I remember taking my first Myers-Briggs assessment way back when. I was an ENTJ. The “E” completely confused me. I hated people. I preferred to be alone. Ugh. I had to be an introvert. Right? Wrong.
Fast forward 20 years and I have completely come into my extroversion (is that a word?). I get my energy from being around others. And, more than anything, I get my work energy from the LMA Annual Conference.
Transitioning to a new firm this year has really taxed my mental energy. I have so many ideas swirling around my head every day. There are so many things to do, and many more possibilities as well. I have a great support team back in the office to help me process, wade through my ideas, help me to decide what’s a go, and what’s a no-go.
But it’s exhausting. I come home and I just want silence. I keep getting up earlier and earlier as this is the only time where the only noise I hear is the tapping of my keyboard, or the traffic from the nearby freeway swooshing by. And shutting my double pane windows, or the computer screen, shuts all that down. Silence.
What I have come to realize is that all the silence does not replenish my energy.
When mentally exhausted these past few months, I have been seeking an escape from the legal marketing world, when, in reality, I should be running towards it.
I don’t need a day off. I don’t need a spa day. I don’t even need an afternoon at the car show (where I will be this afternoon checking out what will soon be living in my garage).
What I do need is a big dose of Catherine MacDonagh, Tim Corcoran, Nancy Myrland, and all the rest of my crazy crew of friends and colleagues. I need the mental challenge of the CMO Summit, and the networking in the exhibit halls. I need to stay up too late, and wake up too early. I need to be overwhelmed by a couple thousand people, and eat too much food.
In all the chaos, I will come back with even more ideas, a louder head, but I will be completely refreshed and energized, ready to take on the challenges of the coming year.
Let the countdown to Austin begin.