No matter what the season or the stage of your career, balancing work and life successfully can always be challenging. With the start of the new school year and fall just around the corner, this can be the season to renew and refresh your career goals. At the start of the summer, we focused on the need to find your high-heeled equilibrium during the summer months when attitudes relax.
As July and August come to a close, work, school, volunteer and really everything seems to rev up to get back to business. This new attitude allows for a fresh start; however, you now have opportunity to hang onto the summer balance tools that may have worked especially well for you.
For example, if being in nature was something you discovered as restorative this summer, make it a priority to continue to enjoy the outdoors. Maybe you found that being less tethered to your electronics was a new discovery that allowed you to switch gears, enjoy the moment and even sleep better. If you found that worked for you, keep it up! Summer often forces us to find ways to simplify. If you managed to feel positive effects from simplification, keep doing whatever worked for you.
In short, let’s approach your career guide for fall, like you would approach the excitement of starting the school year. Remember what it was like to go back to school in the fall – everything was fresh and new. You might have been excited about your new school shoes or excited about making new friends, either way, remember what excited you about this time of year.
If you were like me, you would wonder what new information you might learn in the coming year. Just writing this column, I’m reminded of that feeling. I’m challenging myself and challenging you to think about what new, exciting opportunities and challenges might be facing you in your career and in your life. Is there a new technology you want to learn? Do you need to be more assertive in the workplace?
If new friends are something you looked forward to in the new school year, think about your workplace relationships, both internal and external. Take this opportunity to focus on new goals with your relationships. Maybe you’ll decide to take lunch with a work friend or set your sights on developing a new mentor. Whatever the goal, fall can be the time to refresh your plans.
When I was a kid going back to school in the fall, my parents took me to St. Louis to go shopping for new school clothes. The brief family trip was full of tradition. We went to the zoo and a baseball game. The ritual provided the reset I needed.
As an adult, you can decide that a fall refresh involves reinventing your image and/or your wardrobe, deciding you need to update your style or sharpen your focus. As a professional woman, monitoring your body language and the signals you send could be the reset you need. (Watch for a more extensive conversation about body language and what it transmits in a future issue.)
As the regular school/academic year calendar pace picks back up, whether you have children at home or not, take advantage of this opportunity to renew and refresh with the same excitement you had as the new school year started in the fall. Whether you’re wearing your high-heels or your fuzzy slippers, take time to keep what worked for you in the summer and sharpen your career focus to best suit your own personal needs.
If you are eager to make a greater impact in your career, it would be my honor to be part of that process with you. Please give me a call at 513-561-4288 or connect with me via email at kay@highheeledsuccess.com, so we can empower you to achieve that goal.
©Copyright 2017. Kay Fittes. All Rights Reserved.