Continued Musings During My Year of Recalibration
⌛ By Kaylin R. Staten ⌛
This blog post is better late than never.
As someone who lives (and nearly dies) by holistic plans and detailed to-do lists, June has knocked me on my ear. It can be challenging to trudge forward when sicknesses, personal life changes, and uncertainty for my next career step weave into the fabric of my being.
I’m not going to lie. I wanted to have a carefully curated and crafted blog post for June, but that hasn’t happened. After experiencing strep throat, a respiratory infection/virus, and a stomach bug this month, I am ready to get back in the swing of things! I’m craving normalcy. When I was sick, however, that time away from everything was instrumental in allowing me to think more deeply about what matters to me in both professional and personal capacities.
2022’s content has been heavily focused on goal recalibration, finding a career you love, lessons I’ve learned as a business owner, achievement addiction, and Hourglass Media’s new direction and purpose. My word of the year is “recalibration,” and I have been doing just that. If you remember the GPSes of yesteryear, you’ll remember that the AI voice always said, “recalculating” if you took another route.
I’m currently on that other route. Here are some musings from this month that will carry over into Q3 and Q4:
My priority has to be storytelling.
I say that I am a storyteller all the time, but am I actually doing what I love to do? It’s true that I need variety to spice up the everyday minutiae of my action items and work schedule. That doesn’t mean that I need to take on 1,000 new projects, but I do want to write more. As a writer, I don’t write nearly enough. That will soon change. At least 50 percent of Hourglass Media will be writing and storytelling in multiple formats. When I interviewed 50+ people for Huntington’s 150th Anniversary, I reinvigorated my love of talking to people and telling their narratives to target audiences. In March, I started The Wholeheartedly Podcast, and I have loved every second of the journey so far. So, I’ll continue telling my own and others’ stories.
I need just a few focus areas versus trying to do everything.
Throughout my career, people have always told me that I do many things. I’ve heard that point mentioned even recently. This is not a new idea, but it’s one that gets louder in my head with each passing month. While I used to wear my accomplishments like a badge of honor or collect them like Facebook flair (do you remember the flair of 2008-2009?!), I’ve been stepping back to see what actually matters to me. Instead of collecting accolades and external validation, I want to remind myself what actually matters to me: the aforementioned storytelling, mental-health-and-psychology-related work, and the strategy of communication versus being a masterful tactician.
PR isn’t my first love anymore.
This revelation may shock some people. I am very proud of what I have accomplished in my PR career, and I know that I have become an expert in my field. It’s like I have reached the ceiling of it, though, and I can’t go back to earth. It’s like when Charlie and his grandfather drink the Fizzy Lifting Drinks and float in the air in Willy Wonka’s factory.
I can’t go back to my 25-year-old self. PR was one of my first loves then. Life has a funny way of showing you what you are made of, what you love, and what you would rather hand off to someone else. I still enjoy many facets of the PR industry, such as media relations and strategic planning, but many aspects have always run me ragged. I am an all-or-nothing, overachieving person, so I have always handed everything to everyone on a silver platter to make their lives easier. PR is the management of people, and sometimes, it can be exhausting to manage personalities, KPIs, crises, and whatever else the day could bring. I won’t walk away from the industry. I just choose to be a strategist and consultant while allowing the next generation to make their marks in the industry and earn their rookie-to-expert stripes. I have way more boundaries now, which feels good. In essence, I am being way more streamlined and strategic with my PR career now.
Some other musings:
The “Obi-Wan Kenobi” limited series did have its pitfalls, but it made me emotional over “Star Wars” again. That doesn’t happen often in this bastardized Disney era. I rewatched “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith” while sick, which made me have a renewed sense of love for the prequels – despite their cheesiness.
The state of the world right now just makes me depressed, so I have had to take breaks from the news and social media. I still am in the loop, but it’s just so hard to handle what is going on in the world currently. I know most of us are in the same mindset.
I need to organize all of my devices. I got a new iPhone recently, and my data is out of control, from photos and files to emails and Canva templates.
When push comes to shove, all work takes a backseat to my family.
I always feel better when I can do some yoga and when I eat less dairy.
I can literally work from anywhere, even on my iPhone or iPad when I am under the weather.
I’m taking a break from therapy. I know I need to continue it, but I am working on implementation versus trying to figure out “what is wrong with me.” I know the answers now, so it’s time to put the strategies into action.
Kaylin R. Staten, APR, MPRCA, is an award-winning, accredited public relations practitioner and writer based in Huntington, WV, with nearly 20 years of professional communications experience. As CEO and founder of Hourglass Media, she uses her compassionate spirit and expertise to delve into the heart of clients’ stories. She is a wife, mom, mental health advocate, and Leia Organa aficionado. Connect with Kaylin on LinkedIn.