It’s Friday morning at the office, ten minutes before you head to your next meeting, and your phone rings. As each ring sounds off, today’s commitments flash before your eyes: lunch with a colleague, sales meeting, collaboration with your boss, brainstorming meeting with the project teams, not to mention the amplifying deadlines ahead of your long 3-day weekend.
You start to reach for the phone to pick up, and all you can do is think about how your calendar is way beyond booked and you could not possibly handle one more commitment this week. As you feel flushed and the warmth rises in your body, you imagine the person on the other end of the phone saying they need a favor, but it “won’t take long.” At that moment, you hear that little reminder in your head that says, “Don’t you dare say yes to one more thing.”
If this story reminds you of yourself on a frequent basis, it may be time to think more about being open to self-growth. When we take the time to participate and commit to self-growth actively, this can be what makes the difference in our overall demeanor and balance at work.
We’ve all been overwhelmed at work! Burnout does not discriminate – it can be felt at any stage of your career – in the early years and when you have reached the top. So, how do you cope? For starters, you can take a deep breath, relax, and then pick up your phone and say,”Hello?” Contrary to what your anxiety tells you, the voice on the other end is most likely not trying to ruin your week or your peace of mind.
You pick up the phone, and a familiar voice says, “Hello, this is Mary, the receptionist. You have a delivery at the front desk; please pick it up when you have a moment.” You sigh in relief, saying, “Okay, thanks,” and hang up. Even though you feel like it’s a win because you avoided one more commitment being added to your plate, you realize you are one extra task away from a meltdown. It is important to understand the benefits and rewards we have when we commit to self-growth.
How Can You Commit to Self-Growth?
Even if we have different perspectives on life, most people agree that life is too short to live with regrets. Yet, there is an overabundance of people who look back on their careers and wish they had handled things differently. Since you don’t want to be one of them, let’s take a look at the worst vantage points first. If you can see what you don’t want, you can better avoid those things and have a better understanding of what you do want. The following list of 7 common career regrets is a good place to start evaluating your goals.
1. No Work-Life Balance: Rarely do you hear people say they wish they had spent more time at the office when asked what they regret doing. Instead, say they regret spending weekends at the office instead of spending time with their family, or they say they regret that work kept them from important milestones in their children’s lives.
2. Not Pursuing Dreams: Some dream of a successful freelance career or running their own business only to allow fear of failure to stop them in their tracks. Stepping into the unknown is scary, but with some planning and persistence, you can take small steps toward achieving your career goals.
3. Toxic Job Sabotage: Your mental health and well-being is important now more than ever. Not only do you have a right to a work environment where you feel safe, you deserve to feel appreciated. Don’t wait to consider looking elsewhere for better opportunities – this is a deal breaker.
4. No Responsibility for Own Happiness: Happiness can’t come from others; it can only come from you. Be mindful of how you interpret things said or done. Instead of, “I screwed up my presentation today,” say, “I can do better, and next time I will.” Also, don’t keep happiness on the other side of where you are. The mindset of “I’ll be happy when I get that raise” should turn into “I appreciate and am happy about what I have now.
5. Settling: Don’t settle for a job. Consider how this job fits into your overall career plan. When weighing a job offer, ask yourself if this is a role you could see yourself doing for a few years. If not, continue to apply to other positions that interest you.
6. Caring Too Much About Money: You should make enough money to live comfortably and have savings. Money is not everything you should care about. Consider other benefits a job has, like flexible schedules, a good benefits package, professional development opportunities, paid time off, or wellness rewards.
7. Not Building Relationships: Relationship-building is key to workplace success. Take the time to get to know your coworkers for more effective collaboration on projects. Connections help you create a more robust professional network, which helps uncover new job opportunities when it’s time for a role change or career pivot.
Life Without Regrets
When we learn from other people’s top regrets, we can live a more fulfilling life without so many regrets of our own. Life is short. No one regrets taking the time to spend more time with family and friends. Do MORE of what you love every day. Take responsibility for your happiness with what you have right now. Be grateful for what you have.
When managing your career, always keep in mind what’s truly important. Whether you have reached your ideal heights at work or you are still climbing to get there, you should never stop growing. Self-growth shouldn’t be a chore; when you grow, you experience limitless enrichment in all areas of life – not just at work.
We’ve all felt like we reached a point where we need to love ourselves more. We all have a laundry list of ideas on how to improve. The details of the list are not what is most important. Conditioning yourself to commit to self-growth every day is the key.
These 3 tips are key to following through when you want to commit to self-growth:
✅ Do what works best for you!
❌ Don’t stay stagnant and do nothing.
❌ Don’t cheat yourself by staying stuck in a rut!
Benefits of Self-Growth
Commit to self-growth – it has its benefits:
✨ Self-growth is a way to help us emphasize valuing the journey of personal growth and self-improvement instead of focusing on the end result.
✨ It helps us manage stress and encourages us to appreciate challenges and obstacles and look at them as a learning moment.
Commit to self-growth – it has positive impacts:
👏 When you are open to your own transformation, you will begin to thrive on pushing boundaries instead of creating them, but in a healthy way.
👏 You will drive change in others more easily because you have been there. 👏 Who doesn’t love learning vicariously through a leader who is a “storyteller”?
👏You will be more creative and reach innovative ideas with ease.
Leaders Are Made
There are many paths to success as a leader but the world needs more considerate and empathetic thought leaders. Who doesn’t want to be that person getting tapped on the shoulder when a leader is needed for a new and exciting initiative? Being tapped to lead is just the beginning; achieving the best possible results as a leader is the end game. To accomplish this, you must first lead your own self-growth. Although this takes commitment, thoughtful planning, and dedication, doing so will lead to outcomes you will be proud of.
As you can see, becoming the best leader you can be means you have to work at it. Your effort will pay off in the long run because you are investing in your future. Not only are you investing in your own future, but you are investing in the future of others by teaching them by your own example to value themselves and do the same.
If you follow a path of self-growth to be a better leader:
– You will grow in ways that can’t be measured by any amount of money, power, titles, or accolades.
Even though change is not considered tangible, when someone changes, that definitely alters how you view them.
🗝 Open yourself up to new possibilities and watch the world notice.
I am inspired to be a better leader! Thanks!
Happy to help! Cheers!