For many of us, it is the beginning of a new school year, new cycle at work, or the beginning of a new chapter of our lives. It is a time for a fresh start or to pick up right where we left off after a well deserved break. I always see these new beginnings as an opportunity to reflect on what went really well in the last year and what may need some work. I know it can be hard to reflect when you feel you just have to hit the ground running. Being an SRCD fellow, I was forced to do this reflection in the last few weeks as part of my requirements for wrapping up my first year in the fellowship. I had to present to other fellows on what I had accomplished in the past year. And although I was a bit hesitant about the task, I am glad that I was able to do this. I had the chance to sit down and reflect on all the great things I have done in just one year at the Office of Head Start. Many things I clearly do not give myself credit for going through this process forced me to sit down with all the growth I have had this past year! I got to reflect on all the projects I have been able to contribute to and how much I have integrated myself into an office that just a year ago was foriegn to me. I got to actually acknowledge my own growth as a scholar. I got to see how much I have evolved as an overall human being. In graduate school, I never slowed down enough to see how far I had come each year. I was too busy chasing milestone after milestone. And never celebrating all the wonderful things I did every single year (including all my personal milestones!). I have now learned that this “need” to always be on the go has been passed down by my family unintentionally. My family likes to hustle and keep busy. This hustle bustle ( I have now learned through therapy) is a way to not “feel” some of the important feelings that we need to lean into and feel to acknowledge all our challenges and successes. Now that I am back in therapy and not constantly plagued by the anxiety that grad school gave power to in my life, I am slowly learning how to just exist and feel into my emotions. And I think this newly acquired knowledge about myself has and will be crucial for my continued success and excellence in all that I do. Now I am fully aware that “slowing down”, “conscious awareness”, and “reflections” about myself as a human and my scholarly endeavors have been the levers that push me to the next level. Without these things, I would have not seen the change or the moves I needed to make that were right smack dab in front of my face all along. My rough grad school experiences are what literally pushed me into some of these practices because I desperately needed them. Otherwise, I can guarantee that I would have slowly combusted. So I wanted to take the opportunity to share ways you can reflect and slow down en este momento, smell the roses, and set yourself up for success as you start this new cycle or chapter of your life! Reflect. Take time to literally sit down, stare at the ceiling, and think back to this past year. What went super awesome? What was hard and stressful? What failed? Talk to yourself, write it down, think about it in your head. Reflect in whatever way makes sense to you. There is no right or wrong way to do this. I like to journal or literally list things out in an excel spreadsheet. Praise Yourself. Celebrate what you accomplished. Whether you celebrate with yourself or you share with others, acknowledge all the great things you did in the past year. Does not matter if it was as small as finishing those tiny lab tasks or passing your comprehensive exam or landing the job. YOU DID IT! Celebrate those wins and share with your hype squad so they can also celebrate you in these wins. Lean into Growth. Just like celebrating is important, also sit with the things that failed or did not go as smoothly in your life as you anticipated. This is not meant to cause you to spiral into the “omg why do I suck as a human” but to acknowledge areas of potential growth and just acknowledge that you are human. It is SO normal not to achieve or succeed at everything that you set out to do. It is nice to sit with these “failures” to see how you can lean into your growth and learn from how difficult a process or moment is literally steering you right where you need to be next. Every time I have had a “failed” attempt at anything and saw the event objectively as just an event and not tied to me as a person or my character, I was able to see the reason for that particular season of challenge. Be Mindful. Take time to just be. Be in the present moment. I personally love to meditate or to go for a run. Do something that helps you unplug from work, from stress, from everything just allows you TO BE. I know for some folks it's working out, running, reading, hanging out with your friends. Whatever it is, do it now in this process, and do it regularly. Treat being mindful as part of your to-do list every day. Plan Ahead. Once you have done the past few things, it is also important to look to the future but NOT too far ahead. Make a list, what do you hope to accomplish? What has to get done this year? What are the personal and scholarly goals that you hope to achieve? Do you want to start running, do you want to spend more time with family, prioritize self-care? Whatever this ecnompasses include it in this list. The personal goals are just as important as your career-scholarly orientated goals. Organize. Put these goals into your journal, spreadsheets, or whatever organizer you like to use and below each write things that help you get to your final destination. Do you not get so caught up in the how or the details of getting there, but just think about the things that will help you reach your goal and things/people that will hold you accountable or even hold you back. Repeat. Figure out how often you should go through this process. I personally like to do this every 4-6 weeks. It helps me literally stay in the moment and remind myself of how far I am coming in my career endeavors, but also as a human. It is so easy to forget the progress we make especially when the “failures” start pouring in one after the other. This process will help keep you grounded and help you see that you are growing and glowing through all these moments both the highs and lows. I hope this is helpful to get you started in this new chapter wherever you are in the process. I hope you know that you are doing amazing and that no matter how big or small, you are growing and glowing! En poder, Lorena |
AuthorDr. Lorena Aceves unapologetically telling you the real deal about being brown in an academic world, but deciding she is going to be her authentic self and make her wildest dreams come true en esta vida! Archives
November 2022
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