ph1llipd, Author at Chris Burkhard

What Are Your 3 Critical Life Lessons?

I am frequently asked about what gives me sustainable motivation and energy. How do I continuously keep my long-term goals top of mind and how do I recover from life’s setbacks and get back on track? When it comes to reaching our goals, all of us have setbacks – we get sick, we lose steam, one cheat day turns into a week. All of us slip up. It’s how we reset that matters most! The key to remaining energetic and passionate about your goals is knowing who you are and what you want for yourself. I can’t understate the obvious – it’s really hard to be happy, have energy or be excited if you’re simply letting life happen to you.

So, how do you take control?

1 – First things first, spend time on your personal core values. I recently ran this exercise for some of the newer leaders at Placers. All were asked to come up with 3-6 core values and be prepared to talk about them. Values are behaviors you want to live by and spending the time to define your personal values will help you decide what’s important and what’s not. You can evaluate life’s choices and how you’re doing against your chosen values.

If you feel good about your core values, move on to the next exercise…

2 – What do you want to be known for at the end of your life? This exercise is not morbid to me and working through it really helped put my goals into perspective. Was I working towards authentic goals that actually mattered to me? Goals that I could be proud of? If not, I knew I had to adjust them.

I often look towards those that I admire to help with this exercise. Why did I admire them and what lessons did I learn? How can I model my life around their teachings?

I did both of these exercises early on in my entrepreneur journey. I looked to friends and family to help as I often felt like they knew me better than I knew myself at the time. The main piece of early feedback was that I was all work and no play. I had become too serious amidst all of the stress that comes with being an entrepreneur. So, I endeavored to bring my authentic self to every interaction and lead with light hearted fun and humor. That felt natural to me and after a while I found that being my authentic self built my confidence and in turn made me a more credible leader – even business results improved! I also learned that I had no work-life balance and that 100-hour work weeks were far from sustainable. Being a workaholic was not the badge of honor I had once regarded it as – and truth be told, it was killing me. So, I set goals that would allow me to separate myself from work. I cut back on around the clock emails, rolled out unlimited PTO for the team, explored new hobbies and took a new instretest in my health. These exercises provided a much needed wakeup call and very well may have saved my life. I know for a fact that they did save my relationships, most namely, the one I have with myself. As always, “thought work” like the exercises detailed above is ongoing. Work on it often, assess your progress regularly and give yourself grace as you evolve. What helps you determine if your goals align with your authentic self? Reply and let me know. Until next time, friends. Chris

If you enjoyed this article, I recommend reading these past Outside Insights posts: Workation in Wydaho How to Deal with Self-Limiting Beliefs It Takes a Second to Say Goodbye to 2021

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At Placers we are making the following Acts of Kindness Promises: We will be your career coach free of charge to assist you with any and all part of your job search. We currently have temporary work for folks that need short-term funds. We will act as a consultant to businesses that need a 90-day plan – free of charge. We promise to go above and beyond in our individual communities. If you need help in any way, simply fill out this quick form and we’ll connect you with a helping hand. No strings attached.

Workation in Wydaho

Recently, I read one of my Outside Insights articles from two years ago where I wrote about the importance of appreciating the small stuff around you. Reflexively I thought, who was that guy? And how did he get to a place where he had time to actually appreciate the small things in life? Two years of pandemic life and the economic curveballs of late often require me to have tunnel vision – not looking at anything but the end goal: serve others as best as I can to keep my business going strong.

But that throwback blog had me thinking, if I’ve reached the point where appreciating the small things that feel all too foreign, I need a wake up call. And so I went to Wydaho for a very necessary workation around the nature that inspires me most, and where I would have more space to think.

I’ve come to learn that taking the time to notice, let alone appreciate, the small things can be very challenging for entrepreneurs. The risks we take to start our companies become all-consuming in a way that’s hard to understand unless you have been there.

At the height of my entrepreneurial journey, I stopped eating well, I had no time to take care of myself, lived off of savings, and spent more money than I saved. I had a flood, a fire, a theft, and tree recessions under my belt along with the other hallmark growing pains that come with running a business. I had been through some stuff. I was seasoned. I learned lessons from real life experiences that shaped me into the leader and business owner that was prepared for everything. I had seen it all – or so I thought. You’re lying if you say you had an active pandemic plan for your business in March of 2020. Who could have predicted the last two years?

