Starting December 14, the Ethos team will be on our holiday break. Taking a few weeks to rest, renew, and reset has been part of our practice for years. To be honest, for me (Becky here), I think I need this moment more than I ever have.
2023 has been an eventful year for Ethos and my family. In the Ethos world, we’ve added new clients and received new work from long-term clients, and in my personal world, we moved from our home in Parkersburg to our newly constructed home in Morgantown. All these amazing opportunities are worthy of celebration, but they also take their toll. As this year ends, I find myself in need of the rest and the renewal, and perhaps most importantly, the reset that our calendar affords our team.
I emphasize the reset because, at some point, I let go of some good habits that typically keep me grounded amid a busy schedule. For example, on non-travel days, I filled my calendar with meetings rather than giving myself time for what we call “backstage work.” I found myself working nights and weekends to move projects forward. I spent too many evenings working in my hotel on travel days rather than relaxing with a good book or streaming a feel-good movie.
Simply stated, I allowed myself to cross boundaries that I put in place to protect myself against how I feel right now – exhausted and frustrated with myself because I know better. But don’t we all?! That’s precisely why the act of resetting is so crucial!
Over the course of any extended leadership tenure, the temptation to compromise on the practices that anchor us becomes almost inevitable. Perhaps you, too, find yourself at this juncture as we conclude the year. While you may have admirably met various requests/demands, it’s worth reflecting on whether inadvertent sacrifices have been made to the practices that underpin your leadership stability.
For that, I’d like to share how I plan to reset and extend a challenge to you. First, I am adding more “backstage work” time to my calendar. Rather than 8 hours per week dedicated to that work, I’m giving myself 12 hours, and it’s already marked on my calendar in RED (for stop scheduling meetings here, Becky!). Even if I need to give up 1-2 hours of it for clients, I still will have more time than before to move projects and protect my evenings and weekends. Second, when I travel, I will start using timers for my hotel work. I intend to dedicate 1 hour per evening if I get to my hotel by 6 PM. If I don’t get to my hotel by 6 PM, I will only allow myself 15 minutes to check on critical items. And when the timer goes off, that’s it, which I will ensure by allowing the timer to ding until I turn off my computer – an essential part of the equation for me because I HATE alarms.
So, the challenge now extends to you: What do you need to reset in 2024 to ensure that your life and leadership are healthy and flourishing? What 1-2 steps will you take to make that change? Our team would love to hear your plan – please, feel free to respond to this email.
