I almost didn’t attend the Spring General Meeting for Black Young Professionals (BYP). Between the rough day I had, the rain (ugh) and my friend (who was also planning on attending the event) guilt tripping me into going, I wasn’t particularly in the mood for socializing. Then I remembered that I wanted to get out more, do more things, meet more people so I decided to go… boy, am I glad I did.

First, I would like to say the food was amazing! I have never had white rice with so much flavor and steamed vegetables that I wanted to eat (Xav’s Catering knows what they’re doing, bravo). Along with amazing food, the meeting consisted of the Executive Board explaining the purpose of the organization, upcoming events and available leadership positions. The program also included speaker Brian Thomas, the Professional Development Trailblazer.

Disclaimer: I’m not a big fan of motivational speakers. In my experience, they’re just telling you common sense things with a lot of passion in their voice. I could do that. I have friends who do that. Regardless of my disdain, I reminded myself that I wanted to do things outside of my comfort zone… so I listened and was engaged and took in everything Mr. Thomas spoke about. It wasn’t until the next day that I realized “Maybe motivational speakers aren’t so bad”.

As I was prepping for my week and prioritizing tasks, something triggered in me. Mr. Thomas’ speech/presentation was about defining and achieving success. Since I have to-do lists for literally everything, in the back of my mind, success was checking off anything on any of these lists. Basic. In this moment, I began to think about the bigger picture that is my life and evaluate truly what success means to me. I started thinking about my habits and the things that hinder me from being “successful”. I concluded that procrastination is not my friend (probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to admit) and I need to put myself first before others. Making myself a priority is something I’ve never done and realized may be what’s holding me back from my full potentially successful self.

I learned two things that week: 1) motivational speakers might serve a purpose; I need to not be so close minded and 2) consistent self-reflection is a must. I’m always on the move but never thinking about if that move is the best thing for me. I can’t be my best self if I’m not thinking about what’s important to me and what brings me joy.