Should we take Everything Personally?
Should we take Everything Personally?
There is lots going on in our lives. Most of it outside of our control. A lot of it doesn’t make much difference to us, some does.
When it impacts us, it feels like our situation is taken outside of our control. Being left in the hands of others. People trying to make a go of life. Making compromises, trying to balance and at times being quite selfish.
Feeling quite personal when being involved in someone else’s collateral damage. Is it personal or have we been caught in the crossfire?
Our work does feel personal, as adults it is a key requirement to be successful at work. Should we not be it can affect the rest of our lives including things financial. One of the first questions we get asked when we meet someone is ‘so what do you do?’. Our work defines us, as dos the way we behave at work, including how we respond to changes.
There is a distinction between having passion for your job and attaching so much self-worth to it that you are not able to protect yourself psychologically, where every mishap and mistake is taken so personally that it penetrates the core of your self-esteem. If work becomes too dominant a part of your identity, that can also be dangerous. Duncan Coombe
A feeling of overwhelm is pretty horrible. However, considering what is in our control and what lies outside it can be a great start.
Balance
This touches on a recent piece that I shared Criticism — a Gift Wrapped in Sh!t. Considering the need to encourage and embrace negative feedback.
At work it can be necessary to take a step back. It is not all about us. It sometimes is, but it’s mostly about the team, the organisation, the customer, the supplier, the partner, the strategy. The need to learn, to fail, to succeed. And to make it happen.
Getting asked what we do, can release our disdain, indifference or enthusiasm for our work. I sold my last bike to a virus specialist, I could not help but comment that he would have been in demand the last 12 months!
He demonstrated a quiet dedication and enthusiasm for what he did. Calm, easy going and friendly without getting drawn into a pandemic focused tangent.
How personal is what happens at work for you?
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