We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Zachary Wixon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Zachary , we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
A year ago I lost my sister to Triple Negative 2b Breast Cancer. She was young, she was full of optimism, and she fought hard. Watching how she handled herself over the course of the year she battle this disease shed a light on resilience I hadn’t really tuned in to. As I watched her be resilient with raising 4 year old twins and go to great lengths to beat cancer it started to be a constant reminder “she’s doing something really hard so can you”. I would often find myself channeling her drive, her resilience in every day activities, like a workout class, or a work project….go one more, push through. If she can fight for her LIFE you can do this small thing. She taught me a lot about resilience just by her showing up every day to fight the fight and it’s absolutely impacted me and has made me far more resilient than I ever had been
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’ve worked in healthcare management for several years now but beyond that I’m a relationship builder. I view my team as family, an extension of my people so I want them to succeed and be great at whatever they want to be! I’m a big champion of people chasing dreams. This involves a deeper level of connection than just a Boss to Employee, I get to know them, learn what makes them tick and what inspires them, and even further, what doesn’t inspire them. We all receive information through different colored lenses. My job is to understand what their shade depth is and provide accordingly to get the best out of each and everyone of my team members. We’re building up people and in return they’ll build you up naturally!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Understanding not everyone things the way I do was the most impactful thing I could learn. Growing up I was in a special reading class due to my dyslexia, it held me back. The teach taught all of us the same, some it worked for and others, me being one of them, it didn’t. I thought it was me, that I was the problem, until I had an educator who figured out how to teach me the way i needed to be taught. I now read books for fun something I never did before. So understanding everyone can get to the destination but their paths are going to be different is so valuable in life. Work with others to help them, don’t pigeon hole them.
Another is what I mentioned in my last question, we all receive information differently given our walks of life or circumstances. You and I could both be told the same information, but because of our background, up bringing, experiences, etc, we may understand the information differently. That’s okay but acknowledging that the same things can have different meaning given the person is an invaluable piece to understand.
Then I would say communication, which ties the previous two in together. Being clear with your words and slow to respond, asking questions and seeking to understand is so important in communication. We often listen to respond rather than listen to understand.
These things take so much trial and error. I had a close friend during a part of my life who really opened my eyes to some of these things. It takes practices, it takes compassion, it takes understanding. You won’t figure this out over night so give yourself grace as you navigate through these learnings of life. We’re all experiencing life for the first time, be gentle with yourself.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
Routine! Life is hard, it’s a constant ebb and flow and you can’t control that, so control the controllable is what I like to say. By controlling the controllable I find that routine is my best friend.
I recently bought the “Sad to Savage” daily tracker off of TikTok, a creator Shelby Sacco created it. It’s a monthly habit tracker that consist of 10 daily habits, 3 weekly, and 3 monthly. It’s been incredibly valuable to me during a time of unsteadiness. It provides a guide, if you will, to get back on track, to focus on positive things you’ve done that day or week or month. It helps me go ‘back to the basics’, for example I have drink 64oz of water each day, journal, and get outside for a set amount of time. All those things help me stay in sound mind and settle me down when I’m feeling overwhelmed. You also feel accomplished by having a routine. Someone I hope all the readers can take away is, routines can bend and they don’t always have to be stuck to. It’s okay to change your routine to what serves you best. I encourage everyone to get the Sad to Savage Habit Tracker, it’s a guide to help you and get you back on track if you slide off. Which will happen because we are all human and that’s okay.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zacharyjwixon?igsh=MWN1bThldnFpczVoMQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/BoKHABUtnNzyWenC/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharywixon?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
Image Credits
Chelsea Lynn Photography
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
