MaXIMIze - Reset

I can't believe I haven't posted to this blog since April!

A lot has happened since then, situations that made me rethink some things and make some changes.

First was nearly having a nervous breakdown from the stress I was putting on myself because one of my employees was not performing a tasking given to him for the performance period. I took so much ownership of that situation that I nearly broke myself. Finally, I let go of the ownership and let the employee succeed - or in this case, fail - on his own. Yes, in spite of being given the opportunity and assistance from an experienced team, he chose to flat out refuse to take on the task. Unfortunately this led to a poor performance rating and disciplinary action for this intelligent and talented individual. And - made me realize that being a supervisor was definitely not something I wanted to do for the long term.

Second was realizing that I was in an organization that, due to lack of funding and personnel, and the attitude of leadership to succeed at all costs, was causing serious health issues and taking over my life.

I felt overworked and undervalued, and my life was not my own. Even the weekend respites with my significant other were not alleviating the stress as they had in the past due to the pressures from my job.

I made the decision to find another job that was non-supervisory and back in a career field I enjoyed and was relatively good at, even if that meant taking a cut in pay.

I was successful in doing so, and am now - finally - co-habitating with my significant other. My stress level is much lower even with combining households, buying a house together, and me being furloughed due to a lapse in funding for the agency I work for - which would have happened even if I had stayed where I was. Thankfully, my significant other's agency is funded through the end of September (the Federal fiscal year), and we are down to one residence, and one set of household bills.

Of course, the long term effects of the previous stress are still rippling through, particularly in my health, however, being with him and in a lower-stress job will alleviate some of those effects in the long run, as will getting back to extreme self-care - following the path I had strayed from over the past year.

To that end, I am reinvigorating this blog and reevaluating the six main areas of my life - health, relationships, career, financial, spiritual, and overall well-being - and beginning again.

I hope you will join me on this journey - your path is your own, of course, and our paths will likely run parallel at times - and may we all practice extreme self care and grow in 2019!

Until next time, Namaste!