Here’s a great email I received from new blog reader Natisha. Welcome to the Perspectives From the Pipeline community!
Hello Rosetta –
I happened across your blog, write up, etc. last night while doing some research on nonprofits. The only thing you’re not doing that I want to do is adjunct teaching! In any event, I wanted to touch bases with you to ask – how in the world do you do it all?
Like I said, you’re doing all the things I want to be doing, but haven’t been able to get a hold on where to start just yet. I start my MS in Nonprofit Management next week and I’m SUPER excited about that. I also have an opportunity to work on a nonprofit. The only problem is I have too many options! I’m new to “working” in the nonprofit sector, as majority of my paid experience has been in the for profit sector. Though I’ve volunteered in more than a few organizations.
The nonprofit I mentioned is basically allowing me to write my own ticket and honestly, I’m like a kid in a candy store. I’m not a fan of starting something and not finishing so I’m a little bit apprehensive about choosing a single area and ending up not liking it.
Do you have any suggestions for someone who doesn’t want to get caught up in a situation where my eyes are bigger than my “stomach”?
Natisha,
I wonder how I do it all myself sometimes, but that’s why I write so much about work/life balance, because I struggle with it just like all the other do-gooders. But what I’ve learned is that when you’re doing something that you love, and it feels right in your soul, your body somehow provides all the energy you need. It’s when you find yourself in a dead-end job that you hate that burnout happens real quick!
Congrats on starting your MS! Sounds like you have a great situation where you can pave your own path. That’s how it was for me when I landed my first ‘real’ nonprofit job and I took advantage of it. I deliberately chose projects that were “bigger than my stomach”, to push myself so I could learn from both my successes and failures. I like to call these challenging projects “stretch assignments,” and the skills and experience you get from “stretching” are invaluable. Of course, my saving grace was having great bosses and mentors along the way to support me. A lot of things were not in my job description, but I was able to learn what I knew I needed and wanted to learn: how to plan and facilitate events, provide effective training to executive directors, manage nonprofit finances and HR, and hone my fundraising skills in a safe and supportive environment. My advice? Start something when you feel the need for it, and don’t worry about not finishing it. There may be a good reason NOT to finish some things after you try new ideas and they don’t work. You need to try on different management areas to see where your strengths are. Your leadership comes in when you can come in with confidence and say, “this is what I think we need to do” and then make it happen. If you end up not liking whatever the “it” is, there’s always a graceful way to back out. But never let that keep you from implementing your ideas! Taking the safe route is cool, but you learn and grow a lot more by pushing yourself to stretch. All the best and keep in touch!
Anyone have any other advice for Natisha? Please share in the comments!
