Recovery, Mindset & Values Updates
It’s been quite a few months since my last update on how my summer has gone. If you need a refresher, be sure to check out my post: Summer Summer "Break" & Gratitude. It’s been a ride!
Recovery Updates
As I start to approach the 5 month mark since my arm surgery, it’s incredible to think how far I have come. I was at 4 weeks for my last post and was barely able to bend or extend my arm. Since then, I have had multiple rounds of physiotherapy and daily movement to get back into some sense of normal activity. I’m lucky that I was able to invest in a bike trainer to be able to ride inside safely during my recovery. Since then, I have been soaking up as much of the “nice weather” (I use that term loosely) in Greater Vancouver as possible. This has included some pretty epic bike rides around the Tri-Cities, as well, trying out night-riding for the first time!
While the physical side of my recovery has been progressing, I am admittedly really struggling with the mental aspect. I’m starting to transition from the recovery portion of my injury to the integration, where I truly get to understand how this accident will impact my life in the future.
In particular, this is my first surgery in which I have had a metal implant for a part of my recovery. This implant is also unique in that it’s relatively easy to feel where the metal was drilled into my elbow. Not fun!
A New Mindset
With everything I have gone through this year (aforementioned injury, craziness of the tech industry), I have found that I ave developed a bit of a better mindset in my life. In particular, I don’t sweat the small stuff as much as I used to.
This is particularly becoming more apparent in my day-to-day work. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still working hard and contributing as much as I ever have to the company that I work for. But what i’m finding is that I’m much more mindful of the work that I do day to day, what my priorities are and where I’m focusing my efforts. I mentioned earlier in the year that I moved to an individual contributor role, which has made it a bit easier for me to put some guardrails around the work that I’m doing.
I recently finished reading The Good Enough Job and it has provided a lot of good context for me and how I think about work in my life. In particular, I’m no longer going to tie my work so closely to my identity. Instead, I’d like to focus my identity on areas that I have a bit more control of in my life…
Yearly Values Exercise
I traditionally take some time over the holiday break each year to do a ton of reflection, and that normally starts with a revisiting of my core values. Each year I tend I find to “refresh” my core values, revisiting what I had as my focus for the current year and see if they need to change or be updated. Given the above and my focus on finding my identity, I was inspired to do my yearly values exercise a bit early this year.
For 2024 I have settled on 3 core values that really speak to me in the current phase of my life:
Adventure - I like exploring new areas, new challenges and the learning opportunities that come with them.
Order - I thrive when there is structure in my life and things are in their right place.
Wellbeing - I take care of my mind and my body and encourage others to do the same.
I’m really excited to see how these new values weave through my life in the next year, and how they can help me solidify a new identity outside of work!