So, this past week running into last weekend I had this really terrible bout of flu. I normally just take whatever home remedies there are; sleep it off for a day and voilà!
Not this time; hey!!!! This thing was here to stay….my chest was tight and painful (acute bronchitis) I sounded like a man (laryngitis creeping in) the headache; oh my word. I convinced myself to go to the doctor and I came back with literally tons of medicines including antibiotics and a nebuliser. On top of it a clear instruction not to fly(was supposed to travel the next day which is why I went to the doctor in the first place for her to do her magic – isn’t she why she is my doctor? Because Pam doesn’t do mediocre but anyway, I obliged…doctor’s orders).
I coached myself to sleep the thing off; listen to my doctor; medicate and exercise self-care. Three days into the thing I started to get edgy as I had plans for the week and I was starting to fall behind on one or two things; the anxiety started to creep in, and I slowly started having conversations with myself…how could you stay in bed and still do some work? What would that look like? What boundaries can you set for yourself in this situation? Who else can assist? How can you give from an empty well?
This experience highlighted the importance of self-care, something I emphasize with all my clients in my women leadership coaching programs. As leaders, we often push ourselves to the limit, neglecting our well-being. But just like a car needs regular maintenance to run smoothly, leaders need to prioritize self-care to function at their best. My coaching programs help women leaders develop the self-awareness and resilience needed to navigate challenging situations while maintaining healthy boundaries and prioritizing their needs
Needless to say, I got to adopt a new routine which looked like this: start the day at 10 am after sleeping in for 3 hours; took my meds; went to my laptop for a maximum of 2 hours (responded to a few emails; wrote a framework for my colleagues to write a report that was due for me to review later; and delegated a few more things). Then it was time for a quick lunch; more meds; a 2-hour nap and back at my desk for 2 hours to edit the report and send off and respond to a couple of emails; sent a few WhatsApp messages and made a few calls. Then the cycle started again: dinner; meds; 1 hour at my desk and back to bed.
So, what am I trying to communicate here; that stuff happens and somehow, we have to make things work. I am sure my doctor will not approve however it was either that or an unscheduled appointment with my therapist as the anxiety levels were just creeping up. Somehow, I had to find some BALANCE and sometimes it’s hard to find that BALANCE and a girl gotta do what a girl gotta do.
I am sure as a coach this blog is not the best that one can write because it goes against every sound practice that any coach will encourage her clients; but you know…. sometimes I need to ALLOW things to happen and exercise SELF-COMPASSION and BE PRESENT to your reality. I still slept more than I worked; I still made some deadlines and more importantly I ASKED FOR HELP when the chips were down.
I am feeling much better now and maybe the report is not my best this time around but guess what; this was the best I could do under the circumstances.
So, my invitation to you as a reader do you ever give yourself permission to accept what is and say well; this is my capacity at the moment and therefore the world must accept what I can give it; create small boundaries and just allow.
I would really appreciate some feedback on this and have a productive week as I go back to bed.
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Well done Pam the Coach
Health is a body clock, or a reliable indicator of body limits is illness.
Red flag flashes, it’s important to notice and observe. Stop multitasking.
Workload distribution, reduces stress and make space to create happiness feelings.
Take away for me, is to understand and know your body limits. Enjoy more sleep, self love to heal.