When are you the best version of you?

Have you thought about it lately?

Freedom is my superpower. Free to schedule my day, free to make decisions about my life, free to do what I like work with. When I feel free I’m the absolute best version of me.

When I’m my best version I can lift things up and really make a difference. I get high on contributing to a whole. I get a kick out of creating and developing initiatives that I see work in practice.

And probably the most important I just love simply love when I see people thrive around me. When I see people are happy and enjoying what they do.

Why is this so important to find the best of you?

We all have work, family, friends and busy lives. Do we stop and reflect on if we’re on the right path? I’m well aware that we don’t walk through our lives on rose petals. But it is our responsibility, our responsibility alone, to make our lives as happy as can be.

This morning I had a “bad mom” moment. I was dropping my daughters off at school. My oldest has a weekend field trip and they were planned to leave early – around 3 p.m. I had a meeting this afternoon and wouldn’t be able to come back to school and wave good-bye. So when she asked me: “Can’t you come and say good-bye?” I got a flash of “bad-mom” and tears in my eyes. I’d been gone on a business trip for the past couple of days and tired from working long hours. When I’m tired I’m not my best version either. No surprise there. We all need sleep to re-energize.

Let’s be honest, I wasn’t the only parent who dropped off my kid at school with her bags this morning. I just guilt-tripped myself into the “bad-mom” feeling. I’m no better, no worse than other moms. The pressure we put on ourselves is in my opinion much harder than our surrounding’s. That’s another story for another time.

Reflecting on this morning’s episode it dawned on me why I was putting so much pressure on myself.

My feeling was a reaction to the lack of me being able to be the best version of me. Not the perfect house, perfect kids, perfect job, perfect life ….illusion. My not being able to have the freedom to prioritize my schedule hit me worse today than other days. The cherry on top was my exhaustion.

I like working, like reaaaaaally like working when I work with the right things, things that matter and give me energy and at the right time. I’m an early riser and have no trouble with meetings neither in the morning nor in the afternoon. I can wake up on a Saturday morning at 6 a.m., brew coffee and start working. If I like what I do.

When I’m my best version I get to work with what I like when the passion and creative energy is present and when I decide. It’s equally important for me to see that the people around me thrive and are happy.

My superpower is FREEDOM. What’s your superpower?