When it comes to long-term impact, Consistency > Intensity
Imagine you are running in a 4 x 100 relay. You are the lead-off. You hear the starting pistol and you take off in a fast sprint. You want to give your team a strong start- they are relying on you- so you push your body harder and harder. As you near 100 meters you prepare to pass the baton to your teammate only to realize they are not there. You speed back up, your head racing with questions about your teammate and whether or not they’re okay, and you’re out of breath as you keep pushing, trying to maintain your speed despite the fact that you are now running double the distance you had expected. Completely out of breath, you reach 200 meters and, once again, there’s no teammate to catch the baton. You keep going. Your legs and your lungs are burning. You’re confused and frustrated that your team isn’t there. You also start to fantasize about what a hero you would be if you ran the first three legs and your team still won, so you push harder and harder, despite your body begging you to stop. You give it everything you have left, only to discover that your finisher is also nowhere to be found. In disbelief, you keep pushing, your legs are screaming, but you tell yourself it’s all on you and stopping isn’t an option. You reach the finish line and collapse to the ground. A minute later, your teammate comes to find you and informs you that your heat is just about to start. You had started in the wrong heat and now, you have to go all over again.
For those of you who have experience in track and field, my analogy probably has lots of holes and errors. But for those of you who are currently working in social services, public health, nonprofits, healthcare, or any kind of social change organization, the feelings I described above may sound all too familiar to what life feels like right now. The needs of our clients, our patients, our consumers, our communities are real. The urgency of our work is valid. The terror, chaos, grief, rage… it is all well founded. People are suffering- the people we serve and the people we work beside. Many of us feel called to do everything and anything we can to make a difference. There is so much coming at us so constantly it can feel like being dropped in the ocean in the middle of a hurriance; every time we think it’s safe to come up for air, we are pushed back under by another wave, another cut, another loss. Many of us are trying to give everything we have to everything we are doing. We are trying to individually and collectively sprint a marathon.
It’s been a tough couple of months and we are exhausted and our hearts have broken again and again. This is not accidental. Oppressors want us- the people who are challenging imbalances of power in all spaces- exhausted, overwhelmed, and hopeless. I have a book that I have gifted friends and colleagues entitled, “Rest is Resistance” by Tricia Hersey. She writes, “Loving ourselves and each other deepens our disruption of the dominant systems. They want us to be unwell, fearful, exhausted, and without deep self-love because you are easier to manipulate when you are distracted by what is not real or true.” Seeking opportunities to replenish ourselves is not self-indulgent, it is necessary. We need opportunities to slow down, to rest, to connect with ourselves and others. We need moments of joy and hope to remind us not just of what we are fighting against but what it is we are fighting to achieve.
“Seeking opportunities to replenish ourselves is not self-indulgent, it is necessary. “
People who work in non-profits, healthcare, and/or social services have always been asked to do too much with too little. We are used to wearing many hats and filling in for vacant roles. But with these cuts that many organizations are experiencing (or preparing for), many are trying to do the impossible. We don’t want to do less even when we have less resources. We feel personally responsible to the people and communities we serve. We keep pushing, we keep sprinting. But if we don’t find ways to refuel and replenish, we will collapse. Individuals will burnout and organizations will struggle and, in some cases, be forced to close their doors.
Leaders and those who have worked in this field for a long time, I look to you to share your guidance and your wisdom, and to model what sustainability looks like in the face of an ongoing crisis. We have an opportunity to teach those who are new to our field, and to remind ourselves that our ability to show up consistently over time is more powerful than showing up intensely and burning ourselves out like shooting stars. The change we are working for will not happen overnight, and therefore we must be able to sustain ourselves and our movement. We need each other to run this race. We cannot go into battle believing it is on our shoulders. We must support ourselves to be strategic with where we can put our energy to be most effective in the long and short-term. And we must make time and space for joy and connection. Let that be our north star to guide us forward, not exhausted but empowered.
Not alone, but together. Learn more about how you can partner with J.T. Consulting today!
