5 takeaways: Lauren Debick, APR

In 2019, the public relations profession was listed as one of the top 10 most stressful occupations – and that was before the pandemic. While 2020 challenged everyone, it also gave people unique opportunities to pause, reflect and decide who they want to be – for themselves and for their families, communities and workplaces.

Here are 5 takeaways from Lauren Debick’s February presentation, “Love yourself, love your life and love your career”:

  1. Love yourself. Self-love means having a high regard for your own well-being and happiness, taking care of your own needs and not sacrificing your needs for someone or something else. This is different for every person.
  2. Increase your self-love by celebrating moments when you are not perfect, doing at least one thing each day your present-day self and future self will thank you for and writing yourself compassionate letters. Perfectionism has real consequences. Perfectionists have shorter life spans and can suffer from eating disorders, depression and suicidal thoughts or actions.
  3. Love your life. Americans report being the unhappiest they’ve been in 50 years because of isolation, loneliness and less optimism about future generations. However, refocusing can help because it gives us control over our actions and our lives.
  4. Refocus by writing down your priorities, setting boundaries, getting organized and taking breaks. Also focus on one thing at a time. Multitasking is a myth, ineffective and unproductive.  
  5. Love your career. The average person spends 90,000 hours at work in their lifetime. If we’re going to spend one-third of our life at work, shouldn’t we do something that makes us happy? People who are happier tend to earn higher wages, and that’s not the same as saying people who earn higher wages are happier. People who love their work take fewer sick days and live 10 times longer.