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Hi There,

I was on vacation from work last week. It was a resounding failure. Instead of vacationing, I found myself working, and when I wasn’t working, I was lambasting myself about work. But sometimes failure is what it takes to reset and realign.

I found myself inexplicably anxious the entire week! As the weekend arrived, I recognized that I missed a dimension of Steven Covey’s great lesson about scheduling— what I call “the big rock” lesson. I had only attended to the big rocks each day for 6 months, ignoring those hundreds of little detail “pebbles”, which quickly piled up and became one big, HEAVY lift!

I now find myself drowning in the pebbles and promises that had been adding up— a result of my hurried and sloppy communication. But then again, what did I expect? Since the start of the pandemic, I’ve been involved in a 4-day virtual conference, served as project manager for an international municipality, and delivered 12 speaking engagements, all while developing a phenomenal e-course to help professionals like you design a life of clarity, focus and fulfillment.

Early in the COVID-19 era, I reverted to default thinking: Movement is the best policy. But I was moving all over the place, fully immersed, with no time to consider the uncertainties. During “vacation” week, I realized I was out of alignment with colleagues, not reading between the lines regarding their timing, succumbing to miscommunication due to haste and distance.

The lesson? Going forward, I get to embrace the reality that virtual working may save commute time, but it requires more finely tuned communication than one might expect. Self-compassion is also in order because in times of uncertainty, clarity becomes fogged by cortisol.

Have you had instances during the past 6 months when your clarity has become fogged due to communication breakdowns? Check out the DRIVEN blog to support your communication re-engagement today! I think you’ll like what you find.

Cheers!
-Deborah


Deborah Goldstein
DRIVEN Professionals / Forbes / Linkedin
212-204-9467