July 29, 2019

Good morning BOSLady,

Welcome to the last few days of July! I’ve heard someone describe July as the Saturday of the year, which would mean that Sunday is nigh upon us. This, of course, prompts a discussion of the Sunday Scaries.

You’re not immune to them even if you absolutely love your job. In the spirit of BOSLady candidness, let’s address what could have kept you awake last night while you were trying to fall asleep (and were counting the number of hours that you would get if you fell asleep Right Then):

• Self-improvement. Catherine sent me this fantastic article about women’s relationship with self-help books. After reading this, I started to consider where professional development books geared at women may cross over into this self-help realm. Have you read a professional development book that actually made you feel worse about your abilities rather than helpfully instructed by them?

• Stress. It could be that it’s our perception of stress that is harmful, rather than the stress itself (credit again to Catherine ). Does anyone else find this encouraging? This article made me realize how differently I view work related stress from physical stress, like the training necessary to get your prepared for a distance race. Outside magazine has a brief article that ties the two types together.   

• Burn out. Again, even doing what you love does not make you immune. The “if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life” mindset has occasionally made me feel like maybe I’m on the wrong track when I just don’t have mental gas in the tank for a work day. Forbes ran a piece about what to do when your passion burns you out and pointed out something that I found very comforting: it’s completely normal to be exhausted by something that you love and that the exhaustion doesn’t necessarily mean that what you’ve been doing isn’t right for you.

Virtuous Circle: Alexandra is fundraising with the Jimmy Fund Walk to Fight Cancer. On September 22nd, she will be walking the 26.2 mile Boston Marathon course. How awesome is this?!  

BOSLady question: What blogs and websites do you regularly read? Where are the places that you draw inspiration from?