Have you ever reached the end of a month and wondered where all the time went? Time seems to be flying by this year. As I look back at this past month, I’m reminded that progress isn’t always about grand achievements, sometimes it’s about those teensy tiny little baby steps that move us forward and sometimes it’s pausing and taking the time to rest and heal so you have the strength to keep going.
What Went Well
The highlight of my month was strengthening my ability to create clarity from a tangle of information. This helped me a lot with navigating several priority shifts at work. If you’re struggling with figuring out what actually needs to be done, take a moment to step back, understand the goal, and focus on identifying what you need to know to accomplish that. This helps filter out the noise so you’re left with the important.
I read “Never Split the Difference” by Chris Voss, a book that’s been sitting on my shelf for too long. It was awesome! Learning about negotiation tactics completely shifted my perspective on everyday conversations. A few key takeaways for me were:
- “No” is more valuable than “Yes” because it opens the door to a deeper conversation that can help you better understand the other party
- Feeling heard and understood is a core human desire and focusing on listening to the other person and actively trying to understand them builds a much stronger relationship
- “Fair” is subjective and if you focus on being “fair” over your initial goal when entering into the negotiation, it’s likely both parties will come away feeling less happy and satisfied than if you focused on your initial goal and worked with the other person to get there
I also finally got around to compiling a comprehensive free coding resources list for new programmers. I’m quite pleased with the list. Whether someone’s just starting their coding journey or looking to branch into a new platform or specialization, having a curated starting point can make all the difference. Creating something that helps others while organizing my own knowledge felt like the perfect win-win. If you’re interested, you can download the free list here: https://www.softskillsstrategy.com/get-the-ultimate-free-coding-resources-list
Challenges and Lessons
February was a bit of a tough month for me health wise. The weird freezing to warm and back again weather patterns took up a lot of energy. Mainly trying to stay warm. I’m from Hawaii, when it gets below the high 60s I’m freezing and this winter it’s been getting to actual freezing temperatures!
I also had a bit of bad luck with food and ended up getting food poisoning twice in two weeks. That completely sucked, but it was a good reminder that sometimes you just have to rest and heal.
Lastly, I’ve been noticing some of the negative side effects of being sedentary for much of the day. This has been a huge reminder to me to move around more and prioritize my physical health. I shouldn’t be in pain so young.
I’ve learned to move around more regularly, I’ve started stretching more often, and I’m working on creating a routine to strengthen and move my body more. (If you also sit a lot for work, practicing good posture can help a lot with shoulder and chest tightness and butt bridges/hip thrusts can help a lot with lower back pain.)
Small Wins Worth Celebrating
Not everything worth celebrating makes headlines in your life. Some of my favorite moments from February were the quiet victories:
- Getting a massage and being able to move pain-free after having a pinched nerve in my leg/hip
- Taking a week off to just rest and recover. Bonus, I also got a ton of extra puppy cuddles from my little dog
- Beating my sister and my dad in monopoly
- Building my daily reading habit
As long as you’re making progress, even teensy tiny little baby steps, you’re doing great. Remember that.
Looking Forward
As we get into March, I’m focusing on building on my learnings from February.
My focus areas include:
- Prioritizing regular movement and improving my physical health
- Being intentional about rest, not just work
- Wrapping up some in progress projects that kept getting pushed aside for new projects. (Shiny object syndrome is a very sneaky monster.)
What About You?
What small victories did you celebrate last month? What tiny steps forward are you proud of taking? Sometimes the most important progress happens in the spaces between the big milestones.
I’d love to hear some of your wins from February and some of your goals for March!
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