When is it time to improve the relationship with ourselves?

Modern work-day life can take take its toll on those who seek excellence. But true excellence cannot enter the stage without self-compassion.

Yes, its time to have a little chat. Most of us are working too hard, and frankly to be more to the point, working too hard without even effectively meeting our professional objectives nor properly meeting our own emotional and material needs. What I'm talking about is workaholism. And yes, its a real thing. https://workaholics-anonymous.org

According to a survey conducted in the New York Post, 48% of Americans consider themselves workaholics and frankly I would imagine the picture in europe to not be that different. Now, le me clear, the path to healing from this kind of thing with not by fulfilled the time you reach the end of this article but it might provide some serious food for thought or at best a hard look in the mirror.

I get the allure of putting in those extra hours, particularly if we have ambitions to do great things and climb the ladder to more money and responsiblility but how is the internal dialogue running the show around work? Is there balance there? If an inner voice tells you that you haven’t quite done enough work when you complete something, that you need to practice 101 times every talk you give, that you need to correct every little semi-colon and comma in everything that you write then maybe it's time to ask why. Chances are there's a little voice constantly reminding you that what you're doing, is never quite good enough. That voice is coming from a notion of low self worth. It's a relentless voice that weighs the best of us down, pollutes the internal thinking and ultimately makes it harder to allow us to actually get what we want and receive what we need.

Maybe you can succeed for a while with such a voice, but eventually it will lead to discouragement, umanagability and even burnout. People have spent an entire lifetime from the cradle to the grave possessed by such a voice which holds them back even when they consider themselves committed and hardworking.

I myself I have been treading a path of healing around this stuff as I have struggled with both overworking and underbeing. Working way too hard to avoid criticism and then provoking even more from poor performance from spreading myself too thin. When i finally figured out what was going on I started taking a different path which forms a different attitude.

So what does that path look like?

Well, by all means keep working on the things that will help make you a top business profession, especially your communication skills, but imperatively, take time out of your day to practice self care. That means setting boundries around work time. Never working before or after a set time per day. Setting boundaries to not work the weekend. Give yourself periods during the day to meditate, workout, relax and above all by practicing some kind of therapy to hold it all together. And take breaks. By literally giving ourselves a break, looking after our bodies and our minds and learning to trust others (that are safe for us) we can unload the burden of control and the incessant need to prove our worth.

So take the time to take care of yourself.