I'm no superman

Being Human is Hard

When I start out my day wearing all of these roles -- wife, engineer, friend, daughter, housekeeper, etc -- I get to the end of day and realize I never had any time to just be myself. Every piece of my day was given to someone or something else.

I've often felt myself failing to do it all and so I'm always curious when I see other people out there in the wild that seem to have it all together. I often ask my mentors and friends, especially other women, how they manage to do it all.

I can't do this all on my own

Earlier this year, I buried my father and helped care for my sick mother. During the same time at work I was working to launch a website and wrap up a project. After which, I ended up switching jobs. I've been stretched to my ultimate limits and with all of the additional demands on my time. I had to face the facts: I couldn't do it all.

So this year I've changed my strategy. I can have it all without doing it all. In fact, what I'm coming to understand is that doing it all doesn't serve myself or my family. I want to spend the days that I have doing the things that I'm actually good at or that only I can do. The things that are most valuable to me.

Get Help

This year I've decided to let go of the things that don't spark joy for me. I order out more than I'd like to admit. I hired cleaning services and a financial planner. I'm re-investing time in counseling to make sure that I'm taking care of myself in the midst of taking care of all of the other people I care about.

This all crystalized for me when I was listening to Bridget Perry, CMO at Contentful, discuss how she managed her career and family after being diagnosed with cancer.

When I saw all the help I was getting, I started to learn how much I was doing all by myself. I learned that I need to get help so that I can focus on the things that really matter to me.

I'm no superman

Instead of doing it everything I'm going to focus on the fact that I can do anything. I'm prioritizing the things that matter most, spark the most joy and things only I can do. I'm getting help on the rest.