A Positive Perspective on Travelling with an Infant (MY TIPS!)

Thanksgiving 2018 in Florida with the whole family. Gramma Betty front and center.

Elizabeth Schlotterbeck. September 21, 1916 - February 8, 2021

Once we arrived in Florida.. Still a happy baby and loved feeling the new salty air on her face.

My little travel warrior on the way from Florida to Nevada. 11 hours (ish) worth of travel time, getting ready, transportation, flights, switching planes, and AHHHHH, home!

Changed planes in Atlanta, had a bit to eat, changed into jammies, boarded our 4.5 hour flight. She ate and then slept for 4 hours comfy cozy.

The backpack I used on the way home. Very comfortable, lightweight, lots of pockets and fun features.

To be honest, I was very nervous about travelling back from Florida alone with my 7 month old baby on our second flight ever! I put on a good game face most of the time. The way I live my life and also what I talk about and help others with is growing, empowering, living your best life, and getting out of your comfort zone. So why was my solo flight to Florida with my baby making me so nervous? The unknown. Who wants their baby to cry the entire time? Nobody. I’m sharing my story so others travelling alone with their babies maybe have a little less unknown, and some more assurance you CAN do this.

To set the stage, first, a week and half prior to travelling alone, my husband, our baby and I, had travelled from Nevada to Florida to attend my grandmother’s funeral. My gramma Betty would have been 105 in September!

It’s not very often we know of someone personally who lives 104 years, right? She lived a wonderful life and up until just months before she died, this former school teacher from Ohio, wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, scrabble champion, hummingbird lover, strong stoic German woman and woman of faith, was making prayer shawls and quilt tops at church!

My husband and I decided, though our baby is 7 months old and we were going to fly for the first time wearing masks for her first flight, it was time to be with family! Afterall, my theme in 2020 was “faith over fear”.

We boarded the only nonstop available from NV to FL which was Southwest. I do like Southwest airlines. What I didn’t know was Southwest was now booking middle seats. I am completely fine with having people close to me but one of the top 5 requirements you need when travelling with a baby is, a little more SPACE (at least for this first time mamma). Even with limited space, we managed that flight just fine with a few solid reminders, I’ll share below. FYI, I did fly home Delta for a little extra cash, but to ensure I had enough room.

My husband had to leave Florida early for work commitments, so now I had to make the decision to either fly home with him or stay and fly home alone with our baby.

Given I haven’t been to Florida to see my family and friends since before I was pregnant (December 4th, 2019), and with the lock downs, travel restrictions and a lot of uncertainty, I like so many others, didn’t have the chance to see my family and friends who don’t live near me… So I of course took the opportunity to visit, hug, laugh and make memories.

Let me also say for all of your corporate America or business owner travel experts, I get you! We know how to travel. We are prepared and we sort of glide right through the airports, TSA, even restaurants where we’ve made friends with the local staff since we frequent that airport. We show up in cities, navigate around, meet colleagues and local friends and family for dinner, go about our business and return. It’s almost like clockwork or riding a bike. Not too many uncertainties.

For me, given I had travelled the US and internationally for a majority of my career in corporate America, it was throwing me off a little that I was so nervous about this easy cross country flight, alone. I had travelled alone my entire career!

Just as I talk about during the G.R.I.T. Leadership programs, we have to find the courage to keep going. There are going to be unknowns, obstacles, even last minute things that pop up that you may not have a contingency plan for, but we tap into what we do know, our experiences, our strength and our GRIT and we push through!

I also suggest, calling upon people you trust. For me, I only listened to people who were optimistic and had a positive attitude about my travels. I’m sure there were some realistic opinions flying around, but I didn’t need to hear that. I know it could be stressful, my hands were going to be full, etc etc. What I needed was reassurance that I could do this and some helpful tips. I listed to my husband a few trusted people who had done this before.

Not only did I survive the trip, I enjoyed it. I bonded with my little hero travel warrior. She was amazing and though I realize it could change next time, I feel more confident in my travel with her and want others to feel the same.

HERE IS WHAT WORKED FOR US:

1. I travelled with my BOB running stroller so I could run on the beach in Florida. I also knew my mother had a carseat already installed in her car. Therefore, I took the BOB through security, gate checked it, and my daughter sat on my lap. If you’re nervous about breaking down the stroller before gate checking with one hand or when you get it back… don’t worry, most of the airline staff are very helpful and will assist even without asking. Don’t worry about that big red bag amazon sells. I bought one, but you don’t have hands or time to mess with it and the strollers are in good shape when you get them back. This is a free service offered by airlines. Don’t you love that?!

