Self-care may seem counterintuitive while discussing career growth. However, the connection is real. Forbes, featured this topic with author Amy Blaschka, stating, “Living in a world of “always on” culture can wreak havoc on you physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Constantly grinding leads to burnout, anxiety, and stress-related illnesses. “ And chances are if you are burned-out before the promotion, you probably aren’t ready for the promotion.

Since we encourage women to increase their sphere of influence, we felt this topic was important to address. Tiffany Peterson, speaker and business coach addressed the importance of self-care to those in our recent Career Development Series. Her advice is that if you are looking to get promoted  – nourish your roots. Get grounded so you can grow. A promotion will most likely increase demands on your mind and body, so take inventory of how you are really doing so you can best prepare to take on more. 

Tiffany gives three tried and true go-tos for getting ready to increase your influence at work and step into a larger role. 

Morning Ritual

In the morning, before you reach over and check your email, take some time for yourself. When you open up your phone, or as Tiffany calls it, a weapon of mass distraction, you are inviting 100s of conversations into your space before you have actually even checked in with yourself. Before you meet with others, meet first with yourself. It can be 10 minutes or an hour, whatever consistent time you can give. In this time, check in with yourself. Take some deep breaths. Offer gratitude. Set deliberate intentions for the day. How you start your day, shapes your day, so take 10 minutes and practice self-care.

Power of Positive Self-talk

People sometimes dismiss positive self-talk as a gimmick or a trick, thinking our thoughts are something we need to simply power through. However, the stories we tell ourselves in our heads are the stories we enact in real life with coworkers and bosses and in all our relationships. So we actually have quite a vested interest in tuning in and seeing how we are talking to ourselves, because chances are that is most likely how we are speaking to others as well. In Forbes, Blaschka states it this way, “This means being kind and caring toward yourself rather than harshly self-critical and framing failures as opportunities to learn. When you practice self-compassion, you shift your perspective to view progress, not perfection, as what’s most important.”

Joy List

In order to keep our heart, mind, body and spirit anchored firmly in order to grow, you need to know what nourishes you. What makes you come alive and get excited about ideas and people again? This is different than numbing out at the end of a long day. This is noticing the things that bring you joy and then doing more of those things. Tiffany suggested noticing and writing down 12 items that bring you joy.  Six of those items can cost money, a manicure or pedicure or a latte or new pair of shoes or a gift for a friend. And six of those items on your joy list are free, a walk with a coworker, a thank you card you send, spending time with family, moving your body everyday or whatever it may be. It will be different for different people. The point is to double down on your best assets – those things that make you feel capable, alive and deeply nourished. Also, as you work toward practicing these things, you will gain self-trust and confidence in your ability to keep your word to yourself. This confidence translates directly into future confidence in any job. 

At the WLI, we seek to help elevate women’s talents and capabilities, building their leadership capacity. We want you to create a strategy for personal and professional growth. We want to support you in successful proven ways that allow you to grow without sacrificing yourself and burning out in the process. We hope these tips helped and we thank Tiffany Peterson for her time to teach us from her experience. 

We’d love to hear your feedback on these tips or how you have put them into practice. If you’d like to share or be featured in a followup article, please email pcook@wliut.com