“When you get to a place where you understand that love and belonging, your worthiness, is a birthright and not something you have to earn, anything is possible.”
- Brené Brown
The “Olympian” of work! As a Workathlete you invest energy and time on getting things done, checking off boxes and crossing the “deadline”. Everyone loves that you take work to a successful conclusion. You bring the highest achievement possible to your role, pushing yourself to that end-state of success again and again no matter the cost. You push others at work too, consumed by the need to achieve; not slowing down or letting personal needs catch up (yours or others… if a ring tone chose you it would be a cracking whip WAPEESH!).
You compromise when others slow you down, don’t keep up or apply themselves to your standards. It’s almost like they don’t care what others think of them! This creates uneasiness in the choice between being liked and being successful; if you think you can’t have both you sacrifice the esteem of others for accomplishment…and disregard your emotions (to paraphrase… “There’s no crying in business!”).
When annoyance from compromise comes home it compensates through the trappings of achievement: rigorous personal pursuits (work hard, play hard), or acquiring the material appearance of success. Your loved ones support these things or face your unyielding reasons to comply.
Free Your Potential...
Wow! Look at you go! Is there anything you can’t get done? When was the last time you sat quietly and did nothing? Don’t dismiss it (I saw you wrinkle your nose)! There is a deep commitment and honour in your drive for accomplishment, but you are moving so fast it’s like something is chasing you. What are you so afraid of? Is it your internal critic? Are her strict expectations making you feel things you’d rather not when it gets slow or quiet? Is she telling you to continually up your game? She sounds nasty - tell her to switch off.
Constantly looking at what needs to be accomplished, achieving it and starting the cycle all over again keeps you from reaching your fullest potential because when you don’t make time to process what you feel, or to learn about the people around you, you’re at risk of running them over (they are not competitors…they are your teammates). Your achievements are intimidating, people don’t connect to what you do; they connect to who you are. No one will ever see the real you unless you let them…and isn’t that the whole point to working so hard? So people will see you?
Give yourself the gift of time. Take a minute at work to stop, breathe deeply… reflect on what’s really being called for before acting… make it about the quality of your experience, not just reaching the “finish line”. Once you stop moving so powerfully and laugh a bit people will connect with you. They’ll see and appreciate all your fabulous abilities, allowing your working life to become a place where you naturally excel.