12 Dec What Being a Workaholic Taught Me About Money, Life & Love via @Kali0203
I love to work.
Seriously.
I have an abnormal human trait that loves to create, work toward a goal, and use my innate creativity to get things done.
My mind works fast, I think quick, and love to solve problems.
Learning new concepts and things has always been something I enjoy.
While I’ve always applied myself to education, learning, and being rigorous in my work, it took a while to realize it was rare to function in this way and to actually enjoy working.
While my own type A personality and determined and discipline qualities can be positive, they have also sabotaged me in different ways and helped me learn tough lessons.
Some people do take advantage of those that are able to work more efficiently and be productive while getting the job done well.
I’ve been lucky to experience a variety of work cultures. From working at agencies to family-owned businesses to teaching in the yoga scene, and more, I’ve seen a variety of ways people manage their employees and company.
Taking on a New Career Path
Some may frown on my resume, with the years I spent teaching people yoga and educating myself in psychology, story structure, communications, and more.
But those years in self-development have actually allowed me to develop a better rapport with people, enhance my leadership skills, and invoke new personality strengths and confidence while helping me learn how to connect and inspire a variety of people.
Being an entrepreneur takes many hours of free work, commitment, and an inner calling to help propel the process.
Anyone who has tried to live out of the normal 9-to-5 job should be commended because they certainly have talents others don’t possess.
Having tools to connect with people, motivate, and lead is not something everyone has.
Adopting mindfulness with self-awareness and yoga has been invaluable to my own health, career and well-being.
Truth be told, before I was in the yoga scene I was working at a digital agency and while I enjoyed the job, eventually, something inside of me felt unfulfilled.
The idea of working at a desk all day, barely making much, and having to climb the corporate ladder really led me to my own depression.
Eventually, the internal stress I felt took a toll on me and I needed to take a break and get my own health and well-being back on track.
Believe me, as a gal in her mid-20s, I faced many judgments, fears, and worries, while I chose to take a new career path and explore yoga to help myself feel better.
Back then all I wanted was to live a stress-free life, feel good within, and wake up happy.
Of course, my workaholic tendencies carried on in the new environment I was in.
Only this time, I was more passionate about the cause, interested in learning everything there was to know about yoga and wellness.
I felt so happy teaching, creating content, and living the yoga lifestyle.
However, with more freedom, comes more responsibility.
Although entrepreneurship has many benefits, it has also isolated me, meant working long hours, and cut me off from actually enjoying life.
While giving too much to others, teaching too many classes, and experiencing all sorts of unexpected changes, I got burnt out with the yoga business.
Yet, it forced me to learn balance, boundaries, and adopt new values in working and living.
It was challenging for me to stop over-committing, help myself get some rest and relaxation, and do things for myself and my personal well-being rather than work around the clock and only focusing on that.
What Yoga Taught Me
Learning about the power of the mind and how to live fully in the now, without fear and other mental and emotional programs running, has been an invaluable skill that I carry on in every job I do.
Yoga has gifted me with the art of balance. It helped me work through my own mental and emotional stresses so that I can live radiantly in everyday life and foster positivity and optimism in all I do.
I’ve found that life gets easier when you’re willing to confront your mind, create inner peace, and consult the inner agitations and emotional imbalances.
Believe me, it’s easy to stuff our fears and ignore our emotions while working all the time and ignoring our own needs. Yet, we all deserve the opportunity to help ourselves live well by fostering self-care.
The work never ends.
No job will ever be perfect, and everyone will have to suffer a bit in life, learn lessons, and even work with people they don’t like.
Some people will hold high expectations no matter what. That’s part of life.
However, we can all learn to be more human, have more fun, laugh, hold compassion, and get out of our rigid heads and the beliefs we have around how we all need to work to survive.
Instead, we can all learn how to thrive with one another.
No matter where you’re working, and how mundane or tedious the job may be, it’s necessary to foster gratitude, train your mind to see the good things, and trust why you’re there.
No job lasts forever, and in my own experience, I’ve really missed some opportunities to enjoy the moment, as I’ve been stuck in my head and unable to appreciate what I got.
We can spend our lives chasing things, people, jobs, money, dreams, and goals, and working hard hours thinking that will gain us the success and money we need.
However, if we don’t begin to enjoy the moment, most of life will be lost and we will miss the amazing things and opportunities right in front of us.
Ask yourself, where do you:
- Give too much?
- Try too hard?
- Miss feeding your own passions and taking time for yourself?
Realizing how my need to work has held me back was a difficult thing to look at.
My values have shifted radically in my 20s as I learned to appreciate people more, take time to develop relationships, take risks, travel, and be OK taking a personal day.
I’ve gone beyond my comfort zone and put myself in new situations and environments to help myself grow.
I’ve chosen jobs with better ethics and culture and lower pay because life is too short to hate what I do and wake up with that kind of lament.
What Work Means to Me Now
The secret to success, in my own biased opinion, is to truly love what I do, and who I do it with.
Learning how I operate best, and taking time to do self-care, meditate, and create my calm has helped me in everything I do.
While stress does happen, I know how to manage it better now and don’t let myself fall into negative patterns.
I give myself permission to close the screens and stop working so I can relax or sleep.
Money and jobs and even people come and go in life. Our American culture tends to chase money too much and often has fixed beliefs about obtaining money.
But what I’ve experienced is that money doesn’t mean much if you don’t have good people in your life to share time with and something that brings you meaning.
I’ve learned to believe that it is possible to design a life you love.
It may take time, it may require some work, and it may be scary (change always is).
However, I believe we can all help ourselves live better by:
- Loving more.
- Relaxing into the present.
- Appreciating our peers.
- Opening our perceptions.
- Honoring the people in our lives.
- Learning to be more in the moment.
When I look back on life, I’m confident I’ll remember those memories – with those people and the good times I had – and probably won’t even think about the paycheck involved.
Life goes by fast.
We can all learn to enjoy life more and create meaning in all we do.
Hopefully, we can all have a positive environment that allows us to create balance and well-being and genuinely care about people.
What’s important is that we allow ourselves to connect, have fun, and live more fulfilled daily.
I believe you don’t get rich by working hard. You get inspired, fulfilled, creative, and make your mark on the world by living in more meaningful and loving ways.
Work becomes more like play and is more enjoyable when I can develop the inner resources to live well.
I must be mindful of how I can change my reality in order to live more content.
Work and play in a more enjoyable, fulfilled, and prosperous fashion.
More Resources:
- Staying Mindful in a Digital Age
- How a Digital Detox Improved My Health & Well-Being
- How to Build Grit with Meditation: 3 Simple Techniques
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