07 Sep Diary of a Dream Job – Give yourself a gold star they say…

So…. for the past few month (maybe years whatevs) I’ve been go go go and I never really stop to smell the roses (ps: where are said roses that we’re meant to stop and smell?). I’m constantly reminded of this by people around me and I always forget to take this advice so maybe if I articulate it here, I might actually do it.

I think the theory is that we’re supposed to celebrate even the little achievements. But are we really supposed to? I just finished up a Women in Business course through the City of Stonnington and there were multiple times in the course notes where it said, write into your business plan how you will reward yourself at different points in time. I always scoffed at this. Reward myself, with what, a gold star chart like in grade 5 (actually in grade 5 it wasn’t gold stars it as dogs and cats, I can’t remember which one was ranked higher).

Even if you were to reward yourself, I still don’t know how? They suggest getting a massage or giving yourself the day off. I don’t know if that really does anything for me. It doesn’t really feel like a reward, actually it’s more a punishment because if I take the day off, I have to work an extra day somehow…. And then I question how often said reward should be given. Every time you receive a good email? Woo computers down we’re going for drinks. Hardly. I get over 150 emails a day, I’d be drunk by 7:30am (hmmm tempting). But seriously what’s the barometer for a job well done reward? It’s hard to know when you’re both the one giving the reward and receiving the reward too. I’d love to see that interview.

I have recently stopped for a moment to think about some of my achievements, just a little bit, and the reward was just feeling proud of myself. Feeling proud of how my little On The List is growing, feeling proud of the people I’ve attracted along the way, feeling proud of the reputation I’m building and feeling proud of where I am compared to this time last year. It’s really hard to properly reflect, but even just a little bit of honest reflection every now and again does actually feel rewarding. It’s not as dramatic as buying myself a lavish gift, but it still makes me feel good and ultimately maybe that’s reward in itself?

I’m happy to stop and smell the roses but only if I’m in flats and not racing to a fab Melb event.