Be brave and put your health & wellness first

Hey Lemonade Makers!

Thank you for subscribing to the #L2LNewsletter here on LinkedIn. I started Lemons 2 Lemonade in November 2015 with a blog and website to help Millennials navigate career lemons through content. In June 2016, Lemons 2 Lemonade hosted its first panel and networking mixer in New York City. 

It’s been a long journey and labor of love as I found ways to help the lemonade maker community and maintain a sustainable and healthy livelihood, but I failed to do that. 

There is something brave about doing what needs to be done first to ensure your health and wellness. Because admitting something may be wrong or that you need help can be challenging. 

Before I continue this newsletter, I want to ask you an important question. When was the last time you saw a doctor?

Think about it. When was the last time you had a check-up or annual visit?

I ask this because I know us, and I know me, we push things back, and we hold things off, and we say I seem fine, I don’t need to see a doctor. Sometimes we already know there is something wrong, and our physicians are just waiting for us to schedule the surgery or the follow-up, but we delay it.

Healthcare insecurities and financial burdens are real

A CNBC article shared that people ages 24 to 39 reported avoiding the doctor’s office at higher rates, and a lot of that reason is cost. The reasons are vast, like having a job that doesn’t offer good benefits, including not getting paid if you are out for an extended time or having upcoming obligations to attend or plan family and friend functions. Work teams are lean, heavy workload, and you don’t want to burden your colleagues. Your company doesn’t have systems to run without you for an extended time. 

A lot of the reason why I delayed care was because of the healthcare insecurities that I faced early in my career, even with a full-time job. When you don’t work in tech and your salary is low, healthcare isn’t covered, the offerings aren’t the best if you work for small businesses, and your out-of-pocket expenses can set you back.

Then I turned 30 and I was freelancing full-time and building L2L, but my body told me things were wrong. I was tired and wanted to make money with ease, relieve my mind from financial stress wreaking havoc on my body, and have decent healthcare. So I went back to corporate America. I share why I took a break from L2L for self-care on the Calm blog. 

Last year, I decided to be brave and stop delaying my care. One of those appointments that I kept holding off saved my life this year. Writing these words is a blessing because this recovery has been rough. 

It’s one of the reasons why I’ve been quiet, and this newsletter relaunch has been delayed. I’ve been recovering for eight weeks now, but I’m so proud of myself for finally deciding to put myself first.

Putting yourself first is good for everyone

It’s a brave thing you put yourself first, and many of us are not putting our mind, body or spirit top of mind. I recently had the opportunity to speak with LaToya Elder-Moore, founder of Her Tech Unicorn and Partner Solutions Manager at Meta. LaToya shared with me that she felt depleted at work and home, so she decided to take advantage of her work benefits and a 3-month sabbatical.

“If your company allows for those things to happen, if you are supported in that way, you should be leveraging that benefit and every other benefit that the company is giving you,” LaToya shared via ESSENCE. 

Deciding to use this benefit that her company provided was hard because she felt guilty. After all, she knew it would impact her colleagues. What helped her decision was knowing that the break would be beneficial to everyone, including her company because they are getting a better version of her. 

Ultimately, by putting ourselves first, we give everything and everyone in our lives the opportunity to get a better us.

I hope you all are inspired to pick up the phone or log in to your healthcare accounts or apps and schedule the appointments you need.

Check out the Lemons 2 Lemonade blog of tips to prepare for a leave of absence.

Special thanks to Calm for sponsoring this month's newsletter. Here is a special discount to help you get started with putting yourself first.