Ask For What You Need

What a long strange trip it has been. Whether we are talking about the trip of life or just the trip of 2020 I think we can all agree we have had feelings of it not going as we planned. I personally struggle when things don’t go as planned. I am an introvert by nature so I spend a lot of time thinking through scenarios and usually get an idea of how I THINK things should go. When that plan blows up, which is the case more often than not because who can accurately plan anything, I have a tendency to lose my cool. Sometimes losing my cool manifests itself as a short temper with my kids or my husband and other times it results in just a complete shut-down. Lately I’ve noticed that my plans for my work haven’t gone as I thought they should. Maybe you can relate? I know many of us have found ourselves working virtually which is very different than what we were used to. All of sudden we have flexibility and maybe even a sense of more time. More time to jump up and throw a load of laundry in or more time to watch a TV show while we are eating our lunch. But for me that feeling of newfound freedom and flexibility quickly turned into a feeling of being on an island alone. I know that may sound strange since I have already professed that I am an introvert but even introverts need people. I think everyone needs to feel a part of something, everyone needs to feel like they are making an impact. When we start to feel that no one is missing us as we are out on this island (doing laundry) alone, I for one, start to shut down. During this personal shut down it’s easy to blame others and project our lousy feelings onto others. “Why aren’t they checking in with me? Why do they have that tone in their email? Am I not doing enough to keep them happy?” And if we aren’t super self-aware, we can allow our minds to run wild until we have dug ourselves into a hole that is very hard to dig our way out of.  So, what do we do about this? We can’t change that we are virtual. We can’t change that we must rely, even in part, on emails and texts to conduct business. You know what we do about this? WE ASK FOR WHAT WE NEED. In my case, I need face-to-face interaction. I need some coaching once in a while. Might sound strange as that is the business I am in, coaching others, but even the coaches need coaching sometimes! As employees it is our duty and our responsibility to practice self-care and ask for what we need. Our teammates aren’t mind readers and it is not fair for us to assume they are or should be. If we want to dig ourselves out of our personal shut down then we pick ourselves up by the ol’ bootstraps and we do what it takes. Life is hard! Virtual work is hard! Self-care can be hard but in the end it’s worth it. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you need. Maybe you need time to exercise, maybe you need some face-to-face time, maybe you just need someone to do your laundry once in a while! For me, I needed some coaching. Just someone to listen and ask unbiased questions that made me think about what was really going on and then help provide me with suggestions on how I can still be impactful and a valuable employee, even from my island.   

If you think coaching could help you please contact us today. Don’t stay on your island alone in a personal shut-down. The Quality Coach® has a full staff of highly qualified coaches that are eager to help in any way we can. Except doing your laundry…we have enough of our own to do! heather@thequalitycoach.com