<\/p>\n
If Simone Biles can prioritize her mental and emotional well-being so can I, and so can you.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
There is a mantra within our culture that idolizes a push through, get the job done at all costs kind of attitude. Don\u2019t slow down, don\u2019t pause, keep moving forward, sacrifice everything. We attribute success to specific results, rewards, and oftentimes recognition. We glorify stories of success and accomplishment achieved through hard work, personal sacrifice, grit, and sheer determination. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I get caught up in those stories just as much as the next person. Yet I\u2019m not sure this mantra serves us well, all the time; especially when it does not permit us to take the breaks we need.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
COVID-19 has offered us an opportunity to challenge this mantra. In the midst of the shutdown, productivity slowed down not just because people weren\u2019t able to show up physically to work but the mental energy it took to cope with the uncertainty made it harder to work. Many of us just weren\u2019t able to be at full capacity. Most of the collective culture had to slow down, had to pause.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Even with concerns over COVID lingering, there\u2019s definitely a collective push to get back to productivity. We\u2019re hearing concerns being raised that if Americans don\u2019t get back to work fully we will all be in financial ruin. I\u2019m not here to discuss the economics of that specific point at the moment. What I don\u2019t like is the fear this messaging plays on. For all too long productivity and accomplishment in this country have been too closely tied with worth. I see this measure of \u201cworth\u201d show up not just in concerns over how much one has in personal resources but as an indication of the value of one\u2019s very being.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been rethinking these messages in my own life. In my early adulthood, I had just come out of some intense trauma. Once I began to make money I began to feel stronger and worthy. Having my own money meant I had choices which helped me build my own autonomy. The feedback loop created was; I show up for work, I get paid. I work harder, I get paid more, giving me the resources I need to create my own life.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yet as a result of that experience and some cultural messaging, that subconscious message morphed into, \u201cIf I don\u2019t work hard, push through and meet others\u2019 expectations, I won\u2019t have enough.\u201d For me, the fear of not having enough\u00a0evolves into the fear of losing freedom and my ability to make my own choices. And if I’m being really honest, when I\u2019m not driving hard I often fear being seen as \u201cnot enough\u201d. My response when those fears are evoked is to drive harder. And that\u2019s what I\u2019ve done for 20 plus years. Until I couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The trauma I came out of twenty years ago resurfaced in 2019 leaving me no other option but to address my mental health needs. Even if I had wanted to (and I did) I could NOT keep up what I considered, and most in the corporate world would consider, a productive pace. Thankfully I was self-employed so I didn\u2019t risk losing my job but the flip side to that is when you\u2019re self-employed if you\u2019re not actively building your business it\u2019s not growing. So it\u2019s not like I didn\u2019t feel the pressure. I did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yet, my fears weren’t realized. Taking the time to attend to my emotional and mental well-being did not result in more feelings of worthlessness. In fact, the opposite occurred it allowed me to strengthen my own self-worth. Opportunities and resources didn\u2019t disappear, I probably have more now because of where my journey has taken me. Pausing, slowing down, and prioritizing my mental and emotional well-being has not cost me success, maybe changed the definition a little, and it hasn\u2019t cost me freedom or safety. I\u2019ve found I have enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Looking back, I wish I had more permission to do what I needed to do to take care of myself. Thankfully I had a few friends and life coaches that reminded me that there would be a time again where I could run hard but for now take the time to heal. (And they still remind me of this when I have a hard day or series of hard days.) Perhaps you need some permission to take care of yourself, to slow down, to pause for a moment, to do whatever you may need in order to prioritize your own well-being, I hereby grant it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I\u2019m hopeful that as a culture we\u2019ll all start granting each other more permissions and that we\u2019ll re-examine and re-write the scripts that keep us from seeing that we are more than what we accomplish.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe outpouring of love and support I\u2019ve received has made me realize I\u2019m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n
Simone Biles<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In this post, I shared an example of examining one of my own beliefs or what I refer to as a script. In Money Made Meaningful’s debut BookChat we are reading “Wire For Wealth” which explores the various beliefs we’ve developed around money and they may impact our overall financial well-being. If you’re interested in reading along with us and joining our discussion, we’d love to have you. Visit Money Made Meaningful<\/a><\/span><\/span> for more details and to register for the Zoom event.<\/p>\n
<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”] If Simone Biles can prioritize her mental and emotional well-being so can I, and so can you. There is a mantra within our culture that idolizes a push through, get the job done at all costs kind […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1603,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"\n
