From Pain to Progress

I’m grateful. I’m inspired. And most of all I’m ready for what’s next!

Three and half months ago, I was lying on the ground, feeling the most excruciating pain of my life. As I squirmed around trying to relieve the pain and assess my condition, I wondered if I’d done serious irreparable damage to my future. Hours later at the hospital, they told me I needed to be rushed to a trauma center for surgery. I fought back tears. I was scared. I was concerned for my family. I was overwhelmed with thoughts.

Since that night, I’ve experienced a rollercoaster of emotions. Most of them have actually been positive. (Note: You can read about those moments and my journey in my other recent blog posts.)

My Current Status

Fast forward: I’ve made great progress against all the 12-week milestones for my injury and surgery. My surgeon says the bones and the new hardware all look great. No more appointments with him.

Now, my focus is solely on regaining my strength and stability. It’s hard work and it’s a slow process. My physical therapist continues to remind me that the surgery, the restrictive neck brace and the inability to move for many weeks have all been significant. She also reminds me that I’m actually progressing along better than many others at this point in the process.

In moments like these, I’m reminded that the high standards we set for ourselves aren’t always fair or even realistic. It’s extremely helpful to check in with outside resources. Take time to appreciate the hard work from the past and the real progress that has been made. It’s these moments of gratitude that increase the joy in today while adding strength for tomorrow.

With those milestones behind me, it’s now time to focus on the next ones. I put them into two buckets. My physical transformation and my full return to work.

My Current Motivation

There have been several days lately where I haven’t been 100% committed to my daily physical therapy and exercise. This is human nature and it’s not the end of the world. But it’s also not ideal. It’s time for new motivation.

Every year in late February, I take a four-day snow skiing trip to Utah with friends. I’ve cherished this experience for 11 years in a row. Now four months away, this is an excellent opportunity to set another 12-week milestone: Becoming physically prepared to take the trip!

With this target on the horizon, I am fully committed to my PT and each of my strength and conditioning exercises. I’ve had a large canvas made for my wall from a photo taken on my last trip for inspiration. I got a new wall calendar to track my ongoing efforts. I see each of these reminders daily. I will do everything in my power to fully prepare myself to be able to take this trip.

For me, this process is yet another reminder that a life best lived has a combination of gratitude and reflection from the past but also provides the opportunity to stretch and grow for the future.

Back to Work

If you know me, you know that I take a lot of pride in my work. Running my own business serving successful leaders is a passion that has driven me for more than five years. For nearly a month, I couldn’t do anything with my work. That was very frustrating. For the last several weeks, I’ve only been working part-time doing the bare minimum so I could concentrate most of my energy on making sure I had the strength to heal.

Last week, I returned to a full-time work schedule. I’m actively seeking new projects and helping clients plan for executive coaching & leadership development in their 2022 budget planning process. If you or your organization is curious about exploring executive coaching and/or senior-level leadership development, let’s connect and discuss.

A Final Reflection

It’s important to pause, reflect and celebrate the positive milestones in our progress. At the same time, we have opportunities to grow, stretch, increase our capacity and find more joy as we conquer new challenges in the future. This combination is the key to living our best lives.

What about you? How actively engaged are you in your life and your work? Where do you need to take stock and set new goals? The possibilities are endless.