TOTAL READ TIME: 3 Minutes
Recently a younger professional woman asked me for advice, “Kathy how do you balance it all, between being a Mom, having a career and juggling life in general?”
In other words, how do you reach that point of mastery?
Well, 23 years into my own professional career journey, I had to break the news to her: You never reach mastery. Rather, it’s a practice – a daily choice.
I then told her about how just yesterday I both failed and succeeded (these strong, inappropriate words are used for emphasis). First, I was asked if I could be available to take a 5:30-6:30pm meeting next Monday. I “successfully” said no, to prioritize that precious window of the day for family time. Then, just two hours later, I was asked if I could adjust my calendar to take a 12:30pm meeting. What was the big deal about that? Well – it was the only 30-minute window I had blocked for a break the entire day, with the rest being in back-to-back meetings. I failed, therefore causing a day with no exhale.
I don’t think we ever arrive at figuring it out. It’s a constant choice. Perhaps you’ve developed a system that works (if so, please share). For me – I think of it more like a practice, just like when you hear people say “I have a yoga practice” or “I have a meditation practice.” Recovering alcoholics and food addicts make a choice every day to say no to their drug of choice. What if saying yes is it’s own addiction?
There’s a bit of relief, isn’t there? To realize that the day we are chasing will never arrive. There isn’t a magical day coming where we have it all figured out. Mastery is in the moment – the choice in how and where we show up every day. Just like you – the daily demands will never stop. I could say yes all day every day, but if I don’t put a healthier practice into place, I’m not serving anyone.
Cheers to this new practice of ours. The next time you kindly say no to me, I will smile and nod, knowing you are practicing your mastery in this moment.