Taking care of yourself is one of the most important things you can do
Take care of yourself. Assistants are so accustomed to taking care of others that you may sometimes neglect to take care of yourself. This involves not only taking care of your wellbeing, but also investing in yourself.
Wellbeing: Independent of self-care involving sleep, exercise and healthy eating habits, and nurture relationships and your resilience.
Resilience over perfectionism: When it comes to the office, many assistants have a tendency to striving for perfection. I know, because I used to be among this group; I joke that I’m a recovering perfectionist.
It’s with this in mind that I’ve developed a new workshop, Choosing Resilience Over Perfection. It’s my belief that, while stellar assistants want to be known for the quality of their work, you can more effectively meet colleagues’ (and your own!) needs by approaching this from a basis of nurturing your own resilience. I know that my first delivery of this workshop, scheduled for April 22nd at Rhonda Scharf’s Second Annual #AdminsRock Conference in Toronto, will not be the last!
Know your values and priorities, and act on them.
Learn to advocate and negotiate on your own behalf. Again, assistants advocate and negotiate on behalf of others all the time. Why not develop or refine skills that support your capacity to do so for yourself? In my keynote/workshop presentation, Because You Didn’t Ask: Advocating and Negotiating for Yourself, we look at how you can benefit both yourself and your employer through greater clarity of communications and reduced opportunities for misunderstandings and frustration.
Be a lifelong learner. Whether you choose credit courses, self-directed learning, professional development resources such as this, networking or reading broadly, do it. There are innumerable resources for curious minds, and you’ll benefit both personally and in your career by committing to lifelong learning.
Other tips in this series
