Crunch

At my job it is currently crunch time. Myself and those that I work along side with have been pushed to the max and we are still not out of the woods. I was sick the other day and had to stay at home, but I still managed to have a conference calls between running to the bathroom. Why do you ask? Because it wasn't really an option.

When you are shoved into a corner and things have to get done, how do you manage stress?

The management of the stress, that will always come, is what can literally make or break you. Understanding that at the end of the day your world will not come to a crashing halt if you miss a deadline, but you better have tried everything in your power to make it.

One of the best ways to manage stress during crunch time is to ask for help. See if somebody at your office or in your personal life can help you with anything and everything. My friend brought me medication to my house minutes before my conference call. I didn't have my office computer at home, so one of my coworkers sent me all the necessary paperwork to my personal email so I could be ready to go. I asked for help and I have a great network of people who were willing to make my life easier.

The reason why I work and have my career is to gain knowledge and to support myself and my dog (believe me she has cost me a lot, but I love her regardless). Work is not worth getting so stressed over that you can't sleep at night. Enjoy life to the fullest and spend time with the awesome people that can help you manage your stress when it comes, after all isn't that what life is about.

Action

When a project just sits on my desk, it makes me nervous. I have to complete something when I start it or it drives me crazy thinking about it. I have laid in bed for hours attempting to sleep while trying not to think about something I need to get done. The problem comes into play when it comes into my personal life.

I am a serial dater.

I have known for a long time that I enjoy being in long term relationships and for the most part I think I make a really good girlfriend. It is something that I pride myself in and it makes me happy. The problem arises when I am not in a relationship. I get really nervous. I panic because I don't have someone to talk to every night about my day. It sends me down a crazy spiral of thinking that I am going to be alone forever. So when a guy actually comes into my life I force an instant relationship, which to no surprise scares every guy off. I don't allow a bond and friendship to develop before demanding that he comes home to meet the folks. I have just been plan stupid in that regard.

Needless to say that if a task comes to you at work it is alright to want to try and complete it right away, in the relationship department not so much. It isn't good to mix the business philosophy with pleasure.

Proud

What makes you proud? What makes you smile at the end of the day? What would make you say, “I feel so accomplished”?

Is it something that everybody can do? One day I will hopefully find the one I want to be with forever and get married. Then after a few years of marriage I hope I will have the good fortune of bringing beautiful healthy children into this world. Are those things something that I should be proud of or not, because let’s face it a lot of people in the world have the ability to do just that.

My last trip to Wal-Mart made me validate this finding that most people have the ability to have children, all though they do not necessarily have the ability to raise them. A mother had in her arms a baby, which I believe was less than six months old with its head flopping around while she was walking to her car. She then proceeds to get into her car still holding the baby and light up a cigarette and drive off with the child in her lap. This enraged me and confirmed my belief that I don’t need to be proud of something that most people can accomplish.

In the professional world, I get enjoyment out of learning new ways to network effectively and read people. I put my marketing skills into practice when designing new flyers for my agency to use. I am proud of myself for gaining valuable skills that not everybody can obtain and I should not stress myself over something that everyone can do. My mom continuously tells me, honey you won’t be single forever one day you will be somebody’s catch of a lifetime. What I should be doing is focusing on what not everybody is capable of doing, and enjoy the talents and accomplishments that few have been able to obtain. Make sure you are making yourself an expert in something that people will one day come to you for your advice on. Those are the things that you should be proud of and make you smile.

Distance

Growing up some of my closest and best friends were the ones in my neighborhood and church. In college the first people that I gravitated towards were those in my freshman orientation class. Then it was people that my boyfriend hung out with or I met through my on campus jobs. It is amazing how it is human nature to draw people into your circle that you are in close in distance to.

How much does convenience play into our friendships? Is that a bad thing?

What happens when you no longer are in a situation where people your age are around, then it becomes a little tricky. Obtaining new friendships through existing friends is one way to expand your base. Going to events that the local chamber of commerce or clubs puts on is another. One of the hardest things about being a young professional is getting to know other young professionals with similar interests.

Being in the right place at the right time to meet your new potential friend does not happen overnight.  You have to make a conscious decision to go not go home after a long day at work and sit in front of the tv watching the food network and play with your dog. Believe me it sounds super appealing on most days. But then again waking up one morning and realizing that you don’t have plans with anybody your age for the month, fuels your desire to reach out.

Setting yourself up for meeting people that are like you is important not only in the realm of friendships, but allows you to also develop your professional contact list. The network that you slowly start building is what will set you apart from the rest of the pack. If you know somebody to help your boss get into the door at a new company, it can’t hurt.

True

Who are you? What makes you, you? Your upbringing, morals, values, experiences and passions. What happens if you break a promise to yourself? What happens when you deviate from your values? Does it mean that you are less of who you are?

People and situations will come into your life that make you question your core beliefs, that is just a fact of life. How you deal with those situations is what truly makes up who are and strive to be.

I laugh obnoxiously loud. I hug people when I meet them. I dance in a room full of people, when nobody else is dancing. I drink coffee like it is going out of style. I refuse to have sex before I am married. I grow my own mint to make mint juleps. I will wake up early every day to take care of my dog.

I will not change these things about me. They are part of who I am and what I enjoy. Being true to who you are at the core, but being open to change that does not sacrifice your beliefs is essential.

Over the course of the past couple of months opportunities both good and bad have crossed through my path that question who I want to be and I am happy to say that for the most part I have stuck to my core. However, I have not done a very good job making improvements and deciding where I want to go from here. How do I see myself growing to be even better in the future? Everything is evolving in this world, so you have to make sure that you evolve positively with it.