Let's not presume we are taking care of ourselves the way we should. It's too easy to miss fractured situations when we accept past habits less sensitive than they should've been. The blended self must press forward to get its needs met professionally and personally. What do I mean when I say "blended self"? Living a balanced life is in contrast to living transparently and authentically. A balanced self requires you to distribute your life evenly and, with the transformative process of growing or changing, that will never happen. Within the blended self, your strength lies in the mixture and combination of your unique abilities. If you allow this process to have its inherent progression, you'll bring the blended self to the workplace. Will a co-worker know all about you? Maybe not, but it doesn't deny the fact that all of you are present.

Following this thought, recognize how neglecting a part of your self can negatively alter some of the personal qualities that make you who you are. Your strength resides in the unique combination of your personality traits, beliefs, core values, spirituality, and talents. Developing a greater sensitivity to how you deliver your strongest self - in all of its blends – will make you resilient throughout your career, especially in this current season.

With understandable shifts occurring in your workplace and within your blended self, how are you maintaining strength in this career season? Even if you haven't been financially affected, emotionally, and socially we've all been shaken and stirred somehow. How are you managing being nudged (or shoved) out of your comfort zone? I know it can make you want to give up on delivering higher productivity along with being able to manage the appropriate behavior changes. Maybe you haven't stopped handling, organizing, and overseeing even though the world looks like it has. Or perhaps your work has taken a screeching dive, and recreating the career landscape with new a team and way of working is causing you extraordinary exhaustion.

It's always a good practice to assess career keys on self-care endurance. It's still wise to stay a quality step ahead of your workplace and in your industry and stay productively strong as we wait to return a new societal and economic place. You will have much hand-holding to do after this health crisis.

Presently, there may be fewer people in your workspace to help monitor any behavioral anguish or even pick up on subtle nuances that can signal it's time for a self-care endurance check-in. The transformation in your work environment requires much more inner and external energy. What resources do you see that's needed to maintain strength during this time in your career?

Here are quick prompts to maintain your strength and endure as a wise leader during this challenging season:

1. Regularly maintain face communication with your friendship and confidant support circles, and work teams when possible. Face-to-Face interactions at most workplaces have been reduced, along with needed space restrictions. So many businesses are transitioning more formally to the WFH and Zoom workstyle. Humankind at work as we knew it; those interactions have left the building. Still, we need to see the tiny expressions of one another and body cues that give us energy. We need to visually assess comfort or discomfort levels, maintaining our skills in managing communicative changes taking place. Video calls don't expose body language minutia that lingers long after a hard-hitting but needful individual or team conversation. You are working much harder, using your social and emotional intelligence skills. The visual and communicative stumbling blocks make it vital to remain safe but steadfastly committed to filling the interaction gaps. Firmly maintain face communication with your close friendship and confidant circles. Establish monthly work team gatherings with social distance measures. Share continuous in-person yet distanced dialogue and support. Get creative about check-in places. The lounge chair, front porch, or public lawn sessions should become visually interactive, safe zones for you and your close circle.

2. Change up and 'grow up' the space you're working in. What will make you stronger and healthier? Cognitively, emotionally, productively, spiritually, and skillfully – begin to streamline, digitize, and redesign. Remove paper-pushing methodologies and de-clutter to help you (and others) redesign in the new work environment. The surge of workflow that's emerging demands an environmental reset. Workspaces will become more fluid, and the redesign of your space needs, individually and collectively, will be front and center for years to come. Replace paper barriers that bog down a speedier work environment. Rely on the belief that your team has what they need to work in their new space effectively, or they'll communicate what's missing. Change up the area where impromptu huddles were the norm for tweaking tasks and deadlines. Make room for autonomy. A shift in how you see yourself doing work is helping you envision less dependence on what physically needs to be in your setting. Productivity is truly moving from what you see to what you do. Now you must level up the more excellent work product. How are you making your work environment stronger and healthier for yourself and others? Become proactive within your workspace and press for the more vital trust! Let's not forget if you're working from home. The space you're in at home shouldn't counteract good productivity and mental clarity. For example, a stronger and healthier WFH space includes a functional work area, ergonomic seating, dependable, safe internet, warm fluorescent lighting, time management trackers, and inspirational elements boosting your creative vision. How are you creating a thoughtful, actionable, and calm workspace? Give a boost to your workspace and make it stronger.

