Having spoken on 3 different ‘virtual‘ stages in less than 24 hours this week, I may feel a little crumpled but at the same time, elated.

You may notice this in yourself that the build up to doing something important takes mental and often physical energy and then the delivery or ‘execution’ of it is a whole other level of energy too.  

Saying “Yes” to speaking at The Great Dames Conference in Philadelphia, then, the next day a Builders’ Association in England and hosting a group mentoring call with my Career Sparkler Zone in the evening – all in less than 24 hours – might sound to you like shabby planning.  

Here’s the thing though, sometimes opportunities come along just like buses (used to) – a number all at the same time. Opportunities aren’t meant to be convenient for you, they are by their very nature a chance for you to take – or you don’t.   

For me, an introvert with extrovert tendencies, I have to be very careful about how much energy I keep back when doing such outward expressions.  

Speaking for an hour at a Seminar, virtual or not, is invigorating AND you need to be larger than life – use energy, life force and focus to keep your audience engaged and tuned in.  I can’t do it any other way.

Keeping yourself on low-tickover, as I call it, in advance AND straight afterwards is what works for me.  Otherwise, I feel shattered and scattered and don’t enjoy the experience.

• How do you conserve your energy when you’re stretching yourself?
• Do you keep a little something back, in the tank, so you can recover more quickly or respond to the last-moment needs?
• What opportunities do you have on your horizon where you know you want to ‘show up and sparkle’ and how do you best prepare yourself?  Do you prepare yourself?

So often we think we can keep going and going and the last person on our list for self-care, rest, reflection is ourselves.

What came out of one of my client groups this week was the commitment to put self-care higher if not top of the list… 

Someone said “Put yourself on your ToDo list” – I love that – let’s both agree to put ourselves firmly on that list – NOW more than ever.

This week, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the US died at 87 – RBG spent much of her legal career as an advocate for gender equality and women’s rights, winning many arguments before the Supreme Court.

If you have Netflix and haven’t seen it yet, I do recommend you watch the documentary about her and her life.  I loved every moment and shall re-watch it this weekend.  What a life!  What commitment to her cause.

As she said so eloquently “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.”  Indeed.