2. Travel bag for baby. On the flight out, I took my diaper bag from home because it had all the pockets, zippers and such. HOWEVER, as soon as we landed, my husband went right to amazon and ordered me an amazing backpack! My other top 5 must haves besides extra space, is extra hands. Having a backpack was amazing on the return. The one he purchased had insulated bottle holders in each side AND a wipe dispenser built in. WOW! The only thing I did notice was if you do pack it full (which I still have not mastered), it is a little snug under the seat, but attendants didn’t complain. We were quite and they were happy. So, I used my backpack for baby and turned my diaper bag into my purse. Worked really well and allowed me to have everything at my finger tips.

3. Once on the plane, I set up my area. Full wipe down, blankets on empty seat next to me, and then formula out and available, toys out and available and don’t forget YOUR water and snacks available too. ( I completely forgot about myself on the first flight). I did have every electronic cued up with Monsters Inc also. For moms who are against it, I am too. But for travel, I let her indulge and enjoy and stay distracted. I was happy and so were my flying companions around me as she never cried ONE time in 11 hours…

4. The takeoff and landing are SUPER important. A binky/pacifier or a bottle MUST be in mouth. I think others said a toy to chew also would work to clear the ears, but I wasn’t taking any risks and made sure she was hungry when we boarded for a bottle. And if she didn’t want to eat or have a binky, I just held it in her mouth and wiggled it a bit and she sucked enough to clear her ears. Both flights, she ate, then fell right to sleep. Remember, babies love white/brown noise and the engine provides a great calming sound with a few bumps and turbulence to put your little one right to sleep.

5. Toys - I took a collection of light weight and not bulky items. My husband found and purchased some chewy toy lanyards for us. He found them on amazon. They are bright colored and attach one end to say your stroller, car seat, high chair or diaper bag and the other end to the toy. When baby launches the toy, they may hit other things but they don’t hit the ground and you can easily get them back with baby in one hand!

6. If I were going to give you an extra tip….here is my #6. Who cares if your baby does cry? I mean, none of us want our baby to be uncomfortable, scared, or hungry. Remember, they have you, you have prepared and they will have everything they need. But if you stress, chances are they will stress. Stay calm, stay quite, stay focused. YOU CAN DO THIS! People all around are helpful and also feel for anyone travelling alone with a baby. If a baby cries, so be it. They are babies. Remember that guy/gal sitting next to you on the last flight, mouth wide open, snoring like a bear? Yep, it happens! Or that guy/gal who boarded with eggs or a tuna sandwich? Yep, that happens too. So your baby poops on the plane…. Grown people toot all time and they know better. Gross, by the way, adults who pass gas on the plane.

I love working with people in all facets of life. I got married for the first time at 40, had my first baby at 43 years old, I am raising two other kiddos who are my loves also (18 and in college and 13 and schooling at home) all in the middle of a pandemic, started a business right before the pandemic, and am too navigating through all of this. Never will I claim to be perfect, but I do practice a positive outlook and work hard to share the optimism with others.

My baby, Stevie Faith, slept both flights, she sat with me in Atlanta to eat, we changed diapers right before each flight, changed into jammies before our evening flight, and ended up enjoying our time together travelling alone for the first time! If we can do it, you can do it.

We have each other. If you have any questions, please email me or call me. I will do my best to address any and all concerns and questions.

Just don’t forget how incredibly courageous you are.

Have fun travelling!

Jeannie Sanders (and Stevie Faith Sanders says “you can do this mom/dad” too!)

President and Owner, Practice of Positivity Leadership Consulting

Founder, G.R.I.T. Leadership Programs “Go Reinvigorate Intrinsic Talents”

Jeannie@practiceofpositivity.com 702-757-7111 www.practiceofpositivity.com

Getting Gritty at 43 and when I say “Getting Gritty”, I mean having my first baby... in 2020!

Stevie Faith was born on the 4th of July weighing 7 lbs. and 4 oz and 20 inches long. Let me say that again… She was born 7/4/20 at 7/4/20! Even the nurses were shocked at how perfectly it matched up. All babies are miracles, but this one is my special miracle. Stevie Faith is healthy and happy. We are blessed!

I have been very transparent about my life, fertility, and pregnancy on social media especially over the last couple of years. I was blown away by first, the overwhelming support and stories by incredibly strong women of their own journeys and then, the questions women had for me during and after Stevie arrived ranging from diet to exercise to fertility and so on.

