Hey All, it’s Virginia bringing the weekly wisdom for you. When I was thinking about this week’s topic, for whatever reason canning peaches on Saturday came to mind. Now what does this have to do with business or the work that we do? Directly, not a damn thing. But the entire experience taught me about celebrating wins, trying to expand patience, and more.

Our work isn’t exclusive to our living, and our life wellness and work wellness are definitely intertwined. And for ambitious, motivated women like you and I, sometimes we have to parse out who we are without our work, to enjoy it further or to get a break. Or, we can find enjoyment in non-work tasks that help us stay creative and curious.

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So let’s talk about why I was canning peaches at 11 PM. Long story short, I’ve been preoccupied with a couple of family needs for over a week now. Because of this, I never took the time to go celebrate my Summer Cohort launch with my program. My person wanted to change that and forced me out of the house on Saturday afternoon. It was really nice to just get away for a minute and have a meal at one of our favorite places. But this meant we didn’t even start canning until around 9 PM when we got home after dinner and errands. Let’s just say doing this type of project late at night is not for the faint of heart. And, honestly, under most circumstances, I’d already be in bed, but I’d already had pickling cucumbers that were casualties earlier that day. So, I didn’t want to waste any more produce.

When the Clock Said 9:00 PM

You know how you start something up and you’ve got your music playing, good vibes, and you have a system down? Everything’s feeling amazing and you’re like Beyoncé in the canning world, or maybe Rachel Ray… Well, that was the feeling when just prepping the space and imagining how good these will taste.

Eventually, though, I was just waiting on water to boil to blanch the peaches, peel them, and boom, next step! Well, a watched pot does not boil that quickly, y’all. I was begging the Chef or Canning Deities to help. The “quick canning project” was becoming not so quick. Here’s two simple tips: sometimes the right tools really do matter, and two, problem-solving under pressure is not underrated. Blanching works great, but so does manual peeling. Problem solved.

By the Time the Clock Said 11:00 PM

Now, I can report back that the peaches survived the water bath, and everything sealed up fine and looks good. At least it won’t be like a dill pickle experience from a few years ago… A friend told me I could dump any ol’ spices in with the spears, as long as I had the base brine down the flavor profile would work, right? Well, it was…unique…to say the least. Though, they were a hit with everyone else and it meant I had a lot of housewarming gifts.

So, here’s the takeaway for the week: we can relish—like that pun?—in the simple things and the right tools, plus a feeling of sustainability or accomplishment. It’s so useful to have things in our life that are outside our work, where we feel like we’re contributing to our lives in a different way. Because when we have that balance or we have that sense of accomplishment in non-work work, our confidence is stronger and we show up differently in life and our work journey.

Try something non-work related that grows your skills this week and see how you feel when you tackle something fun and interesting…but maybe not so late at night.

That’s it for this week! Feeling inspired? If you’re looking for more updates and want a more direct connection, join (for free) the FSW Circle. And if you have any questions or comments, leave them below or contact me 1:1 this way. Chat with you soon!