Sometimes life gets so overwhelming that’s it’s important to take a beat. And for my Overachievers Anonymous crowd of friends, we barely recognize what this means. So I want to introduce a word I learned recently. The term is “bedrotting.” And I think it’s sort of genius. Who remembers a lazy college day oh so many moons ago when you may or may not have been hung over from a hard night of frat parties the night before? So you’d sloth around in pajamas, get some sort of greasy but life affirming sustenance, go back to bed, watch tv, take a nap, have a snack and maybe talk on the phone about last night to three of four of your besties? And that was a whole day right there. Well we might not have had a name for it in the 80s, but dang we sure knew how to do it. So did we all just fall out of practice? I couldn’t help but wonder… are we just rotten at rotting?
To imagine ourselves as sauerkraut is just amazing! And of course hilarious. A tart topper. Who doesn’t love that? Anyway, the whole point of maturation is to see progress, or fermentation if you will? To move forward and learn. (I think I learned that alcohol and I were not friends, especially at frat parties and I’m happy to be an alternative beverage kind of gal now, never again run the risk of drinking a warm beer or suffering through a grain alcohol mixture that burned my entire esophagus on the way down. Yuck.) But sauerkraut? Bring. It. On.
But the funny thing about grinding and not bedrotting is that we are always working toward what’s next although we might lose sight of the goal since we are so immersed in the trenches. And the trenches can be challenging!! I have a few friends that are working their tails off. One just bought out her partners, one just became an equity partner, one became of counsel after being a partner for many decades, one was a lawyer and started her own firm in a new vertical and is launching an incredible new product, and one changed firms as a partner to benefit from a bigger platform and plethora of services. All of them are working harder and smarter than ever before. And yeah, I hang with a LOT of lawyers… but not a dorsal fin in sight!
Sometimes we are so focused on achieving that we disassociate with all of the steps and mini triumphs we conquer on the way to the top because we feel so far away from the goal. We of course persevere because it’s what we do… failure is seldom an option.
And realizing how fortunate we are, we have time to help, support, nurture and make a difference for those in our orbit. We help where we can. And sometimes we can totally change the trajectory of a young person’s career or life! (You know who I mean! And thank you a million!!)
And while we are so so busy and helping and just doing life the best way we know how, all of a sudden poof! Because when you forget to pick your head up, you can’t see how close to the finish line you are!
And it’s so critically important to remain passionate about your goals. If you give up, you miss out. And you’re worth the life you want.
And this all fits into the Burt Toast Theory. (See I was getting somewhere with all of this!) Have you heard of it? It’s just a funny way of saying that’s what’s meant for you will be yours and to trust the process. Trust yourself.
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