Ice breakers – they are little silly questions but I have learned that they can have quite an impact.
In 2021 I was burnout. There were days where after back-to-back-to-back meetings, I would lie down on the floor to decompress because I was so mentally exhausted. I felt like I was showing up as a “shell” of an employee every day which was not fair to my customers, manager, and co-workers. Between the feelings of burnout on top of the immense amount of pressure, I put on myself to be “successful” or this “perfect employee” I ended up losing a huge part of myself. I felt like my personality dissolved to nothing because I was too focused on being perfect versus being present.
I took a massive step back about 6 months ago and realized that I cannot go on living like this. It sounds dramatic, I know, but it was a big realization for me. This way of work was not sustainable and being burnt out at 26 years old hit me hard. I used to love to work (probably comes from the fact that I craved academic validation growing up and that I am a Capricorn) but, for most of 2021 work was no longer was fulfilling me in the way it had in the past so I knew something had to change.
I got help. I started working with a therapist and coach and started to set boundaries and focus on self-care. I didn’t even realize it but, during one of my coaching sessions, I uncovered that a huge blocker of mine was thinking that self-care is equivalent to being selfish. I am here to tell you that is not the case! I learned the value of rest and LOVE taking breaks even if it is just a 5 minute one on my porch mid-workday.
I have learned so much about myself with the help of these two incredible women. I have been able to identify my values, motivate myself to do more things that make me feel alive and scared, and have been able to show up as my authentic self in the workplace!
I used to believe if I asked for help I would be seen as weak but by asking for help I have become the strongest version of myself that I have ever been. (I know that is super cheesy but, it is true) When I let myself become burnt out, I lost a huge part of myself and I feel like since redefining my values, what success looks like, what my strengths are, and what truly empowers me I finally feel like I can breathe.
So what does this have to do with ice breakers? Well, I realized when burnt out, my only identity was work. I only talked to co-workers or my manager about work or work-related projects. I lost myself and my connection to others. I am such a people person that when we moved to a fully remote work world I lost all the small talk and relationship building that happens in the office between meetings or over coffee in the morning or after-work drinks and didn’t realize how much I valued those little moments.
I have asked the team that I work on an ice breaker each week for the past 4 weeks now and it has brought that sense of community back that I thought the pandemic took away for good. Learning about the people I work with has brought so much joy to me that that work fulfillment cup is starting to be re-filled and I cannot wait to end 2022 with a full cup!
Yorumlar