Hi there,
By now, you’ve started to notice where leadership felt lighter or heavier than expected. Today, we’re adding one more layer before closing out the week.
Week 1: Looking back
This week is about spotting patterns before we try to change anything. Not judging past decisions. Not fixing. Just noticing.
Week 1, Day 4: What worked, but took more out of you than it gave back
Looking back over the past year, what worked on paper but quietly cost you more than you realized?
This might include:
responsibilities you handled well but found exhausting
ways of operating that were praised but unsustainable
roles you stepped into “temporarily” that never really ended
systems that relied heavily on you to keep them running
These are often the hardest patterns to question, because the outcome looked fine.
But effort still counts. Energy still matters.
Today is about noticing where recurring success came with an invisible tax.
My example
Last year, being highly available worked. I was in seven to ten meetings most days. Decisions moved faster, people could usually get time with me, and I stayed close to the work. From the outside, it looked effective.
But any time I tried to protect for focused work was fragile, and by the end of most days I was physically and mentally exhausted. Almost all of my energy was spent reacting instead of thinking.
The work still got done. It just cost more than I realized at the time.
How to complete today’s prompt
If replying to the email helps with accountability, hit reply and jot down your answer.
If you’d rather keep this private, write it down somewhere just for you.
You don’t need a long list. One example is enough.
Tomorrow, we’ll close out Week 1 by choosing one thing you might want to repeat less, even if it was effective.
Onward,
Kelly
Missed a day or starting late? You can find all challenge prompts here.