Many have suggested I write a book and maybe one day that is in my future. For now, while I rock, feed, cuddle and love on this baby, I decided to document some of my fertility experiences here in a very long blog in order to share as much information with others. Here is my very shortened story of my fertility and my “pregnant after 40” journey. At any point, if you are reading this and have additional questions, honestly, send me an email and I will try my very best to respond as soon as possible.

To set the stage just a little bit, prior to meeting Steve, my husband, I had never been married and my children were two adorable Pekingese pups, Mika and Mia. They both died in 2019; Mika at age 12 from an inoperable tumor (after the 3rd surgery) in his throat in February and Mia at age 14 in my arms, illness still unknown but totally comfortable and happy in mom’s arms, on the way to our veterinarian, in November. Both losses were absolutely heartbreaking for me and truthfully still very painful. Though I had lived a life full of love and happiness, when these two sweet babies left for Heaven, gosh it was tough! However, I truly believe all things happen for a reason - it is not just a cliche for me, it is reality. Perhaps I could not have cared for my sick dogs AND raise a baby. I don’t know and I don’t question; I just have faith. Mia died on November 12th 2019, and I found out I was pregnant October 4th, 2019. Believe what your heart believes for your story. I believe it was all meant to be.

When I was younger, I thought I would have been married and starting my family by age 25. Twenty five came quickly and I found myself very focused on my life, my career and my friendships. Therefore, marriage was just not a top priority and I was ok with that decision. My career then took me all over the country and around beautiful parts of the world. I had the opportunity to work with some talented people and participate in work I am proud of over a 21 year career at the same company; a company I began working with when I was just 20 years old attending UCF in Orlando, FL.

I could not have ever imagined being blessed with such an incredible life, career, experiences, opportunities, volunteer work, community, friends or family. For me, I knew life wasn’t perfect, but I always felt I wasn’t necessarily “missing” anything at that time with all of my blessings. As I look back (which I encourage everyone to do from time to time to recognize growth!) there may have always been a missing piece to my puzzle recognized only now that I have given birth to my beautiful baby girl, at 43 years old!

“Ok, let’s call you 38 plus”. That was one of the first things my first fertility doctor said to me, when we met him for our first doctor’s appointment. I laughed. I guess that is a good way to put it. I was almost 39 so “38 plus it is!”, I said. I liked this guy. He was a no nonsense and straight to the point kind of doctor. Coming from Florida, true to many east coasters’ personalities, I like truth, transparency and people who “tell it like it is”. This was in 2016.

Let me give you a little history. I was married for the first time in October of 2017 to my amazing husband, Steve. Three months prior to our wedding , I became a step-mamma to his 2 wonderful kids. Steve and I had discussed having a baby from very early on in our relationship. So it wasn’t out of the ordinary we’d visit our first fertility doctor in Nevada even before we were married. We began our fertility discussions in the fall of 2016; it was around Thanksgiving. To give you a sense of our timeline, we ended up conceiving “naturally” 3 years later, in October 2019. Like many, the years just flew by. Before we knew it, we had spent a lot of money, shared some disappointments and along the way definitely created memories while learning so much about fertility and the IVF process specifically, thankfully.

#1. Learn the process. There are many procedures. Know your options.

Though I was admittedly saddened by the result of IVF, I kept my faith. I am pretty straightforward about my Christian beliefs and I absolutely do believe my life is always safely in God’s hands. If having a baby was in my future, I would have a baby, and if I was supposed to focus on being “mom” to Steve’s beautiful children, I had accepted that and would work to be the best mom I could be to them. Therefore, the two of us had a clear vision of how this was going to work. Either we conceived “naturally”, or we used our sperm and egg; no donors. This was just our personal preference. I mention this because if you are reading this and are considering fertility treatments or are going through the process now, it is a key ingredient to moving forward. Know what you want, be clear, and then be steadfast in your decision.

#2. Have a clear vision based on YOUR beliefs.

Before, during, and even after trying to conceive, you’ll often hear things like “once you stop stressing it’ll work”, “I went on vacation after IVF and we just got pregnant because we weren’t stressing over it”, right? I bet you have a few good ones as well. For me personally, I actually wasn’t stressed about trying to have a baby. My personal life did not consist of whole lot of stress, worry or doubt. Though I had inherited 2 kids in 5th grade and sophomore in high school, I had moved from my extensive network of family and friends in Florida to Nevada, I was now married for the first time and was also working remotely no longer in my corporate office, I was managing what I like to call the “controlled chaos”. I did wake up with gratitude and was happy.

