The title of this blog probably has you thinking this is going to be some elevated recipe for a basic peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But dear friends, there is so much more to this article than that. PB & J in this context stands for Personal, Business, and Joy. Ok, let’s break this baby down. Toast by itself is a staple. Filling, consistent, nothing too unexpected, which is what you want out of any foundation. A stable platform to build up from. When you add in the peanut butter, aka both your personal and business life, it’s the glue that connects you to your friends, family, and colleagues. It’s that same stickiness that can make life challenging from time to time. Life is all about learning how much you can bite off and chew without exhausting yourself. But my favorite part of this analogy is the jelly – the joy in your sandwich. Sure, a straight peanut butter sandwich can be tasty for a while, until it gets tired, dry, and mundane. But adding jelly, well, that’s the flavor; the fun. Without finding what brings us joy to our personal and business lives, we go living day to day with no source of fulfillment or genuine success.
A Jelly-Less Sandwich
Back in my corporate days, I was working on a huge project with a sizable team in a dedicated space called “The War Room”. A title so fitting for what became of the tight quarters we were locked down in. We worked non-stop for 9 weeks; I mean 12-hour plus hour days, some overnights, and every weekend… we were overworked and lacking sleep. As you can imagine, personalities and passions got big, sucking the joy from every single person on the team.
For me personally, I was becoming delirious from a lack of sleep and improper eating habits and actually passed out for the first time in my life. After coming in and out of consciousness, I was grateful to be sent home. For Pete’s sake, I couldn’t even complete an entire sentence, I was so tired. No sleep; no food; no positive collaboration; no joy. I thought I had ordered my sandwich with jelly, but I didn’t get what I was craving most.
A Jelly-Filled Sandwich
More recently, I found myself burning the midnight oil when I was creating the 8 week Rebrand You Coaching course. This time there was no team of defensive arguers, no one telling me I can’t eat and sleep; and I am passionate about the topic. I loved writing the program and planning for the group sessions. The hours flew by, barely being noticed as “spent”. Because I was joyful about the work, my personal and business lives felt in balance with one another.
Even though I could have pulled all-nighters on Rebrand You, I didn’t. I know that the sandwich can only get sliced so many times before the whole thing crumbles. It’s the same working with clients; if I spread my PB&J too thin, the flavor dies out. I choose to find the joy in each client or project I am working on by; taking breaks, surrounding myself with scenery that makes me feel calm yet powerfully energized (for me, this is walking out in nature), and contracting out things that bring me little to no jelly.
What elements in your personal and business lives bring your joy?
How can you add more jelly to your sandwich without compromising your foundation?
Need help finding the jelly in the back of the fridge? Email me at [email protected]
