Life looks pretty messy right now. I am not going to list all the stressors facing us on a daily basis – you know what they are. It can be hard to keep your head up some days. We all face our own anxieties everyday and it is different for everyone.
But there are opportunities. Opportunities to learn, grow and develop. They come in the form of stretch assignments, cross functional project teams, courses and yes, calls from recruiters. It’s easy to shake your head when these things pop up. You just assume that you are too busy to give it the smallest bit of consideration.
I used to think that way too. Then I saw an amazing demonstration of how we can fit things in to our life.
The speaker was a professor and she was sharing the details of a very difficult period in her life and how she got through it. She took an empty glass and dropped a few rocks in it. She said those rocks represented her kids and her parents. Then she added some smaller pebbles. Those were her friends, work colleagues and manager. The glass looked pretty full to me. But there was still room for more. She added sand and it filled in the cracks. The sand was her hobbies – reading, yoga and knitting. Now the glass was really full. She pulled a glass measuring cup filled with water from under the desk. Wouldn’t you know it? There was still room in the glass for water. She said that the water represented helping neighbours and doing things like supporting a charity.
I must have seen that talk about ten years ago and it is still with me. It reminds me to say yes to opportunities instead of deciding that it can’t be done before I even know what it is.
Recruiter's Couch 