Something I never learned as a young entrepreneur, or perhaps just didn’t listen to, was that everything is temporary. Yes, bad times can go on uncomfortably long. However, change will always come. Thank goodness.

This was the last blog before the pandemic. In March of 2020 my one month sabbatical, provided to every Placers employee after 10 years, was cut short 8 days. Lockdown orders swept down and I raced home across the country as rumors of states shutting their borders became increasingly real.

I am writing this on my first day back from Wydaho. I predicted the end of the pandemic three weeks ago and was rewarded with Covid not long after as a humble reminder of my arrogance. All is fine, just a cold and a bruised ego. A silver lining can be found in most situations – for me, the Pandemic helped me appreciate what I have by reminding me vividly what I could have lost.

As I took the time to intentionally reflect on the “small” things around me and the enormous value that they hold, I was reminded of the pure, and rare, spirit of unity that was so clear at the beginning of the pandemic. When you feel like you could lose everything, you learn to appreciate all that you do have – the people around you, the privilege of waking up each morning with a fresh page, family, health, etc. How ironic that all of the things people just don’t take time to be thankful for on a day-to-day basis are often the most important.

To sum it up: If you’re finding it hard to appreciate the small stuff lately, you’re not alone. Not by a long shot. Read my blog from two years ago written with a perspective not yet molded by today’s realities. No matter how crazy things get, we can all get back to that mindset. And folks, committing to that mindset could do wonders for our mental health.

Until next time, friends.

Chris

If you enjoyed this article, I recommend reading these past Outside Insights posts:

How to Deal with Self-Limiting Beliefs
It Takes a Second to Say Goodbye to 2021
Gratitude & Grieving: Honor Your Feelings During The Holidays

Want to receive Outside Insights in your inbox?

Subscribe to Outside Insights

Listen to the Outside Insights Podcast

At Placers we are making the following Acts of Kindness Promises:

We will be your career coach free of charge to assist you with any and all part of your job search.

We currently have temporary work for folks that need short-term funds.

We will act as a consultant to businesses that need a 90-day plan – free of charge.

We promise to go above and beyond in our individual communities.

If you need help in any way, simply fill out this quick form and we’ll connect you with a helping hand. No strings attached.

How to Deal with Self-Limiting Beliefs

Self-limiting beliefs are the assumptions or perceptions we have about ourselves and the way the world works. These assumptions are “self-limiting” because by holding on to these beliefs, we are in some way holding ourselves back from achieving our goals. An all-too common example of a self-limiting belief among young leaders often sounds like: “I don’t have enough experience to lead this team, what if I mess everything up?” It’s that fear, and others like it, that stops them for reaching for what they really want – and are more than capable of achieving.

Many professionals and entrepreneurs of all experience levels struggle with self-limiting beliefs. These limiting beliefs act as deflectors or even shields from reality. And like a shield, they’re actually trying to protect us. While they’re protecting us from potential embarrassment, failure, risk – they’re also stifling potential. They prevent us from having the life, the career, or even the relationship we want. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the very reason Outside Insights exists! I spend a good amount of my time helping my stakeholders change and grow and set aside their self-limiting beliefs – my job seekers, hiring managers, customers, small business owners, and, of course, my internal team.

Here are a handful of self-limiting beliefs that you’d likely heard others say, if not said it yourself:

“There are no good jobs out there right now for someone like me.”

Coming from the staffing industry, I can assure you that we see and hear self-limiting beliefs from the workforce everyday. We tend to count ourselves out before the game has even begun! The more years you live you realize that every single person is figuring it out as they go. The ones who have determination and grit are the ones who see success

“I could never start my own business. I don’t have the money or the expertise. I just can’t do what other entrepreneurs have done.”

There is always a way. Every day there is “dry powder” or money to be deployed for new products and new businesses. In fact there is more money than small business startups.

“I am a ‘get it done now’ person. I can’t worry about three months from now, let alone three years”

We all have strengths. Being a “doer” and being action oriented is incredibly important to being productive. Yet, it can be self-limiting to not work on the future and decide on a path you want to take. There is uncertainty with planning anything, to reach out goals we must pause, create a vision for the future and then set your plan into action. You don’t have to be the best. You just have to start!

