Anyone who knows me well knows that I have an extensive Tupperware collection. Ok, it’s not real “Tupperware” but rather plastic containers I’ve saved from meals we’ve had delivered. I love to use my not-Tupperware to store leftovers. Monday’s meatloaf becomes Tuesday’s tacos become Wednesday’s whatevers.
So, let’s talk about your leftovers. Not the kind you put in the back of your fridge. I’m talking about a brand of much more personal and uncomfortable “leftovers” that we too often serve to the people in our lives who deserve the really, really good stuff: the people we love.
To better understand what I’m talking about, consider Dawn.
While I don’t have any clients named “Dawn”, Dawn represents what many of my clients have experienced at one time or another.
Dawn puts most of her energy into her job. Her boss gets the peppiest version of her. Her team gets the most collaborative version. Her customers and clients get the most generous version, and her board gets the most strategic version.
Then she comes home to her family exhausted. Gassed. Not much is left in the tank.
And while her work gets golden, flaky, tender, cakey Dawn, her family gets her leftovers. It’s not the warmest, and certainly not the freshest. Not as nurturing, comforting, or satisfying as it could be.
But Dawn figures this is just how life is. It’s the price she pays to have a good job where she’s making an impact and receiving a good salary. She knows she’s hashtagblessed to have a warm home, a healthy family and a paying job.
And yet, she feels empty much of the time.
Every “Dawn” is different and every “Dawn’s” circumstances are unique. But what the Dawns of this world are experiencing is something I work through with so many of my clients.
More often than not, it comes down to this…
That feeling of being gassed/exhausted/drained by the day-to-day is likely a signal that they’re not living in alignment with their core values. And yes, sometimes, they don’t even know what those core values are because, for all these years, they’ve been so busy doing what other people expect them to do – that they haven’t actually given themselves the space to think about what truly matters to them.
The good news is that there’s always a new Dawn out there, if she’s willing to look for it.
How frequently do you expend all of your thoughtfulness, strategic thinking, team-oriented energy somewhere other than where it really matters to you? What’s the impact on you and on the people you love?
What would have to change for you to feel like you’re showing up as the best version of you EVERYWHERE that matters to you and to EVERYONE who matters to you? I’m not saying you have to be perfect – because you’re already doing the best you can with the tools you have right now – and that’s enough. If you believed that you were able to kick it into the next gear so that TODAY your loved ones get a fresh version of you, what’s ONE SMALL THING you can do differently starting RIGHT NOW?
Let me know – I’m curious!