Why I took a small career break when my twins started school
My twins head to Kindergarten after a summer of easy-going mornings and afternoons at the pool. I head back to work focusing on emerging CPG companies in my consulting practice. My summer was spent reenergizing, reprioritizing, and growing in my personal and professional life.
Announcing the launch of my consulting practice earlier this week, I felt the urge to tweak my start back a month or two to show more momentum and look more professional, but why?
My clients are getting a partner who is refreshed and excited to be working on their business and who is intentional about who they partner with because they know what is important to them. My break gave me the space and time to realize some important truths about life and business.
Don’t let your goals define you; define your goals.
My goals were in charge. I let the aspirations of a single, 28-year-old marketing director decide my life as a married, forty-something mother of 2, executive. I never even thought to ask. I spent my time figuring out how to get to the next step but never questioned the goals in the first place. You are the only one who gets to choose what you want to be when you grow up; don’t let someone else tell you what path to take or that your path isn’t good enough.
Take care of yourself.
Self-care, Mental Health, Physical Fitness. We all call it something, and we all probably aren’t prioritizing it. This summer, I gained ten pounds; the joke “Low Carb, High Anxiety” isn’t funny. I increased my daily steps by 50%. I am really, really close to beating my personal workout record even before kids, before 40. Self-care will not cure burnout but can help keep things in perspective and make better choices to prioritize life and work.
Don't take for granted the impact experiencing new things has on your work.
I read more books this summer than in the previous two years. From beach reads to business, each added to my perspective and helped me understand people better. Call it synchronicity or coincidence, the themes in my reading intersected, creating new approaches and solutions I would have never previously pursued.
Time and space are what allowed me to come to these realizations. We all may not get the opportunity to take it all at once, but I, for one, will not hide the fact that I did.