I came across this article contributed/written by Charlene J. Owen, published on Sept. 15, 2017 in Female Network site under Work/Money. Credits go to Ms. Owen and I am only re-posting this in my blog so that whenever I feel stressed at work, reading this will just reassure me that how fast or slow I go up the corporate ladder (or just stagnant) does not define success in my life.
For you people who have become slaves of their career just so they could get the promotion they want, take time off to read this article because this is exactly for you.
You Have Complete Control Over Your Happiness at Work
Because sometimes, the right answer is "Kebs."
It’s understandable to be passionate about something that you love
doing, and it’s great to be driven by excellence even if you’d rather be
doing something else. However, investing too much of yourself in your
job can also be counter-productive; you get stressed more often and you
end up thinking about work even if you’re already out of the office.
We live in a society that’s unhealthily fixated with work. “I speak
daily with individuals from Silicon Valley to Scandinavia about their
obsessions with work—obsessions that, by their own accounts, are making
them miserable,” writes
practical philosopher Andrew Taggart on the World Economic Forum.
“Nevertheless, they assume that work is worth caring a lot about
because of the fulfillment and rewards it supplies, so much so that it
should be the center of life.”
The key to happiness is to stop making everything revolve around your 9-to-5. You have to practice just the right amount of “wa pakels” for you to balance your life:
Detach yourself from a single idea of success.
If success for you means getting to the top of the corporate ladder
by hook or by crook, then you’ll probably end up scampering your way up,
stepping on other people, and being perpetually on your toes for the
off-chance of skipping a few rungs. Just imagine Miranda Priestly from Devil Wears Prada.
She notes that “Everybody wants to be us.” Pause for the moment and
realize what that entails: a trail of broken marriages and a generally
unhappy personal life.
You don't need to let go of ambition. You only need to understand that
internal happiness and corporate success are two different things, and that one can
be achieved without the other. You don’t need to be the boss to be
happy, and really, you’ll only be an effective leader if you’re not
grasping desperately on to power. Once you cut yourself some slack and
realize this, you’ll find that there are more important things in life
than what’s on your resume.
Do things without thought of how they will benefit you.
Take a chill pill—not everything you need to do should be about how
to get that next promotion. Even when you’re at work, allow yourself to
deviate from your tight schedule. Take a walk, escape for a quick
massage, have drinks with folks from another department, or even
volunteer as a performer for your company anniversary program.
The point is, you’re not a robot. You need space to breathe (and
basically, have a life) even within office walls. Find relaxing moments
that don’t require you to have a solid goal and simply enjoy them. “By
these means, we can plunge into life, engaging our senses while
suspending our buzzing, noisy workday concerns,” says Andrew.
Reflect on who you are.
Yes, it sounds cheesy, but it does make sense to ask “Is this really
who I am” during times when you’re too focused on thoughts of success
that other life priorities seem to fade in the background. Girl, you’re
not your job title. When you die, they won’t put ‘Senior Vice President’
on your tombstone. While ambition is great, temper it with heart.
You’ll be happier once you remember to consider that there’s more to
life than your career.