Now, with regard to my professional experience, however, after a 20+ year rewarding career in Corporate America, it took a less than ideal turn. I was no longer aligned ethically with my colleagues, which ultimately lead me to leave Corporate America and start my consulting business. This is something worth mentioning especially right now as many are working remotely.

#3. It is important to consider your profession, career, job, work surroundings - they are more impactful to our health than we may think. Be courageous to make a change if the environment is bad if you are able to do so and hold on to it if is is great! (future blog topic)

Here I was, “38 plus”. Steve was 46 at the time. I was told I was able to conceive though I didn’t have age on my side. Steve happened to have been taking testosterone for muscle recovery. Ladies, and gentlemen for those who need to hear this, testosterone is like birth control for men. As soon as we found this out, Steve was taken off testosterone and began taking HCG. Alongside my husband, I also started my fertility medication which was pretty consistent with what most women are prescribed. Make sure your nurse (this is the person I spoke to, not the doctor) is very clear about medication, timing of injections, and when to reorder. Make sure you know how your clinic operates in this regard. It is all very important!

#4. Communicate, communicate, communicate and ask questions!

We proceeded with 2 rounds of IVF at a total of approximately $30k (so you have a very clear idea of approximate costs). The first attempt to extract and retrieve my eggs, I prematurely ovulated BEFORE I went in for anesthesia and the extraction process, meaning, no eggs harvested (and therefore, no continued procedures). We didn’t know I had prematurely ovulated though until I was sedated. At the second attempt or round 2, our doctor was able to extract 3 eggs however, only 1 egg was viable to fertilize with my husband’s sperm. That embryo stopped growing when it was about 6 cells, on Valentine’s Day of 2018. I remember asking the nurse if I could come to the clinic to encourage this little embryo to keep growing. It was a sad day and I spent a lot of time reflecting on what we had gone through while also still giving thanks for all of our blessings.

We did not proceed after the 2nd attempt/round. The hormones took a toll on me and we also adamantly felt we really did not get what we had paid for. Let me try to briefly explain this not to create negativity but to inform. I think it is important to hear this so the right questions are asked.

If we only physically went through say 1/3 of round 1 (remember, I prematurely ovulated and therefore no additional costs were incurred from that point forward) and then only 1/2 of round 2 (remember for this round, the embryo stopped growing, so we never then continued with incurring any additional costs here either), wouldn’t we have technically not spent all of what we paid for under our contract? We discussed this with our doctor and he agreed that at least a third round should be included if we combined all of the services that actually did not take place. However, this next piece of information is important to know. Our clinic, and I cannot speak for others, but ours had 3 separate entities; doctor, medicine (nurse), and finance. They operated almost as exactly that, separate entities. Our doctor was great. He was very professional and knowledgeable. The finance person was not.

Look, every single person knows fertility treatments are expensive; we know this going into it. If you only know one thing, it is the cost of fertility treatments isn’t cheap. Steve and I were prepared for the costs as we had discussed and planned for this. What we hadn’t planned for was the woman in control of the financial entity of the business. She told us our next steps and the costs of the next steps for us were up to her and if she liked the patient “she gave discounts” and “made it happen”. This person tried to negotiate an additional reduced cost for round 3 and an even better discount for round 3 and 4. We did not proceed.

Let me fast forward to our next fertility doctor. My OB suggested I check out another doctor. She thought I would love her! And I did.

#5. Listen to your trusted doctors.

Our very first visit, this new doctor asked me a series of questions during her evaluation. We discussed procedures that could be done relatively painlessly and less invasive prior to IVF or even IUI.

After our nice discussion and thorough evaluation with our new doctor, she performed two procedures. Though there were no signs of blockage, she “flushed” my fallopian tubes and uterus as it can improve fertility and reduce the need for IVF. These procedures are same day, no sedation required procedures. They were slightly uncomfortable for me, but they are tolerable and quick. Not a big deal at all.

Following these procedures, she kindly sent us on our way to try to conceive “naturally”. That was December of 2018. We left feeling excited and we “tried” without too much stress and going with the flow. We continued through March of 2019. I kept track of my ovulation, but we were not the people who left a party to get the job done right then and there like you hear about or you’ve seen on “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”. Hey, it works for some people, but for us, we kept our lives relatively the same just with some added reminders in the back of our head. We were trying to keep the stress level low. Sometime around March of 2019, we just let it fizzle off as I was starting a new business and we were focused on some other family goals. We always had in our minds and hearts “if it happens, it happens!”.

