Priorities

I was just telling my husband (I love calling him that!) that if he had met me four or five years ago he wouldn’t recognize who I am today in terms of my priorities.

Back in 2019 I was managing two different departments at work. I was leading kaizen events and running daily meetings with 50+ regional attendees. I got up every morning and donned heels and skirts and blazers, and had burning ambitions to climb the corporate ladder.

Today, I am not that person.

I have what is, on paper, a great job. I have a six-figure salary with unlimited time off and great benefits, and I work from home. Three years in a row, I have ended the year in the top 10% in the country. I’m good at what I do, and it is a job many people would call a career.

But I’m more excited and proud of my poetry books than I am about my job.

I am very grateful for my job, for having work to do and an income to support my household. But I no longer burn with ambition. I have openly expressed that I have no interest in promotions. I want to do my job, do my best and in my off time, I don’t want to worry about it at all.

Back in the last quarter of 2018, I worked 80 hours a week, busting my ass to make a difference and make a name for myself. I soon discovered that in the corporate world, no one really cares about you as a person. And when I got no acknowledgement of the investment of my time and effort, I realized my job can’t compensate for time lost with my family or my passions.

My purpose in life, what I believe I am most good at, is helping others realize their true potential. To bring out the best in others and help them succeed. And I used to believe that I had to do this as a job, with a title. But I have learned, I can do this informally. I often do it through fitness or in my writing.

I have changed my priorities. I want to leave the world better than I found it, and my ambition changed from thinking this was done through career success to believing it is done, one on one, in trust and friendship with the people around me.