Hi friends,
Recently, we had the pleasure of interviewing Maren Walseth, a former WNBA player and Division I basketball coach turned mental performance coach. (If you didn’t tune in live, check it out - she’s incredible!) During the webinar, I asked her how, as an accomplished woman who has been in demanding, high-stress roles her entire career, she prioritizes her own mental health and if that’s changed over the course of her career. It’s a topic we touch on with all our guests, and I expected her to say something about how it was hard to find balance while working as a DI coach, a notoriously grueling job, but that she’s learned how to prioritize herself since becoming a mental performance coach working with female athletes and coaches.
Instead, I was surprised to hear her say that’s she’s always prioritized herself the same way because she seeks to live to her standards. She noted that throughout her life, she’s always set these standards or guiding principles for herself, no matter what phase of her career she’s been in. One of those is to move her body every day. As a result, she said even when she was working long hours and on the road recruiting or coaching at North Dakota State, she found the time to work out each morning. When she’d wake up tired and want to hit snooze or so overwhelmed that she wanted to dive right into work, she thought of the standard she set, reminded herself she was the type of person who moved every day, and she got it done.
Her answer really stuck with me and provided an important lesson about being true to yourself and controlling what you can control no matter what external factors may be at play (like your work schedule or the phase of your career.) It also made me think about my own standards when it comes to mental health and work-life balance. Like Maren, I’m someone who needs to work out to function at my best. Doing a morning workout, whether it’s a full lift and run or just a quick bike ride ALWAYS makes me more productive and less stressed throughout the day.
I’ve also always been a workaholic, in part because I love what we get to do and being in sports. In the last few years, though, I’ve gotten better at doing things just for myself and incorporating more fun, non-work-related activities into my day. Honestly, I credit Sam with helping me do that. No matter how long or overwhelming our to-do list can get, she’s always encouraged me to step away for a bit to play soccer, take a walk, go rock climbing, or even just binge one of our favorite shows. Thanks to her, doing something for me outside of my work day and reminding myself there’s way more to me than my career has become a standard.
While I definitely didn’t do Maren justice in my retelling of her answer, we’d love to know what standards you’ve defined for your life and career. How do you find balance in this all-consuming industry and stay true to yourself? Let us know! And as always, remember, you're awesome and you belong here.
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