While there are big barriers during this year’s back to school season, everyone is stepping up and moving forward. We have resiliency for this, because education is an investment in a child's future. We all agree that it's supportive of a successful life. And so, investment isn’t canceled. But school stops at 23 years old…what about the 2/3 rest of our lives?

When we struggle, many of us begin to think that something might be wrong with us. Or that possibly, something is missing. This is false, and especially important and relevant in a professional setting, where there seems to be a never ending list of ways to "do it right" or be a "certain way." Whatever you are looking for, you already have it.

I used to go to work and try to learn things so I could outsmart my colleagues and advance ahead of them. When I did this, I always ended up in burn out. One day, I learned about values, and realized that my most fulfilled moments were related to learning and teaching. I tried to apply this at work, and unintentionally unlocked the keys to my own success.

I used to think that success was checking everything off of my to-do list, and I was always chasing deadlines. I finally accepted that this was the “way I am” - deadline driven and unmotivated until threat of total crash and burn. Then, I learned how yogis prioritize and I went on to achieve my best work yet in less time.

I remember when my boss refused to help me. It was less of a blatant refusal, and more of a “he’s never at his desk, so I’m flying totally solo.” The first few times I crashed. I made assumptions, got cocky and one time I straight-up flew too close to the sun. I wanted him to tell me what to do. And then, I realized that things worked better when I told him what to do. More specifically, I told him EXACTLY what I needed from him. Learn to manage up for your own success.

For a long time, I would get really annoyed with my boss because he never had time to meet with me, and it felt like I had no support from him. Until I learned how to trust myself. The result of practicing self-trust made me one of my bosses most trusted employees, and his first choice for promotion and visibility within the company.

Have you ever had a moment where you’re doing an Instagram Live, you see that one person’s name show up, and your stomach flips or maybe your whole heart drops? This can tell us a lot about judgment and feeling judged. Most of us are able to move past judgment from strangers. What trips most of us up is judgment from the people we love, trust and respect. This has a big impact on our success and potential. Learn to overcome it.

When we have a goal, big or small, we’ve determined the “WHAT.” The first hurdle then becomes the HOW. We know to learn something new requires consistent action. This is harder than we think because if we’re not managing our mind, we will begin operating from our “old mind” or “primitive mind” in almost every situation. Learn how to rewire your brain to make everything you dream of become true.

When I travel back to my hometown, and my family asks me about my work, I usually get a feeling about how they perceive it, as if it’s not important enough or doesn’t provide an intrinsic value. Perhaps all of us feel this way a little. Maybe we chose a path that’s really different from our family’s or maybe we’re in the same industry and are always trying to measure up to our parents or siblings. Both are painful, and both can block you from achieving your highest potential at work and in life.

When I started giving presentations at work, I was scared. And I was nervous. Truth be told, I was more worried about sounding stupid or forgetting what to say and experiencing an awkward moment than even about the client liking what we presented or whether they bought the program. It doesn’t have to be that way. Find out what’s underneath the fear and learn to public speak without breaking down.

I had a lot of dreams about what my dope, awesome career in Advertising would look like. Basically, I would be a mix of modern day Mad Woman and Carrie Bradshaw, wearing cool clothes and being all creative and awesome.

Much of that energy landed me my first job in NYC. Cool.

And then I started working. I was entry-level and I was doing entry-level work and I became jaded. Not cool.

When I decided to change the way I showed up to work, which was with a dash more non-attachment and a sprinkle of non-resistance, things didn’t change immediately. I’m not really even sure that I had a good example of an actual person who was doing what I was trying to do.

I was just trying to make my life suck less.

And... I had found a philosophy that I trusted enough to stick with.

I once had this co-worker who was “difficult to work with.” And even my whole team had agreed that we would try to avoid meetings with her because she would ramble on, and always wanted to change things. Everything always took longer when she was there. And then yoga taught me to think differently to use this hard situation for my own success.

I remember the first time I realized that my boss was making it up as he went, and that’s when I realized that I could do this too. I used to think that my managers had some superpower that made them good at their jobs or information that I didn’t have and that’s why I wasn’t ready to step up into a bigger role. This is important because many of us hold back because we think we’re doing it wrong. And when we think we’re doing it wrong, we often don’t even try or assume we can’t.

Truth bomb: The same skills that got you promoted are NOT the same skills you need to be a great leader. A funny thing happens in most organizations. Of the pool of individual contributors, the best ones are selected for promotions. Eventually the promotion leads to managing people. Even if you were the BEST at your job, you’re now being asked not to do it anymore. Learn how being “good” at your job isn’t necessary to be a great leader.

It may seem like delegation is just a task you learn at work. To some degree it is, but if you don’t master the mindset of delegation, you’ll find yourself relying on old habits in tough situations. When you land yourself in a role where you’re managing a team, you must shift yourself more into the mindset of a teacher rather than a peer, because now your number one job is responsibility for your whole team’s opportunity to learn. And this is important work!

Here’s the deal - there will ALWAYS be too many things pulling at your schedule. UNTIL, you decide which things you’ll allow to be pulled. In my opinion, this is an extreme self-care practice.

Scheduling is the semantics of what Mary Oliver says about “what will you do with your one wild and precious life?” What you say yes to and what you say no to is literally YOUR ONE PRECIOUS LIFE.

Let’s face it - getting feedback is never a party. But getting “bad” feedback is HARD. Receiving hard feedback with poise is a practice, and when you master it you basically get the keys the CEOs office. Make getting feedback your secret superpower to success. Explore the steps to do it well in this piece.

When we think of the leaders of the world, or the leaders in our lives, we often dream up an image of who they are and how they operate that feels foreign to how we could ever feel ourselves because of our circumstances. The truth is that leaders are just like us, with a few different thought patterns that help them prioritize for impact and face adversity with calmness. Learn the three leadership myths here.

If you feel that you care a lot about your work, want anything that your name is on to be perfect or feel that you have to do it yourself, you may need to add a dash of “F it” or “carelessness” to your work attitude. Learn what that means and how it works. Explore the difference between caring and controlling, and how it might be holding you back at work.