As any coach, I love using metaphors and I pay close attention when I hear a good one, this one here is inspired by a short but meaningful conversation I had with Dr John Mathew (Head Of Talent Management at Ebrahim Khalil Kanoo) and a BSTD family member last week, I asked him what is he doing to stay in shape and he shared some of his activities such as playing badminton with his friends, then he pointed out that Sameera, before and during the start of the Covid-19 era, we used to work in, and now as we move towards the adaptation phase of the pandemic, we are learning to workout in order to stay fit both mentally and physically.

The metaphor resonated with me a lot, for me it meant so many things and gave me a rich context to reflect on, what did working in meant to me, with some reflection I came up with the following thoughts, it mean:

1- I took way more responsibilities that I could handle, which lead to feeling overwhelmed both physically and mentally.

2- I had some relationships which added no or very little value to my life, people with negative and fixed mindset, wo demotivates who and undervalue your efforts.

3- I worked on some projects which had no real impact, just fire fighting and fixing problems for others.

4- I read books, articles and blogs which offered no real deep insights, I call them brain chew gum!

5- I thought about many negative things which most of them were not even real.

6- I ate a lot, like really a lot!

And as I was moving towards the coping and adaptation phase, I shifted to working out, by this I mean:

1- I started taking more courses which has a direct impact on my career and future goals

2- I read books, articles and researches which had more in depth insights and explained complex concepts

3- I value meaningful relationships and people who I admire, respect and who lift me up and force me to level up.

4- I created healthy eating habits

5- I increased my physical movement

We should never under estimate of our working in and out habits, I will start adding this new question whenever I reflect on my daily progress list (is this thought, task, project, relationship etc. is making me work out or work in?) , I’m sure that this little shift in my mindset will go long way.

Thank you Dr. John, wish you a life full of Workouts!

Sameera Baba