I feel like I am at my most content when I am being productive and mentally stimulated. I definitely enjoy wasting a few hours on my Nintendo crushing my housemate at Street Fighter or working my way through Super Mario (yes, I’m a classic games nerd!), BUT I like to keep busy. I’ve taken on a few new projects this year that will see my time management and productivity obsession stretched to its limit.
Next month I will be starting a Graduate Certificate at UWA which I hope to complete in one year (more on my crazy study schedule that I’ve set for myself in a later blog!) and I will be using my employment hours at Netball WA to implement a programme that I have developed for a section of the netball pathway that focusses on athlete lifestyle excellence.
We are extremely fortunate as athletes to have the access to people and resources that people in ‘traditional’ work places may not. We spend some of our time working on our own personal excellence, discovering more about ourselves and how we can work to optimise our natural strengths alongside working on our areas for development so that we can be the best version of ourselves whilst operating in a high performance environment with other people who have their own unique set of behaviours and characteristics.
I have spent the last few weeks consulting our training calendar alongside the academic calendar, so that I could select the appropriate units to study whilst also making sure that I am not impacting on my commitment to the team. Alongside those obligations it has also been a priority to find time within all of that to make sure that my emotional needs are taken care of (so that I am in the right mental space to excel on and off the court) and I can see loved ones.
As I am a bit of a planner and we lead a very scheduled lifestyle it is easier to see how much I have on my plate at once and to identify times in the year when I might feel under pressure or face challenges. When I am about to embark on a big new chapter, I tend to find it helpful to be aware of how my strengths and weakness could help or hinder me.
I am naturally a very perseverant person. I genuinely take pleasure in completing tasks (I have an almost unhealthy love of a list!!), will always want to finish what I start and will persist with things despite obstacles being put in my way. I enjoy challenges and overcoming pain or difficulty and will often speak up for what is important to me and reflects my core values. These are all great characteristics to have, if I am able to use them well. However, at the same time I can naturally be a pessimist and lack hope. Whilst being so process driven means that I often forget to appreciate everyday experiences and sometimes excellence. Life really is just one big balancing act!
Regardless of what career you are working in I think that it will always be beneficial for you to take some time to discover what your character strengths are and how you can use those to help you achieve whatever goals and challenges you have set for yourself.
Frank x
Twitter/Instagram: @StcyJyneFrancis
