In 2007, I approached my CEO with a question.
Could I possibly relinquish my role as head of client relationships (for the Sydney) agency & move across to the open role of head of digital?
His head nearly spun off! I was literally requesting to reduce my power base. Moving from running a team of 50 or so -> to a team of 6.
The link between self love and happiness isn’t new. Some of my favourite quotes on the topic are indeed centuries old, and come from the wisest of souls.
"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And, if not now, when?"
Hillel (famous religious leader of the fifth century)
And the Buddha said;
"You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserves your love and affection."
Why would you want to simply survive when you can choose to thrive?
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer 9 years ago, I was definitely in survival mode. Going through the motions, racking up achievements. Ticking boxes. All good.
So how come, in the midst of a major health scare, it didn’t seem all good anymore?
I realised I had been simply allowing my life to unfold, one foot in front of the other. Which is so, sooooo normal, especially when ‘technically’ you’re a big success. Familiar?
Once you hit your mid 30’s, or at least definitely into your 40’s/50’s, you will face a truth. For life to be fulfilling, it also needs to be meaningful.
Dammit, you mean coasting doesn’t cut it?!
I ask you this.
When you hear the words ‘you need to work on yourself’, how does that make you feel? Like you need to run for the hills? Push that sh*t down and keep moving forward?
When I was 22 years of age, the grim reaper was on our TV screens and current affair type programs released news that 1 in 5 people would die of Aids. I thought wow, there are 5 people in my family - that means one of us is dying from this.
I decided it was me, that I had Aids. I took blood test after blood test and they came back negative. The tabloids told me about false negatives. Meanwhile, I lost my appetite, my ability to concentrate and my zest for life. Ultimately the Doctor prescribed me anti depressants. A few months later looking back, I couldn’t understand it. And no, I hadn’t been promiscuous at all!
As I sit here typing, there are 90 days left, not just in this year, but of this decade. To think, one day we will look back and exclaim, back in the 10’s we xyz (how weird does that sound?!).
At this time of year, it’s pretty common to slip into “it’s nearly over” mode. I mean let’s just limp toward the finish line (that is the holidays) and start fresh next year. Sound familiar? In corporate, it can even be a bit of a mantra. You know guys, we just have to keep pushing, to get through. Urgh, really?!
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