Last week I officially had a new boss (she was here for about a month to learn the org). Last Thursday we got a new puppy (mini golden doodle). This Monday my old boss came back into my position and I took over a different group. This Monday I had an interview for a promotion, which I’ve spent nearly 2 months preparing for. And yesterday, I received a vaccine shot.

So in terms of stress factors, I have work, a new dependency, financial items, and health all as triggers. I’m only missing relationship challenges to pile on for a perfect storm.

A new boss comes with the requirement to build a new critical relationship and reset of my mandate. Every new boss wants to make an impact and they have their own approach to get there. We’re in the execution phase of a ‘can’t fail’ project that impacts a few hundred thousand people, so there are some limits to flexibility in change.

A new puppy, as anyone who has had a dog can attest, like brining a dependency into the house. The good news is that she’s already had some basic training and has a calm demeanour, and she sleeps like 15 hours a day. But there’s the nipping and good habits that need to be instilled, so work in that sense.

A job change in a brand new team is easier than to a sister team, because there are no expectations. This lateral move means I need to modify my existing relationships and then build a different one since my old boss is now my peer. To complicate matters further, we have different methods to achieve the same goal, so there’s some challenges in consistent messaging. Nothing that can’t be managed – if it was the only thing.

The interview for promotion is one I’ve been training for a while now, nearly 2 years. The last 2 months have been the larger process of triage, testing, and then interview. I have no doubts about the capability to perform, but I am recognizing that any promotion is less about the ability to execute than the ability to dance. It’s a rather obtuse dance that only becomes clear once you’ve taken a stab at it – yet its also the most fair approach to avoid nepotism/favouritism. I think I did a solid job, but now it’s about waiting a few weeks to get the final results. And then, the real choice of what I want to do once if I get it. That choice will impact me for the next 3-5 years.

And then there’s the vaccine. I live in Canada, where the rollout has had a few hiccups but seems to be going rather well now. I’m not essential, I can work remotely with ease, I am young and without conditions… so all of this put me near the back of the line. No stress from that factor, but a whole lot of social anxiety that as a country we can hit the proper immunization numbers to find some normalcy. It’s been an adventure to talk to all sorts of folks on this, either hesitant for the unknown side effects (understandable!) or downright anti-vax (where Darwinism isn’t fast enough). I try to be inclusive and pragmatic, there’s a reason people think the way they do and sometimes discussing it you can find common ground. In some cases however, their personal stress levels and need to find a scapegoat have pushed them into a spot of no return. It sounds weird, but it’s quite similar to an addict. They need to want help. It’s not fun.

So yeah, let’s just say that it’s coming at all sides, all at the same time. I’m more than fortunate in multiple ways, but it would be foolish to think that I am coping well. So some work to do to get back into a good mindspace by the end of month.