3 Ways to Stop, Slow Down, and Enjoy the Success You Create  

It starts with creating a dream: the early years of a woman’s professional journey include crafting a vision of the future as a savvy businesswoman with the respect of colleagues, peers and leaders. This vision of a  future self also often includes personal success and images such as fashionable cocktail parties, worldly adventures, and a healthy, happy home life.

As dreams become reality, however, the luster begins to fade. To achieve goals, the career woman becomes rich in skills and experience and builds a strong professional network. As hard work begins to bear fruit, career advancement happens. Opportunities are abundant and the path forward is promising…and yet, somehow, it doesn’t feel as great as expected.

In fact, hard work and long hours can make the thought of an after-hours dinner party, or a weekend trip to hit the slopes, sound overwhelming rather than exciting. Suddenly the realization hits that more time is spent lying on the couch browsing social media, thinking about the job, mulling over how to navigate difficult personalities at the office, or trying to get a long To-Do list done.

The point is that getting caught up in all the steps required to realize dreams of success can make it difficult to actually enjoy the success as it happens. Career advancement requires discipline, and pride in a job well done. So, over time, small personal sacrifices become part of the norm. Suddenly, life is about the work. The personal satisfaction of a happy life supported by career success can, unfortunately, become an elusive concept. It doesn’t  have to be that way, however; following are three tips to pull back and re-vamp your habits so that you can achieve more in both the personal and professional spheres.

3 Ways to Bring Joy and Career Success Together 

Reacquaint with the Vision by Building a “’Life is Good” list
Here’s how to get started: Create a list with two columns. The left side is for favorite activities, perhaps culled from your early life — such as reading books, sketching, or riding a bike to the store — that seem to be more about the past than the present. However, make a point to do one of these things on the weekend or in the evening instead of picking up that mobile phone or tablet and getting sucked in. The list should include a variety of things that are easy and can be done without warning (e.g. reading), as well as things that require more planning and forethought such as a day at the beach, a hike in the mountains, or a few hours at the museum.

Next, the right side is for activities that are always in the future.  Again, bring in a variety of simple things, like trying out that new rock climbing gym downtown, or buying an instrument and teaching yourself to play, as well as deeper-planning items like travel to Italy to see the Vatican. Start making these items part of your present.

Create a Gratitude Practice
Positivity attracts positivity. Gratitude can be about small things like seeing a butterfly while walking into the office in the morning, or it can be about profound things like witnessing a loved one recover from cancer. The point is to generate focus on the things that make life good. Specifically looking for moments to appreciate can build its own center of gravity and steal energy away from dwelling on the negative. Over time, the good becomes more noticeable, and the bad becomes more negligible.

A change of perspective is life-changing, especially when the circumstances are relatively static. Having discipline around a gratitude practice is necessary to actually reap the benefit. Like any exercise, doing it once won’t make a lasting difference. The benefit comes from regularity over time.

So establish a method of accountability to build the habit. There are many “gratitude challenges” popping up on social media where the participant posts the things they are grateful for every day for a short time period. In 2014, I ran a personal experiment posting something I was grateful for every day for a full year. It wasn’t a challenge and I didn’t invite anyone else to join (though many did). I simply wanted to see what would happen. What I found was that my life changed dramatically, although my circumstances were relatively static. I began to feel more fulfilled and excited about what I could be doing during my off-hours! I spent more time outdoors, creating art, and playing with my kids. These were the things that I was grateful for, and loved to do. The gratitude practice put me in the mindset of not letting the pressures of my career path lead me away from what I love about myself and my world.

Walk at Work
The demands of the job can make it tempting to work through every break to catch up on email, eat lunch at the desk to be able to attend a conference call. The truth is, there is no such thing as “being caught up,” because there is a constant influx. And lately, there is so much buzz in the media about the negative impacts of too much sitting. The body was not meant to spend forty (or more) hours per week hunched over a keyboard, or in a chair. The physical dangers are severe enough that it has been compared to smoking cigarettes. Whether you work out every day or are more of a couch potato, sitting all day in the workplace has been deemed physically harmful. There are emotional impacts as well. Lack of physical movement has a big impact on attitude, alertness and a host of other less tangible health aspects.

So use the short moments of downtime during the day to walk. Yes, walk. The act of walking improves focus on what needs to get done upon return to the desk. Get up and walk around the office building for three to five minutes in between meetings. Better yet, a short walk outside in a nearby park or even around the circumference of the parking lot will have the added benefit of much-needed sunshine that has been proven to lift spirits. One-on-one meetings or small in person group meeting can be done while walking as well. In fact, walking meetings will end up being more focused and effective because there is no multi-tasking: no one will be able to sit parked in front of a laptop, sneaking in the occasional email or instant message during the meeting. If you need to, bring along a small notebook and stop to write down the important bullets.

Making walks a regular part of the work day will improve physical circulation, focus, and most importantly, mood. All of these things are necessary elements for generating career growth and being happy along the way.

Focus, Relaxation, and Gratitude = Less Stress

The combination of these three techniques is sure to bring more focus at work, more pleasure while at work, and more zest for the life your career success was intended to support. The intent is to bring more physical and emotional balance. The result is powerful. “Having it all” Is not just a catchphrase, but rather means actually being happy with the life you have created.

One last tip: Don’t take on too much at once. Start with these three practices and just notice how life feels different over time. As the emotional and physical energy shifts, there will be room to build more healthy practices into life. After that, meditation, yoga, and healthy eating can be other ways to increase new clarity, focus and appreciation in your life.