On finding balance in 2025
Happy New Year! How many of us are in a state of shock that it’s 2025? I am.
I took a month off from everything—a very, very much-needed month off for this perpetual perfectionist. (Hence, the lack of new posts.) And I’m definitely planning to continue to dump my thoughts on all things marketing here, but after a little hiatus, it’s always fun to take a breath and step a little out of the norm.
My husband and I spent two incredible weeks in Australia, touring around the east coast and meeting up with friends. I felt genuinely relaxed and recharged for the first time in my adult life, and after this year, I couldn’t have asked for anything better.
So, when I started to think about my intentions for the new year, the idea of finding balance rose right to the top. That idea scares me: I’m the type who puts 100% into my work on a bad day, and probably 220% on a normal day. I like to work. It’s thrilling and fulfilling. But doing it at that pace is not sustainable.
I grappled with the meaning of balance for a lot of the end of 2024. Balance meant saying no, meant stepping back, trying less. It meant giving up my superpowers. Or so I thought, until I saw a story about Olympic gymnast Suni Lee.
If you don’t know her story, it’s incredible. After she won the All-Around (and several other medals) in the Tokyo Olympics and came home to join her college team at Auburn, she was diagnosed with two different debilitating kidney diseases. She was told she’d likely never be able to do gymnastics again. But she fought through, made the Olympic team a second time in the 2024 Paris Olympics, and won MORE medals.
In an article I read on ABC, Suni shared pieces of her journal and her affirmations, and one stuck out: Just be average. Nothing more, nothing less.
Wow. Wow. I read that and it felt like my eyes opened up.
Suni Lee, telling herself to be average, when she is truly anything but?
I can barely function at Crossfit 3x a week and she’s out there throwing her body around at the highest level while dealing with chronic illness. She’s the very definition of above average.
But it’s average at her level. Her average, her perspective.
Her average is always going to be to push through, to do the impossible.
And honestly? My average isn’t much different. Maybe on a more career-oriented way, but still the same vibe. Push through, do the impossible. That’s the standard, that’s the average.
Which, of course, makes me think of one of my favorite Mike Tomlin interview quotes… “The standard is the standard.”
A quote beloved by all Yinzers, ha.
So, yeah—that’s where I’m at in 2025, as I make my plans and set my goals.
And 2024 may have been tough, but I’m standing here and I’m proud of the decisions I made. I’m proud of the ground I stood, of my resolve to stand up for others (and myself), of setting myself up for success when I didn’t even know I was doing it.
I’m so excited for everything I have on the horizon.
Thanks for reading, and hey—if there’s anything else you’d like to see from me in 2025, shoot me a message, connect on LinkedIn, or—if you’re local or see I’m in Pittsburgh—know I’m always down to grab a coffee with you.