We all have self-limiting beliefs. In my early formative years as a leader, I was known as a leader who straddled the split rail fence all of the time when it came to evaluating and making a business decision. I told myself I did not have enough information to make the decision, so I would obsess over studying a problem until I had more certainty. Like all big decisions, the feeling of absolute certainty never came no matter how hard I looked at the problem, and often missed the natural window to do something by waiting for the perfect moment. My inability to trust my instinct eventually hurt my credibility with my president and my team. To this day, I have to remind myself to get out of my head and trust my intuition. So, how do you unlearn your self-limiting beliefs? It starts when we begin to realize that our belief might not actually be the truth. You must question your thinking and beliefs and unravel the narratives you have created for yourself. If you can get in the habit of studying yourself, of looking at your thinking and challenging yourself to create alternatives, you will begin to recognize negative thought patterns that are holding you back. Here are quick steps to get you started:

1 – Remember, change is not easy and it will not serve you well right away. 2 – Now, imagine for a moment that your belief could be wrong. 3 – Consider what this belief is doing for you? What is it trying to protect you from? What do you fear? 4 – Now, think of alternatives to that thought. Instead of thinking “I’m not good enough for that job” think “I could be great. I just need to practice XYZ. I’ll start tomorrow.” 5 – The key is to practice and look at alternatives to your beliefs. 6 – Remind yourself what you wanted in the first place and why you’re challenging your beliefs. Change is easier when we are clear with what we want for ourselves and can see the goal we’re working towards. Getting clear on the future you want makes change easier for me – and hopefully for you, too. This step makes the change worth the work!

Whenever you’re having a negative thought about yourself or a situation, I hope you’ll remember to challenge it. Thoughts aren’t reality. They’re just thoughts. And oftentimes, our imagination can feel like our worst enemy. But remember, you always have the power to turn those thoughts around. Until next time friends, Chris

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It Takes a Second to Say Goodbye to 2021

As we rang in the new year last week, we also waved goodbye to 2021. Under the sounds of cheering, fireworks, and the classic Auld Lang Syne – it was hard not to feel a little hesitation amongst the hope. We’re two years into pandemic life and it’s easy to make a list of what we miss the most or to ponder what a return to “normal” will look like. Yes, 2021 threw a lot of curveballs, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t aspects worth celebrating. During New Years Eve, I reflected and celebrated the progress we’ve collectively made in 2021 – at home and in the workplace.

Mental health discussions are now mainstream. In 2021, the importance of mental health finally began to receive the attention it needed. Role models like athletes and entrepreneurs shared their stories and treatment plans. Leaders were called to lead with empathy and grace after realizing that many of their employees and families are experiencing challenges and fallout from pandemic times. Months of Zoom calls and work-from-home has illuminated that, under everything, we’re all just human and we’re all doing the best we can.

Workplace flexibility has gone mainstream. I never thought I would see the day that companies would survey and employees would feel confident and secure in sharing that they want and need life flexibility. This is common sense. This has business merit. This is good for the environment- less commute time, less people on the road, smaller business footprints. And of course parents are seeing more of their kids. Being home for repairs, sick kids, and errands reduces stress and improves quality of life.

The economy and the year of the consumer I never thought of myself as much of a logistics expert, yet 2021 seems to have made all of us act like it. Our economy has roared back to life. GDP, a measure of our economy, set records going back to post World War times. Why? We keep buying things. This is a double-edged sword. Do we really need all of the clothes, electronics and shoes that we buy? Lets face it, there is a good case to be made that by overbuying we broke the supply chain. But, the beauty of a simplified life is a topic for another article.

Communities came together. 2020 was a hard year. It replaced in-person gatherings with virtual connections that quickly left us feeling like we were missing a core part of the human experience. 2021 brought all of us back together. Life events as small as seeing our local Christmas parade and neighborhood light show created some much needed normalcy and holiday spirit. All across the country, communities have adapted, modified, masked up and carried on – together.

Technology makes it easier (and safer) than ever to connect. The topic of workforce flexibility has triggered a tidal wave of new thinking- technology gains and human resources ideas, training and policies that put a focus on how to best work-from-home in a way that supports the important interpersonal aspect of work. My favorite tech tool of the year is Loom – asynchronous videos that are easy to shoot, edit, send, and track participants.