If Simone Biles can prioritize her mental and emotional well-being so can I, and so can you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a mantra within our culture that idolizes a push through, get the job done at all costs kind of attitude. Don\u2019t slow down, don\u2019t pause, keep moving forward, sacrifice everything. We attribute success to specific results, rewards, and oftentimes recognition. We glorify stories of success and accomplishment achieved through hard work, personal sacrifice, grit, and sheer determination. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I get caught up in those stories just as much as the next person. Yet I\u2019m not sure this mantra serves us well, all the time; especially when it does not permit us to take the breaks we need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
COVID-19 has offered us an opportunity to challenge this mantra. In the midst of the shutdown, productivity slowed down not just because people weren\u2019t able to show up physically to work but the mental energy it took to cope with the uncertainty made it harder to work. Many of us just weren\u2019t able to be at full capacity. Most of the collective culture had to slow down, had to pause. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even with concerns over COVID lingering, there\u2019s definitely a collective push to get back to productivity. We\u2019re hearing concerns being raised that if Americans don\u2019t get back to work fully we will all be in financial ruin. I\u2019m not here to discuss the economics of that specific point at the moment. What I don\u2019t like is the fear this messaging plays on. For all too long productivity and accomplishment in this country have been too closely tied with worth. I see this measure of \u201cworth\u201d show up not just in concerns over how much one has in personal resources but as an indication of the value of one\u2019s very being. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve been rethinking these messages in my own life. In my early adulthood, I had just come out of some intense trauma. Once I began to make money I began to feel stronger and worthy. Having my own money meant I had choices which helped me build my own autonomy. The feedback loop created was; I show up for work, I get paid. I work harder, I get paid more, giving me the resources I need to create my own life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet as a result of that experience and some cultural messaging, that subconscious message morphed into, \u201cIf I don\u2019t work hard, push through and meet others\u2019 expectations, I won\u2019t have enough.\u201d For me, the fear of not having enough evolves into the fear of losing freedom and my ability to make my own choices. And if I'm being really honest, when I\u2019m not driving hard I often fear being seen as \u201cnot enough\u201d. My response when those fears are evoked is to drive harder. And that\u2019s what I\u2019ve done for 20 plus years. Until I couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The trauma I came out of twenty years ago resurfaced in 2019 leaving me no other option but to address my mental health needs. Even if I had wanted to (and I did) I could NOT keep up what I considered, and most in the corporate world would consider, a productive pace. Thankfully I was self-employed so I didn\u2019t risk losing my job but the flip side to that is when you\u2019re self-employed if you\u2019re not actively building your business it\u2019s not growing. So it\u2019s not like I didn\u2019t feel the pressure. I did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet, my fears weren't realized. Taking the time to attend to my emotional and mental well-being did not result in more feelings of worthlessness. In fact, the opposite occurred it allowed me to strengthen my own self-worth. Opportunities and resources didn\u2019t disappear, I probably have more now because of where my journey has taken me. Pausing, slowing down, and prioritizing my mental and emotional well-being has not cost me success, maybe changed the definition a little, and it hasn\u2019t cost me freedom or safety. I\u2019ve found I have enough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking back, I wish I had more permission to do what I needed to do to take care of myself. Thankfully I had a few friends and life coaches that reminded me that there would be a time again where I could run hard but for now take the time to heal. (And they still remind me of this when I have a hard day or series of hard days.) Perhaps you need some permission to take care of yourself, to slow down, to pause for a moment, to do whatever you may need in order to prioritize your own well-being, I hereby grant it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m hopeful that as a culture we\u2019ll all start granting each other more permissions and that we\u2019ll re-examine and re-write the scripts that keep us from seeing that we are more than what we accomplish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe outpouring of love and support I\u2019ve received has made me realize I\u2019m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>Simone Biles<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nIn this post, I shared an example of examining one of my own beliefs or what I refer to as a script. In Money Made Meaningful's debut BookChat we are reading \"Wire For Wealth\" which explores the various beliefs we've developed around money and they may impact our overall financial well-being. If you're interested in reading along with us and joining our discussion, we'd love to have you. Visit Money Made Meaningful<\/a> for more details and to register for the Zoom event.<\/p>\n","_et_gb_content_width":"","sharing_disabled":false,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[112,115,114],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Simone-Biles.png","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9rIpx-pP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1601"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1683,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1601\/revisions\/1683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarahcarrfinancial.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}