3. Be okay with the season of redefining your pace. Global to personal change is occurring organically, and there are still layers to be dealt with that we can't control. How you process change and come to terms with the stage you're in regarding the pandemic trauma will determine your next quality stepping stone's swiftness or limitations. The major transformation occurring in people's lives economically, socially, politically, educationally, and spiritually is still in active flux and restructure. Your pace for this newly redesigned society is not clearly defined yet. The descriptive label I give my current workflow is tentative, and that's okay. I make my plan and set my goals, knowing next month I may not align with what's happening in my industry. I acknowledge that I can't judge my current flow too quickly. I know my team, and I will get our stride back. Let the tempo of your career calibrate. Think of your strategic plan and vision for the next ten years, but it's okay to adjust your pace along the way.

4. Your season is intensifying with multi-training and edulearning. No matter what's piling up on your professional plate, the knowledge you're acquiring is assimilating in an epic marathon. It's not a sprint.

While it's important to stay adequately abreast of all the new tools presented to work more efficiently, your migration into new digital adaptations will force a natural yield to how your brain learns. Have you re-explored your learning style and appropriately incorporated it into how you need to acclimate your mindset to this newest tool? Do you prefer active experimentation over reflective observation? You are now a part of a generation of life-long learners. Tick the box after you understand 70% of what you're learning. Go through the iterative process of acquiring new information loosely, adapting, and practicing using it until you are comfortable operating it. It's beneficial if you can train someone else on what you've learned. It'll reinforce how much you know about the latest digital implementation. Surprisingly, many are learning too many new methodologies while not taking time to address their learning styles, leaving them feeling overwhelmed instead of strengthened. Are you a concrete or abstract learner? Honestly, were you absorbing information at this pace seven months ago amidst a global crisis? Embrace the new era of life-long learning and take it one amazing tool at a time. Take the time always to answer these two questions: How is it making my job and life more manageable? What is the best way for me to learn this new tool? I believe you're growing your mind!

5. Creativity arises. Ha! It was listed as a top soft skill in January 2020, but could you ever have imagined how important it would be during this moment? How are you nurturing creativity within your work teams to stay strong for customer relationships? Meetings are happening differently now. Group thinking must change due to the present physical hindrances impacting us. What's your new approach to effective brainstorming and idea generation? Have a reading list that includes innovative research methods unlocking creativity. What new books have you read this week about fostering career growth and generating ideas? What lateral thinking groups are you a part of? What new podcast have you placed on your listening list for this month that challenges your view on whatever project you're working on? What international e-newsletter list are you on that's keeping you abreast of the newest strategic vision for public relations, human relations, industrial economies, and the ever-changing workplace culture? Globally? What CEO interchanges are you engaged in? What career feeds are you reading with your morning tea or coffee to determine what could be brewing throughout your city or state's virtual workplace break rooms? Creative activities will strengthen you and broaden your circle of influencers, innovators, and disruptors.

6. Reality check your skillset. Is your career asset or strength still applicable during this new workflow resurgence? Do you remember the last time you reassessed your skillset? This season is the time to know with clarity how to leverage your strongest career assets. Be open to what you may find out about how you've grown into another type of leader. Enhance what character-strengths are unfolding in your hands today. Don't hug the victories of last season. Maybe it's time to revamp and reassess your traits, abilities, and leadership style.

7. Stillness Time. If you haven't realized how vital a tranquil moment can be for you during this time, it's time to power up. Exhale whatever you left behind, and make room for a more excellent plan than you had anticipated. Earlier in the year, I believed 2020 would be very different as we were entering a new era of how we worked and envisioned our lives, but never did I imagine this intensity. Like a natural grieving process, moving through the stages will allow your mind to be stronger and receive the novel opportunities breaking through. Devoting consistent time to stillness meditation will allow your heart to accept and believe “you are where you are.” Embrace your moment of solitude. The strength to endure in your career lies in the power you receive inwardly during this quiet meditation time. Then you can tolerate what's required to move forward.

Self-care endurance will be our mantra this year. Use these prompts to nurture yourself and your present career season. Pull them out to help you identify any obstacles that need to be removed so you can maintain strength and remain inspired.

Living Life strong Today!

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© EJ Encalarde. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission, from this blog’s author and/or owner, is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to EJ Encalarde, LLC, with proper and specific direction to the original content at ejencalarde.com.

7 Ways to Maintain Strength in Your Present Career Season