The Fires Will Come

From events like Advoco Connect, conferences, summits, wine making weekends, and more, it’s no secret to you that I like to plan.

In October, I celebrated my 30th birthday, and a bunch of my friends came to visit me in San Francisco. I spent weeks, months actually, planning the perfect weekend. Dinners with beautiful scenery, bike riding over the Golden Gate Bridge, wine tasting in Sonoma, drives on the Pacific Coast Highway, visits to the Redwoods, and a grand finale party at one of my favorite homes in California – all the best restaurants and experiences for my best people.

Mother Nature had a different plan, and a devastating fire ignited just north of our accommodations in Sonoma. You guessed it – interfering with my plans.

If there’s one thing we can expect in life, it’s the unexpected.

Every single day brings new challenges, but it’s how we react that matters. It is a big, personal challenge for me to respond well when my plans get interfered with but here are some strategies I use to be ready:

Good mindset: Feeding your mind with healthy content and creating space every day for yourself alone are incredibly important. Perspective and mindfulness go a long way in helping when unforeseen events happen.

Focus on what you can control: My dear friend Craig at Advoco once told me his concept of “Big Circle, Little Circle,” and it has stuck with me a long time. Guess which one is the little circle? The things you can control. There are way, way more things in life that you can’t control, so if you stay focused on what you can, you will be in a better place when disaster strikes.

Know your people: Personality tests are very accessible now. Having your team take one and talking about it helps us get to know the people we are working with. We are all different in the way we process things and handle conflict. When you have insight into this, it makes change easier to successfully handle issues together.

If change is inevitable, why not be a better equipped for when it happens?

Until next time…we are Advoco, make every minute count.

About Mary: Mary Devine is our Director of Marketing and Events. Affectionately referred to as “Make it Happen Mary,” she's been around since the early days of Advoco—making things happen! Whether it's planning exciting surprises for Connect attendees or spearheading new marketing initiatives, we're so happy to have Mary on our team. If you have a question for Mary, please send her an email.