How to "Be Where Your Feet Are" In Work and Life

What has the Coronavirus pandemic taught us about living in the moment?

My oft-given challenge to: “Be Where Your Feet Are” became truly substantive and less metaphorical over the past year. You can actually find more authentic joy, inspiration, security, peace, and meaningful human connection when you are restricted to one place. I know there are a lot of terrible things that came out of this, but there have also been so many lessons from this pause. At the time of me typing this, 1 in 1000 Americans have lost their lives to this pandemic...so, yes, appreciating moments and being where your feet are in life really matters because life can be fleeting for those we love. Family dinners matter (and I hadn’t been to too many of those in the last 20 years), and you can engage, even with those teenagers when phones are banned from the kitchen! People are more fragile than their Instagram posts might lead you to believe. We have this incredible opportunity to check in with reconnect with people when they cross our mind, or we think of something that reminds us of someone—reach out just to check in! I learned that when I do something for my mind, something for my body, and something for my soul every day, I am mentally healthier and more apt to help others. I learned the power of gratitude through sitting down with my youngest teenager and hearing about her three-year streak of recording what she was most grateful for each day. Listening to her happy-thoughts clicker each night reminded me that gratitude is the essence of being where your feet are.

If you are committed to leading a present, purposeful and passionate life, then you must confront and change or accept that which you uncover in your self-reflection.

How has the concept of work-life balance evolved, for you, into being where your feet are?

Work-life balance? I don’t see it—it’s a myth at best and a quixotic windmill chase at worst. When you are at work, be at work and be amazing! When you are at home, be at home and be amazing! Does this mean you cannot take a call from your partner or text your kids from work? No, but it does mean that when you do it, you are 100% engaged. The line is becoming thinner and thinner between work and home and we need more discipline, process and focus. The reality is that you have limited windows to engage with your family each day. To stay grounded and thriving in life, you need to know when those times are and dig in, put your phone down, silence your ringer and be where your feet are. And, I have yet to come across anyone in life who...

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