Around Thanksgiving 2019, though I thought unlikely, I just felt I could in fact be pregnant. After 2 positive pregnancy tests on December 4th, it was confirmed, I was pregnant! We had just said goodbye to my family visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday. That very day, I had dropped my step son off at school and just knew the tests I was about to take were going to be positive. I knew it, I felt it. Sure enough I was still incredibly shocked when I saw that second line. WOW!

Now, I cannot tell you if any of the above was a contributing factor to all of a sudden a positive pregnancy test after all the procedures. I’m not sure anyone can tell us. Was it the HCG, lowered stress, flushing of fallopian tubes, uterus, a combination of any of the above that helped? Of course, I have my beliefs. I am just so thankful for the entire journey of ups and downs, lessons learned, tears, fears, laughs and excitement.

I remember someone telling me “you can do everything right and not get pregnant, you can do everything wrong and get pregnant!”

At the end of the day, be gentle on yourself. Do the best you can and keep your head up!

I hope I’ve been able to share some helpful information. I’d love to hear updates when you have them. Please email me at Jeannie@practiceofpositivity.com.

Wishing you all the best and praying for happy hearts!

Developing the Next Generation of Women Leaders

In order for companies to be future-ready now the focus needs to be on the leadership and their ability to inspire others. The future requires inspirational leaders!

1. Stay connected to people with professionalism and compassion. With all of the wonderful technological advances, we must still be mindful of people, our relationships and connections. The most “successful” people I’ve befriended, worked with, or have known in my life are those who are compassionate to others and they do connect one another. Multiply the impact! They bring others with them, extend their hands, don’t go up without recognizing others, and ultimately are the leaders who end up mentors, coaches, and they leave a legacy in life. Set a goal to be that person.

2. Be courageous! I believe you can develop your courageousness by creating and maintaining a positive attitude and perspective. It’s not always easy and you may have to practice. That is ok. If you surround yourself with good people, smart people who encourage you to set goals and reach for the stars, and people who support you, it is so much easier to get in and stay in that mindset. This also ties into point number one: stay connected to people. Standing alone is sometimes very powerful, yes, but with community and arms linked, we can find endless strength and courage. It is a positive cycle.

3. Ask questions. Ask powerful questions. And don’t be afraid to ask them. I attended a coaching class in Washington D.C. where I discovered the power of asking questions as it relates to coaching others in their personal and professional journey. WOW! Asking questions is not only powerful in helping others discover their own solutions, asking questions opens lines of communication in order to connect to others. Asking questions also aids in decision making. One thing I’ve learned with decision making is to do it, make the decision knowing you’ve done it well, then be “ok” with it. If you come across the feeling later in life you made the wrong decision at any point, learn from it, move on, and keep going!

4. Be intentional with the people you spend your time in all aspects of your life. Believe it or not, it does carry over from your personal life to your professional life. It is not easy nor sometimes easily understood and may become much more difficult in your professional life as you will have to learn to manage conflict if you end up working with those who have principals different than yours. However, if you are genuine and approach it honestly, at the very least, if people do not understand your decisions, you have treated them kindly. Remember, you are also a priority. You must take care of yourself as well. When you’re intentional with the people you spend your time with, you have actively thought through who you want in your life and who you want to work with, which will directly impact decisions you make personally and professionally all allowing you to focus on your priorities.

5. At the end of the day, know that you must learn to adapt to change and the changing change we live in. You may have a long career with one company, work with several companies, own your own business, or even decide to make a major career change midlife. Through it all, you will always have to work hard, persevere when times are tough, put your head up and keep your shoulders back during times of adversity. You must believe it will work out in the end for the best because you’ve worked hard, you’ve stayed connected to people, you’ve created opportunities, made smart decisions have been intentional with your network.

https://ceoworld.biz/2020/01/30/best-practices-for-developing-the-next-generation-of-women-leaders/?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=SocialSnap

Making a Connection

Aly Wagonseller recently wrote an article in the Zip Code Magazine titled “Give Your Life a Kick in the Butt”.

Part of the article talked about my background, how Practice of Positivity Corp and the G.R.I.T. Leadership Programs came to be, Aly talked about Getting Gritty and then also about making Connections, one of my biggest joys in life!

