Hi,

Happy Monday! Can you believe it’s September? Already?!
What’s your favourite summer 2024 moment?

Remember: You are magic today, tomorrow and every day✨

This month, I’m sharing my personal experience of last summer. A summer I would never have planned or considered in my wildest dreams. But sometimes the universe throws curveballs at us and we can only control our reaction.

PS. During this time of reflection, I was able to identify what truly lights me up. After taking some alignment actions, I have completed several educational courses and have launched my first signature program, which I’m so excited about! Learn more at www.nadiaadan.com

To celebrate, I’m offering a special discounted rate for the first 10 women who sign up for the program AND I’m offering everyone a 60-minute Introductory Human Design reading for a limited-time offer of $125; don’t miss out.

Key Takeaways

• Sometimes doing “nothing” is the best thing you can do.

• You don’t need to reach burnout before you take a step back.

• The way you react to the unexpected is what will define you, not the situation itself.

• Even when you feel no one will understand what you are going through, you don’t have to face it alone.

Around this time last year, I took two months off work.

Sounds dreamy, right? But, it wasn’t a holiday, and it wasn't time I’d planned to take off in advance. It was two months of medical leave due to work-induced stress and anxiety caused by a toxic work environment.

After a couple of days of feeling very sorry for myself, I decided enough was enough; pity wasn’t going to help me. At all.

So, I used the time to get back to feeling myself and to reflect on where I was and where I wanted to be.

I didn’t expect it, but I learned a lot in this short space of time.

My top four learnings:

• It’s necessary to separate yourself from the situation: I didn’t realise how much of a toxic environment I was in until I was able to be away from it. When you are in a toxic environment day in and day out, trying to survive, you automatically shut yourself off from a lot of what is happening to protect yourself. By separating myself, I was able to have an “outside” view and appreciate the full picture of how I was living. This separation allowed me to understand that this was not a way of life that I could continue living if I wanted to be happy.

• Ask for help: Don’t be ashamed to ask for help, whether it be from friends, family, or professional help. It’s so important to let people know how you are feeling. I was determined to return to myself as quickly and sustainably as possible and asked for help from everyone. For me, that looked like going to therapy more regularly, investing in a career coach and being open with my friends and family. It was really helpful to have professional help guide me, but it was also essential to ensure my friends and family understood what I was feeling so that they could support me too. At times, I did feel very alone. Would people understand what I was experiencing? Was what I was feeling a big deal? Everyone has problems. Sometimes I would even find myself questioning whether this was my fault. Having a foundational support system was essential during these moments.

• It’s okay to do "nothing”: Some days I was stressed because I felt I was wasting time. I felt that because I thought I was doing "nothing," in reality, my body and my mind were recovering.
  Doing “nothing” is not something I felt comfortable doing, because it wasn’t something I was used to doing. We are so conditioned to be efficient, proactive and always doing. However, I was able to learn to appreciate the doing "nothing.” Those moments became key to me. It meant that I was truly recovering. I was using the time to reflect, learn and recharge. I was growing. That’s exactly what needed to happen at that time.

• Taking time for yourself is the best way to take care of yourself: You are your number one priority, and no job or relationship is worth your mental or physical health. You are stuck with you, well, forever, so treat yourself with kindness and love. Take time when you need it and you’ll become a stronger, more focused version of who you want to be. Protect yourself, respect yourself and your growth will be amazing.

Remember, if you are feeling heightened levels of stress or anxiety at work, you don’t need to reach burnout to take time out.

Take care of yourself; you are your biggest and most important responsibility.

My monthly challenge is to think about how you react to different situations that show up in your life. Are you respecting yourself and progressing or could you be doing something differently?

Hit reply and let me know if you can relate to this story.

Shine bright.

This month’s quote:

Translation: Sometimes the “bad things” that happen in life are the ones that push us in the right direction. They make us wake up and react, and they help us grow. Next time you look back, you’ll see how every hit made you stronger and how that “bad thing” in reality, only bought you prosperity.

☀️ Feeling generous? ⏩ Forward this story to a friend who may find it valuable.