Wellness Through Fulfillment & Self Worth
By Yerddy M Lanfranco, GC4W Thought Leadership Contributor
You are valuable! Yes, you. I am talking to the person reading this article. How many times have you questioned your value? At work? At home? As parents and workers? We often let the imposter inside us tell us we are not. But I am here today to tell you that it’s not just you. The good news is that, once you know that, there are things you can do to silence that imposter voice inside you and challenge it when it speaks. The first step is to understand that the imposter should not dominate who you are, stop you from achieving your goals or drive what you do.
HOW TO SILENCE THE IMPOSTER INSIDE OF YOU
There are many approaches I’ve taken in my life and my career to address my imposter syndrome. Write down small or big accomplishments you have on a daily basis. They do not have to be things like reinventing the world. I am talking about small things, such as made recommendations on improvements to my team, cleared by inbox, paid all my bills, did the laundry, ordered my supplies, etc. Anything we do on a daily basis that add value or happiness to our lives. This is important. Why? Because these drive our fulfillment and consequently our wellness. Ask yourself: What are those things that energize you? What are those tasks that fulfill you? What drives you to feel happier and complete? Well, once we know what we don’t know, we can create more moments of happiness in our lives that will drive fulfillment, and thus wellness.
FEELING FULFILLED AND MANAGING DAY TO DAY RESPONSIBILITIES
This is not to say that we will forget about the tasks that must be done in our lives to address our day-to-day responsibilities. What I am saying is that you have to take a step back to know what you don’t know. Visualize those experiences, things, moments where you have felt happy. What about them make you happy? Were you alone? Were you with family? Was it at work? Where were you? Which season? What was the setting? Let’s identify the drivers of happiness and wellness in our lives. There is so much happening in our lives that remove us from feeling fulfilled. Feeling meaningless, not valuable, not important enough is definitely one of those things that prevent you from achieving true happiness and complete wellness.
THE AFTERMATH OF THE PANDEMIC
With the pandemic, many of us got a moment to rethink our priorities. Time to identify our deficits and define what was working and not working in our day-to-day lives. As we embark in the new normal, we have evolved to be different versions of our old selves. This does not mean we are better or worse, but I’d like to think we are much better today. For having endured through these tough times, we are better. For having the resilience that it took to overcome this challenge, we are better. For being there for each other even though we could not see or touch one another, we are better. We are valuable creatures created by God that have the power to impact others around us and make their lives better too. Yes, you. The person who thought that wasn’t sure about their value, their contributions, YOU.
FEEL EMPOWERED, FEEL VALUABLE, ACHIEVE WELLNESS
One of the things I have done lately is to take the time to talk to more people, but with actual purpose. What do I mean by that? Well, having intention. Intention to give more of my experiences, intention to learn more about people’s perspectives. Intention to impact others and leave a legacy. Intention to be present. How do I want to be remembered by my family? Few people would remember things I’ve said, but certainly they will remember how I made them feel. Yes, feelings, emotions. I strive to make others feel empowered and feel valued. We are all humans with gifts, talents, skills, and endless unique characteristics. Let’s make sure we are taking the time to research and learn more about the things we love. I can tell you that one of the things I learned was that traveling reenergizes me. Spending more time with nature gives me the fulfillment I need to perform the tasks I don’t enjoy as much. Enjoying 8 hours of sleep drives my performance during the day. Wellness and balance allow me to do the things I love doing both at home and at work. I invite you to take the time to ask those questions and get fulfillment that drives that wellness we all deserve.
About our thought-leadership contributor, Yerddy LanFranco.
Yerddy LanFranco is the Vice President of Marketing Sciences at Kinesso IPG and Vice-Chair of Board at GC4W. With over 18 years of experience in Analytics, focused on growing businesses and improving profitability through advanced modeling techniques. She recently received her Masters in Business Analytics from NYU Stern Business School and went to Hunter College to obtain BA/MA in Economics.