This is what I said in the article:

“If you surround yourself with people who also push their limits and have a high sense of self-efficacy, who believe in themselves and are willing to try it, you will be more likely to do the same. On the contrary, if you find yourself surrounded by those who are complacent in life, who just “ride the wave”, always want to sit in the backseat rather than taking the wheel, and are more risk averse, you may find yourself with a similar mentality. It is the positive, healthy competition or motivation by someone or something that will help you along the way and help encourage you to get out of that comfort zone, even if just for that experience”.

If you are stuck, just try it. Try to find a tribe of people who think positively, people who will help push you to get our of your comfort zone and into your learning zone, even one person who says to you “you can do this, just try!”.

Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

I was recently asked by an online publication “how far should women push themselves?” when speaking of their comfort zone. My answer was “as far as they can go”. Let me share two thoughts with you.

My first thought is when women and men alike, push beyond where they think they can go both physically and mentally, they take themselves to a new level of personal growth and when looking back at an incredible achievement realizing what they have accomplished, it does help put things into perspective.

Think about this, if you know you can hike 2 hours with a paddle board on your back only to inflate it and then get on it to paddle another hour to a place where you’ll finally stop and have lunch, you will probably think at your next gym session, you have the opportunity to push a little bit harder. Or, you may think to yourself, "if I put that much physical exertion in that type of activity to push through, presenting in front of a room of 100 people is totally doable!”

My second thought is if you surround yourself with people who also push their limits, who have a high sense of self-efficacy, who believe in themselves and are willing to try it, you will be more likely to do the same. On the contrary, if you find yourself surrounded by those who are complacent in life, who just “ride the wave”, always want to sit in the backseat rather than taking the wheel, and are more risk averse, you may find yourself with a similar mentality. It is the positive, healthy competition or motivation by someone or something that will help you along the way and help encourage you or push you to get out of that comfort zone, even if just for that experience.

It’s ok to go back to your comfort zone and throughout your life depending on your situation, the desire and ability to get out of your comfort zone will look different, but it important you recognize that, define your comfort zone and what getting out if it looks like, and do it.

Creating a Diverse Workforce that Embraces Inclusion

I was recently asked by Amex Business Insights & Trends to provide some insight on “How Creating a Diverse Workforce that Embraces Inclusion Can Make Your Company More Competitive” and specifically as it relates to the LGBTQIA community.

Here were some of my do’s:

• Make it part of the normal. Meaning, just like for my family going to church every Sunday, we don't make it anything other than part of what we do on Sunday. We get up, get dressed, listen to music on the way to church, worship, go to brunch and discuss the message. Same with supporting the LGBTQIA community. Make it part of the business, part of work life, part of what you do. Get up, support one another, talk positivity about the community and be a part of the group.

• Tie goals of an employee resource group to the business with a strong business case. I do think it's important to keep track of the hard work that goes into an employee resource group and show how they are positivity affecting the overall company. Positive results will continue to demonstrate value of that group and that overall, drives support of the LGBTQIA community.Know your strengths and your gifts and use them!

• If you are a confident person, be an ally. Be an advocate. Be a voice for others that cannot. If you are not comfortable being a voice then as least be kind, don't find yourself in conversations that are hurtful and don't contribute to anything that might appear to be negative.

Jeannie's View on Work Life Balance

Alister & Paine

Ways to become a successful leader through work life balance.  

I was asked to provide my insights on work life balance for a national publication. My comments are below:

Work life balance is about prioritization.  Though this is common belief, here are a few ideas to continue successfully prioritizing career/work and personal life, living both to the fullest:

It is wise to display the same morals, ethics, dedication to communication and professionalism in both career and personal life; they are connected.  Without a doubt, understand flexing the way we behave among work colleagues versus those outside of the workplace is necessary and is even necessary within our workplace with peers, employees and bosses or among different groups of friends.  However, if we demonstrate our core values seamlessly between both career and personal life, we continue to be the most authentic person to clients, customers, peers, family and friends.

The Washington Post - "GRIT and Digitalization"

Get gritty. Grit, the combination of perseverance and resilience that helps you bounce back from disappointments, plays an important role in well-being. At school, online and with friends, kids feel pressured to achieve something on the first try. Instead, instill what’s called a “growth mind-set,” the process of trying, failing and learning from mistakes. When they feel defeated, their inner voice will say, “You got this!”

I happen to believe this is relevant for all of us from adolescent to adult. Throughout our lives, we face challenges and disappointments. It it how we get back up and get GRITTY.