Have you ever found yourself in a situation, where you have agreed to join a team, be part of an organization, take on a project or be part of Board?

For the first number of months, sometimes even years, it is great to see how things are moving forward and the difference you are making.

As you settle into this new role, you start to take more on, as you have the skills, expertise and experience to help move the work forward.

This is encouraged and supported by the leaders you work with and your team.

I found myself in this situation a few months ago.

What I noticed was by taking more on, I was not doing some of things that I know invest in my wellbeing.

Having an injury, to manage, I need to be careful of what I take on.

In addition, several of the projects that had been simmering for a few months were starting to grow and expand.

I recognized this feeling as I had been here before.  I knew a change was needed.

It had me reflecting on my last corporate role where I needed to make choices on the best way to find those ways to Harmonize My Life.  I looked at who I could best harmonize with and then chose what I said yes to.

This is the piece I wrote almost a decade ago.

I started to notice.

I was experiencing meeting recovery both physically and mentally and a change was needed.

These are contributors to Burnout.

The beautiful thing, is when we notice those signs of early Burnout beginning to surface, we know the steps we need to take, sooner than later.

This is a time to consider what you will continue to say yes to.

If you are not familiar with the term Meeting Recovery, please do reach out and I can share ways to reduce this.

There are times when things are more turbulent than calm.  We may find ourselves considering, I will give this more time.

After each meeting I would reflect and consider what I needed to see as we moved forward.

This helped me to start looking at the change that was needed.

It is interesting when we know that we need to take an action.

The first step is to create space and lean into our rituals, as they do help to ground us.

I started making it a priority to go for a dog walk with our beautiful girl each day.

This helped to ground me.

Taking this time, helped to create a plan on how I would step away.

I do believe this is important, when we start looking at all we are managing this helps us look at what we need to say no to.

In what ways can you learn to say yes more often to yourself?

Are there rituals that you know help to ground you and nourish your wellbeing, that for some reason, other priorities take over?

For me that is walking.  When I notice the walks each day are not happening this is time to pause.

The beautiful piece as I made the choice to step away and have that conversation, we had a five day trip planned here on Vancouver Island.

When we step away from something, perhaps it is resigning from a job to take on a new role, or a project is coming to a close, taking that time away to connect with ourselves is one of the best ways to help us to re-set.

I encourage you to consider, has your yes changed?

How can you say no to others with love?

Be kind

Be patient

Be nourished in all you do.

Photography by Sharon K. Summerfield