It has been one of those, well, months.  Lots of travel, lots of deadlines to meet, lots of ideas floating around in my head, lots of leaves to rake, and lots of make up time needed with my family.  Which really, when you think about it, is actually just life.  Sometimes we just tend to feel more behind.  And that is exactly how I have felt recently; feeling behind.

My job, just like many other folks, entails very detailed conversations with hundreds of people and requires me to keep detailed notes and data pertaining to the records and career progression of said hundreds of people.  Which is fine.  I don’t mind trying to be organized and keeping detailed records or talking with hundreds of folks, I just don’t like to feel like I am behind or not as feeling as organized as I would like to be.

Thankfully, I am married to a great lady, and she reminded me of just what I need to do to get back on track:

1. Tell someone you can be vulnerable with what you are feeling.  The key here is someone you can be vulnerable with.  Thankfully, my wife is also my best friend and I trust her implicitly.  I can be as vulnerable as my six-year-old with her.  In order to find a solution to a problem, we first have to admit that there is a problem. Admitting that problem to someone you feel safe with immediately releases some of the strain and allows us to emotionally share the burden with another.  By telling my wife, Kelly, how I was feeling allowed her to understand why I may appear to be distracted and distant, and it immediately gave me some relief as I shared my concern with her.
2. Prioritize what is most important to you.  Kelly then reminded me to write down a list of the items in need of prioritization.  By prioritizing we are able to articulate which item in our mind is most important to us, or what we feel is most pressing.  Prioritizing the items I was concerned about also made me feel as if I was able to take back control of the issues bouncing around in my mind.
3. Take action on your first priority. I am a big fan of Dave Ramsey.  Mr. Ramsey lays out financial “baby steps” we can take to reclaim control over our finances.  His first “baby step” is to save $1000.00.  I love this because, though $1000.00 seems like such a small amount, there is a mental and emotional victory of having $1000.00 in you bank account.  This small victory gives us passion and drive to continue with the other “baby steps”.  Likewise, by taking action on our first priority, our brains immediately make the switch from victim to victor.  we now have a foundation laid, a step taken, and suddenly the mountain we thought we had to climb has simply turned into a hill in the back yard.

Thank you, Kelly, for giving me a sympathetic ear, reminding me to think about my priorities, and then encouraging me to take action on my number one priority.  After taking all of 15 minutes to walk through the three steps mentioned above, I felt free, clear-headed, and ready to tackle the next challenge. feeling behind is natural emotion.  Thankfully, by taking one step we can kick that feeling to the curb and move on with our day!