A challenge that I have been faced with multiple times throughout my career is when I've been working too hard and it always felt like I did not have enough time in the day to get everything completed. I enjoyed my job, but was craving a balance with my personal life. The question is, how can one achieve that balance, and why hard work does not always equal happiness.
Three common scenarios related to working too hard:
1. You love what you’re doing but you simply have too much to do. You enjoy your work so much that you lose sight of other aspects of your life. The challenge is balancing that out with your other life commitments.
2. You don’t get much satisfaction from the work itself, but you thrive on accomplishments. So you work harder and harder in order to extract enough satisfaction from accomplishments to compensate for the dissatisfaction with your actual work.
3. You’re working too much because you’re overwhelmed. You aren't particularly excited about the work or the accomplishments, but you continue to work extremely hard because it’s a requirement of the job.The problem is, of course, burnout. Burnout is what happened to me in my New York role and I've learned that it happens when you are pushing yourself too hard in an area that may not be what you are best at or a reflection of your passion. It’s a crisis of purpose.
After researching this subject for several years, I have learned that the key to solving this problem lies in uncovering your Zone of Genius. Your Zone of Genius is where your talent and passion intersect. To get there you must identify your innate talent, your “superpower”, how you do what you do. Your greatest passion is linked to a core challenge you have conquered in your life. When you are helping others conquer that same challenge, you experience an unending feeling of joy for what you are doing. It’s critical to have both of these elements in order to reach your Zone of Genius, and this is what I'm using as my roadmap for achieving guaranteed purpose, results, and fulfillment for the future!
Comments