When I became a school principal at 26, no one was there to teach me how to do my job or show me how to take care of myself while doing it. So I didn’t. (Take care of myself, that is.)

Every day for five years, I threw myself into work. Between managing all sorts of problems, lunch duty, and meetings with the school board, my days were more packed than a can of sardines. 

Even when I transitioned to a consultancy role where I helped schools and companies implement SEL to achieve peak performance in their environments, I was still doing too much. I overextended myself by pleasing people, performing, pretending, looking for approval from others, gaining titles and status, and running through airports nonstop. All while raising my three children.