Hiking Camelback Mountain

This morning 115 people from the CPSDA conference set out to hike Camelback Mountain. When I signed up to go on the hike, I was imagining a nicely paved trail winding up a mountain. Boy was I wrong!! This was so not a hike, it was a straight up mountain climb!

There were points when I was scaling the mountain and sliding down and crawling. It so gorgeous which made it well worth the climb. My biggest concern was that I didn’t twist anything or overextend myself because it’s taper week!!

I also thought I’d share with you a little about what I’m learning from the conference. Our first session today is on work life balance. Dawn Rogers, Athletic Director at Arizona State University is sharing some words of wisdom with us on this topic.

What is your motivation for working??

• Money?
• Leading others or climbing the ladder?
• Work environment?
• For relaxation and play time?
• People and changing lives?
• Family?

Know what motivates you and your priorities! I think we need to be okay with the fact that motivation and priorities can change throughout life. I absolutely LOVE my job. I’m so thankful that what I get to do on a day to day basis is totally immersed with what I enjoy doing! I feel very strongly about not letting my job or successes along the way define me! When I let it crowed out my personal space and quality time with Eric, family, and friends… pressure builds and I don’t feel well.

It’s tough in the world we live in because of social media and the influx of emails directly into the palm of our hands! I’m so bad with the acting on the urge to answer emails and texts right away so that I don’t have to look at that little red counter! Boundaries are so important in work life balance and we’ve got to take care of ourselves on a daily basis. In fact, I just ordered a book about this and I can’t wait to read it.

What she’s learned along the way:

• You can never work hard enough when you’re young! Build your equity when you have more time!!
• When special people come into your life, build those relationships and learn from them. Don’t be scared to ask questions- personal and professional!
• Don’t be stubborn and learn from criticism and feedback from others.
• Excellence doesn’t happen by accident! You need to work at it, teach it, and demand it.
• Get a plan and several back up plans instead of winging it!
• Adversity and struggles will happen, and how you handle that will shape your future.
• Be a great teammate in all phases of life.. friends, family, coworkers, clients.
• Be determined and give back and say thank you!

 

Question: Have you hiked Camelback Mountain? And, what do you think about work life balance… do you have any tips?

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