Today I Choose to be Dynamic – How to be Dynamic

I don’t just sometimes have to be dynamic—it’s baked into my daily life.

As CFO for 18 companies, Chief Compliance Officer for most of them, and now pinch-hitting for HR (because why not add another hat?), I often switch roles five times in an hour.

10:00 AM: Analyzing cash flow for Company A
10:15 AM: Teams message—urgent compliance question for Company B
10:18 AM: Text from CEO about Company C’s acquisition
10:22 AM: Email about Company D’s audit
10:25 AM: Zoom call about Company E’s budget
10:45 AM: HR issue that needs immediate attention

It’s constant motion. Mental gymnastics. And honestly? It’s never boring.

The Morning Chaos Symphony

This morning was a perfect example. Coffee in hand at 6:47 AM (always 6:47), I opened my laptop to what I call the “morning avalanche”:

• 47 emails (flagged 12 as urgent)
• 11 Teams messages (3 with the red exclamation point)
• 6 text messages (CEO insomnia strikes again)
• 3 missed calls (from the same person, incrementally more panicked)

Old me would have panicked. Dynamic me? I took a sip of coffee and started juggling.

The Art of Mental Shapeshifting

Being dynamic isn’t just about multitasking—it’s about shapeshifting. Each company needs a different version of me:

The Hedge Fund CFO Me: Precise, analytical, speaks in basis points
The Startup CFO Me: Creative, flexible, comfortable with chaos
The Compliance Officer Me: Detail-obsessed, rule-following, slightly paranoid
The HR Me: Empathetic, listening, secretly googling employment law
The Crisis Management Me: Calm, decisive, caffeine-powered

I switch between these versions dozens of times daily. Sometimes mid-sentence.

Dynamic Survival Tools

At 61, here’s how I stay dynamic without losing my mind:

Three monitors: Each one showing different company dashboards
Color-coded everything: Each company has a color. Even my coffee mugs match.
The 2-minute reset: Between context switches, I stand, breathe, reset my brain
Voice notes: I talk to myself constantly, leaving breadcrumbs for later
Embracing the chaos: Fighting it is exhausting. Surfing it is exhilarating.

When Dynamic Goes Wrong

Last week, I was so deep in dynamic mode that I answered a Company A question with Company B data. Then sent Company C’s financials to Company D’s auditor. Then called the CEO by the wrong name.

He laughed. “Susie, how many conversations are you having right now?”

“Seven,” I admitted. “Eight if you count the one with myself about needing more coffee.”

That’s the risk of dynamic—sometimes the wires cross.

The Unexpected Joy of Constant Motion

Here’s what nobody tells you: being dynamic is addictive.

The constant stimulation. The mental agility required. The satisfaction of juggling seventeen balls and dropping none (okay, dropping only two). It’s like mental CrossFit.

When I take vacation, I get twitchy by day three. Curtis finds me creating spreadsheets for our grocery shopping. “Can’t you just relax?” he asks. But for dynamic people, motion IS relaxation.

Dynamic vs. Scattered

There’s a difference:

Scattered: Reactive, chaotic, no system
Dynamic: Responsive, fluid, organized chaos

Scattered exhausts you. Dynamic energizes you.

Scattered means everything is urgent. Dynamic means knowing what actually is.

Scattered is drowning. Dynamic is surfing.

The Physical Cost of Mental Dynamics

My body keeps score of all this mental shapeshifting:

• Shoulders permanently at ear level by 3 PM
• Jaw clenched even in sleep
• That vein in my forehead that Curtis calls “the stress indicator”
• Dreams about spreadsheets (yes, really)
• The ability to type while completely thinking about something else

Why I Choose Dynamic

I could simplify. Work for one company. Have one role. Answer emails once a day.

But that sounds like death by boredom.

Dynamic living means:

• Never having time to be bored
• Constantly learning (by necessity)
• Mental muscles that stay strong
• Stories that make people’s eyes widen
• The satisfaction of doing impossible things daily

Creating Your Dynamic Flow

That’s what dynamic living requires—not perfection, but agility. The ability to pivot quickly, to wear different hats, to find energy in change instead of fighting it.

If you want to be more dynamic:

• Start saying yes to variety
• Practice switching contexts quickly
• Build systems that support flexibility
• Find the rhythm in the chaos
• Remember: dynamic is a choice, not a crisis

The Truth About Being Dynamic

Some days I dream about a simple life. One job. One focus. One speed.

Then my phone buzzes with three different crises from three different companies, and I feel that familiar surge of energy. The game is on. The juggling begins. My brain lights up like a pinball machine.

This is dynamic. Not just busy—engaged. Not just moving—shapeshifting. Not just surviving—thriving on the constant change.

At 61, I’ve accepted that I’m wired for dynamic. My brain craves the stimulation. My energy comes from the motion. My satisfaction comes from juggling the impossible.

Tomorrow I’ll wake up to another avalanche. Another symphony of chaos. Another day of being eighteen different versions of myself before lunch.

And honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

That’s dynamic—not a burden, but a superpower. Not exhausting, but exhilarating.

Even if it does require three monitors and color-coded coffee mugs.