishment–large or small
Building self care time that fills your cup back up in the AM and PM
Enjoying the journey over the result
Take time to write down what you are thankful for each day
Being quiet , noticing
Enjoying that first cup of coffee
Listening to people, not just waiting to talk
That you keep showing up even if you do not love the season you are in
Savoring your meals, not rushing through them
Calling family and friends–genuinely caring about what is going on in their life
Reading your favorite book and letting yourself escape into another world
Showing up in this world and allowing yourself to be vulnerable
Taking your current mistakes as lessons
Choosing yourself–choosing to live deeply, fully, and presently
With this list, I started with what seemed to be relatively little things, snippets of a day–but turned them into larger ideas. The reason for this is because they are just that. These small, seemingly meaningless moments of our day are really what it is all about. Sure those moments in life that take your breath away come, but then they go. Our lives are in the present, the daily interactions, the waking and going to sleep each night.
So when my high-achieving personality initially heard the words be where you are by someone who was years ahead and successful it took a moment for it to sink in. As we build routines that help us feel and perform to our highest potential I think part of it also needs to encompass being present. Being the person who feels, listens, and interacts wholly with the world and the people around them.