Barbie Decker (Fri)

It’s already Friday. Wow, where did the week go? “What did I accomplish?”, I am asking myself as I reassess my work week. I honored my commitment by guest blogging here daily, for one. Go me! Other than my weekly team call on Mondays, this was the only other activity that I couldn’t put off until the next day. That’s the beauty of my work. Some days I can decide to work two hours, while others I work non stop for ten. I’m able to go on vacation when I want, provided that I put in the necessary work beforehand. It’s really up to me how much effort I want to put forth and when. But because I love what I do, needing to work more is not really an issue for me. Making sure that I take the time to enjoy life and everything it has to offer is where I sometimes fall short. However, over the past year or so, I’ve gotten better and better at finding balance or I should say, I’ve gotten better at this balancing act of work and play.

I confess, the commitment to blog daily felt constraining, yet turned out to be enjoyable and even therapeutic. It added more or less two to three hours to my work day, which I resented just a tiny bit, since I love to own my time. Why three hours?  Because I spent quite a bit of time in front of a blank screen, processing my life’s decisions, thinking about what brought me from there, a university professor, to here. For that opportunity to reflect and the insight that I gained, I am truly grateful.

Part of the reason that I enjoy what I do and that I manage to stay out of overwhelm mode on most days is, as I’ve alluded to before, that I have learned to say no a lot more often. No to requests to be on other team calls, no to more work and more projects, and no to answering emails on weekends. However, I said yes to Michelle Erickson’s invitation to be a guest blogger because, well, for several reasons. Now that I think about it, there was still a part of me that felt that there were things left unsaid. Interesting. Yes, there is still that small part of me–but I promise you that I give it very little thought since I’m too busy living my life–that wants others in the world I left behind to know that I made the right decision for myself. I did not fail because I left academia. Leaving allowed me to actualize my potential. Secondly, the part of me that always wants to help others, wrote this for other academics who might be struggling with the decision to leave. I hope something I’ve written has been helpful. Know that our skills are indeed transferable; you just have to think of ways to apply them, possibly transform them a bit, and capitalize on them. A book I’d recommend if you are at all interested in this is by Brendon Burchard, The Millionaire Messenger. Last but not least, I said yes because I wanted to provide a service to the coaching community at Beachbody. I think sometimes folks underestimate the kind of commitment and determination it takes to achieve a level of success where you are able to walk away from your full-time job. But, also, some in the Beachbody community who have not followed my progress from the very beginning, see my position as unattainable. It’s not. It just takes a lot to get there. The question is: are you willing to do what it takes to get there?

I’d like to thank Michelle Erickson for the invitation to share and to congratulate you for daring to do something different.

I hope anyone reading this will connect with me through Facebook.