mother balancing work from home

I was recently interviewed on the Career Builders Podcast and shared my journey to building resilience during difficult times, finding alignment in my career and personal life and how women can advance into leadership roles.

These topics each deserve their own post, but I have been feeling more and more the convergent of them in my daily life as of late.

COVID-19 has magnified the need to tap into our resiliency muscle and the very immediate need to hold our families down. As we navigate a pandemic, record job market loses, WFH and homeschooling our children all while social distancing and the lack of childcare, our perceptions of what it means to “balance” everything has definitely been challenged.

This pandemic has impacted everyone, yet, as a black woman, I know this pandemic had hit my community especially hard. Though race based data in Canada is limited to none existent, history has shown us that people of African descent have suffered disproportionately in just about every socioeconomic variable.

It’s so important for many to know that you’re not alone in this struggle. This pandemic is one of most stressful & challenging times. It is a social, political & economic experiment on the grandest scale. But it’s allowed us to see what truly matters and have no choice but to focus on that: family, home and connection. It’s so important to have a good circle of people around you who can help you remember who you are and what you have to offer. We need those cheerleaders and social groups to hype us up and calm us down now more than ever.

You can watch the full episode here: https://the-career-builders-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/building-resilence-and-balancing-obligations-rashida-geddes

My 3 biggest takeaways for finding alignment are:

  1.  The important of prioritizing what matters most at any given time. An example of that is the balance between work and personal life. There are times when your work will need more of your attention (tight deadlines, busy work seasons or an upcoming presentation) and there are other times when your family is going to need you more. Be ok with you moving through each of these seasons and allowing yourself to put the effort in while dropping a few balls.
  2. Set boundaries. Know when to say “no” to an ask and take the time and space necessary to keep your mentally, emotionally and physically wellbeing in check. Be unapologetic about communicating that to others.
  3. Remove the guilt and show yourself grace when it doesn’t go as planned. Don’t burden yourself with the guilt of trying to get it 100% right. There are times when the needs of your families in that moment will impact your ability to dedicate time to a work project and vice versa. Do your best each day, take stock of where you could be better, make small incremental changes and let go of the guilt.

Remember, you are the CEO of your own life. Your job title is rented – it doesn’t define who you are. Your character, your name, your family are YOUR greatest assets. Use your title as a platform to facilitate your purpose and to shine though with your character.

Now I’d love to know in the comments, how are your managing during this pandemic and what steps are you taking to be more in alignment to what you say you want for your life?

Share in the comments below.