We’ve made strides in championing Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity. I had the pleasure of being a signatory with CEO Action Pledge, an organization run by PWC with participation from a growing number of Fortune 100 companies and this year many companies that employee 200 and up. The goal is awareness and education, and for me, becoming aware of the influence I can have on the topic and the culture I can shape by making DEI a business objective. There is still much work to be done, but we’re making strides.

What silver linings did 2021 bring to you and your family? Reply and let me know. For many, 2021 gave people the gumption to stop wasting time and go after what they want. If you’re currently working on identifying your goals for 2022, take some time to get reacquainted with yourself by clicking the link to read last year’s post and access the planning guide to ensure your goals are authentic. Until next time, friends,

Chris

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Gratitude & Grieving: Honor Your Feelings During the Holidays

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” ― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

It goes without saying that for the past couple of years, the holiday season has felt – for lack of a better word, weird. As much as the holiday season promotes a general sense of merriment and celebrating the bounty and abundance around us, for many the holiday season can bring on uncomfortable feelings – and then guilt for not feeling particularly merry. The truth is, sometimes gratitude is not the best way to navigate our reality. The last two years have been hard on all of us and we are trying our best to cope. We are dealing with our own issues while simultaneously observing all of the challenges that the pandemic has caused our families, our kids, our neighbors, our employees, our customers and our communities. Every day, I make a practice of writing down three things I am grateful for in my abundant life. I was taught, and continue to learn, that oftentimes the best way to gain perspective and live a fuller life is to look for and admire the small but powerful things in life: a child’s face, your dog’s loyalty, the sunset through a kitchen window, etc. The little moments that remind us that no matter how crazy the world gets, there will always be something to hold on to. Under this same spirit, and with good intentions, I have often attempted to help people identify all that they should be grateful for. Recently, I’ve realized that while a positive outlook is very important, it can also evolve into “toxic positivity”, an idea that we’re all familiar with in one way or another. Toxic positivity is the concept that the solution to life’s challenges and setbacks is simply to remain positive, count your blessings, and replace authentic, albeit uncomfortable, grief with positive thoughts that are much more comfortable. The truth is, sometimes things will really suck – and when they do, we need to feel and process. When used to dampen our senses to uncomfortable feelings, toxic positivity and an “attitude of gratitude” can prevent us from truly processing the root of the emotions. The same goes for when you’re providing support to a friend. When someone we care for is going through tough times, our first instinct is often to help them see all of the blessings they have in life. This is helpful, but only at the right time. If you just lost your job and someone tells you to “look on the bright side”, it sucks. People just want to know you’re there and that you care. As I said, I have a daily gratitude practice. It’s healthy and for me, an important part of my mental health maintenance. But I also take time to reflect on and understand the uncomfortable feelings, too. Pushing positivity on friends and family and employees who are going through tough times is well intended but frankly, can be invalidating and harmful.

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” ― Maya Angelou

Like most things in life, a balanced perspective is a complete one. The opposite of toxic positivity is Tragic Optimism. The concept of Tragic Optimism comes from Neurologist Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning. Tragic optimism involves finding meaning through reflection and introspection during difficult and trying times. Simply put, it’s the idea that it takes going through hell to truly grow. Processing difficult times in a healthy way can give us insights and perspective – we can find ourselves, respect, compassion, empathy, etc. These next few weeks you’ll be surrounded by friends, family and strangers that are all going through unique challenges. You may also have challenges of your own to overcome.

Starting today, I challenge you to:

1. Listen. When someone is going through hell, resist the temptation to try to change their feelings. Instead, just listen, let them know that their feelings are legitimate, and assure them that you’re there for them. 2. Honor your feelings. Even the uncomfortable ones. You’re allowed to feel less than your best during the holidays. It doesn’t make you any less grateful for all that you do have. Honor the feelings that come up, process them, don’t linger, and get back out there. 3. Practice gratitude. Yes, this step is still important. Never stop working to identify the small moments that make you feel alive. 4. Give back. Over time, I’ve learned that true long term gratitude is not about a daily gratitude practice or striving to maintain a positive outlook, rather, it’s a long term approach to helping others. And there’s no better time than the holidays to explore this idea.

A life well lived is a series of ups and downs – the good and the bad. When we honor and process the “bad stuff” we grow stronger, more resilient, more innovative, and better prepared for the next life event. I wish you and your family the best this holiday season. And if you’re feeling less than perfect, remember, that’s okay – honor your feelings, the bad ones won’t last. Until next year, Chris

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