It’s taken me a lifetime to learn how to structure my days to prioritize self care as an investment in myself. I didn’t know how to do this when I had two children plus myself to get ready and drive to school and work. “Me time” didn’t exist when I was balancing mom responsibilities with growing a business while staying connected to friends and family too. I thought that was how it had to be—I kept thinking I’d get to “me” later, after everything and everybody else.
These days, I’m enjoying the real benefits of focused self care. I’ve lost 25% of my body weight (so far, and thank you Zepbound), am sleeping better (thank you Oura), and am feeling stronger with various physical activities including biking, swimming, tai chi, and more. (Thank you, LifeTime, for making working out fun!) Imagine being my age and having annual physical stats improve over the last 4 years. (Thank you Dr. Gabriela Bowers… if only I had known what I know now when I was younger.)
I don’t regret the time I shared with my children, family, and friends. That was all priceless—the bonus of being human. But I do see now that my constant drive to get to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing affected my health and well-being.
If I could do it all over again, I would guard my work hours more carefully and be more judicious about allocating my time. Working long hours without breaks was par for the course, or so I thought. In retrospect, I could have worked fewer and less harried hours had I carefully considered the investment of each meeting, each introduction, each interaction. It’s not impossible—it’s what I’m doing now, and it’s working beautifully. I just wish I’d figured it out sooner.
So for what it’s worth, as I’m on a mission to help you get to your best self in this journey called life, if you haven’t already put a dollar value on your time, stop and do that. Then imagine hearing cha-ching when you invest well, and a buzzer sounding when you throw away time like trash.
How do you calculate the dollar value of your time? It doesn’t have to be exact, so for starters, take your annual salary or other form of yearly income, divide it by 2,080 (# of hours in a full-time year) and there you have it. For example, if you make $80,000 a year, divide that by 2,080 and your hourly rate is $39. If someone wants to meet with you, is it worth that hour of your time at $39/hour? Now you’re getting it. 😊
Your time has a price—invest it wisely and reap the rewards you deserve.
Curated Shares
Curated Shares- I like Dr. Laura Noel’s thoughts on “leading by levers.” She talks about great leaders knowing which levers to pull and how not to pull them all yourself. It’s great advice for anyone working with teams, not just official leaders, so have a read.
- I’ve written a chapter for a book on marketing leadership that will be published soon. (My chapter is on how to conduct a successful new agency search.) Deborah Froese, my editor, is a gifted writer whose mission is sparking change through her writing. She uses her podcast, Write, Writer, Write! to help others do the same. In one of the episodes, she suggests writers think about the triumphs, traumas, and lies their characters tell themselves to help figure out how those characters will behave in certain situations.
What if we think of our greatest triumph and our biggest trauma and examine if we’ve been truthful with ourselves about them. Through this exercise, we can get close to the self-awareness we’re seeking and make better decisions going forward. Go on, give it a try!
- On that thought about investing time wisely for future benefit, interesting that new research conducted by Dating.com found single people are more apt than others to busy up their Sundays with work. “52% of those without a romantic [partner] said they spend most Sundays alone and 65% say it’s the loneliest day of their week. To cope, 74% say they’ve turned to work to keep themselves busy, and 40% say they do so often.” You can read the whole story on Fast Company or a summary here on LinkedIn. (Scroll down, it’s not the top story on the page).
- Sometimes I see a headline and think, “Oh, I don’t need that.” But something prompts me to start reading and viola!—I’ve learned something new. That’s what happened when I read Scott H. Young’s “How to Read One Book Per Week (Even if You Read Slowly)” on Medium. It’s truly novel advice ( I crack myself up) and worth the read. I’ve got this gift link to the full article for you.
Kindness is Contagious, Pass It Along!
Kindness is Contagious, Pass It Along!I thought this was such a nice story from 1440 so I had to share: “Travel writer Rick Steves buys a hygiene center that provides facilities and support for people experiencing homelessness for $2.25M, saving it from closure.” More here on NPR.
Do Good Spotlight: One Acre Fund
For farmers, it all comes down to planting technique and the quality of seeds and supplies. One Acre Fund helps small farmers across Africa increase their yields and profits to create thriving communities. Learn more about their work: One Acre Fund.
⏳Until Next Time…
What’s it going to take for you to prioritize yourself to be truly optimized? Give it some thought, and take the steps you need—even if they’re just baby steps—to get where you want to be.
Niki