There are so many analogies that represent this quote. You have too much on your plate. You’ve got your hand in too many pots. You’re spreading yourself too thin. Your cup runneth over. So many of us feel that we have to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders (hey, that’s another one!) as leaders and as people. In prior years, I wanted to be involved in everything, and even today it’s tempting to raise my hand to many volunteer and leadership opportunities outside of my current commitments. It took a long time to put me in a position where I knew I could not do it all and needed to stop trying.
Around the time my son was born, I kept encountering situations where I would hear or read the importance of confirming core values. As I started to explore this, I also looked at goal setting and how it aligned to key areas and my values. For example, two of my values are family and personal/professional development. As I set goals and looked at groups I wanted to be involved in, I wanted to make sure that I made reasonable commitments that aligned with my values. When I was asked to be more involved in one of the organizations I’m a member of, I had to look at what I was currently doing. Because I was already on a board for a different organization and needed to be available for things that my son was involved in, I had to politely decline. Years ago, I would have jumped at the chance to lead in multiple groups. Not only is my life much different now, but I have also learned that I need to properly balance my goals and line them up as best as possible with my values.
As I continue to look at what’s next for me both personally and professionally, the temptation is always there to jump in everywhere. What’s different now is the lens that I make decisions through. If a new opportunity comes my way, I weigh it with my current goals and my core values. If that opportunity does not support either, there’s hardly a valid reason to say yes to it. For those that do align, I still have to make sure it’s not going to put me in a position where I put my existing commitments at risk, or I need to decide if it’s time to drop something to allow the new opportunity to happen.
Stay tuned for more nuggets on finding balance when I continue this topic in my next post. What has helped you find balance? I’d love to hear about it.
The Secret Sauce 