Welcome to another Wednesday Wisdom. Every week, I share with you what I’m thinking about life, work, and leadership. This week we’re talking about how normal it is to be dissatisfied at work.
One of the great things about being exposed to “important” people super early in my career – CEOs, Ministers et al – was how quickly the veil was torn. It was both satisfying and mildly terrifying to realise at the tender age of 22 that nobody knows what they’re doing and everybody is just as human as everyone else.
Sometimes I forget that other people don’t know this, or that they need a reminder.
This is particularly bad in a social media environment, where everybody showcases their highlight reel and hides their normal. Not because they’re bad people, or liars, but because social media doesn’t need people to narrate their flatulence, imposter syndrome, relationship worries and project failures for the rest of us.
So, this Wednesday, I wanted to let you know that pretty much everything that’s messed up for you right now is probably normal.
I can’t speak to all of it, but in my line of work, I can tell you that if you feel any of the things on the following list, you are not messing it up.
So if…
Your work is harder than it should be and it’s hard to find joy right now
You’re overwhelmed by constant, time-wasting meetings
You’re a bit burnt out and unsatisfied
It seems like there’s constant change but infrequent improvement
Setting priorities seems impossible because everything’s both urgent and important
You don’t have enough space for the work that really matters
You’re frustrated by the way things work
Change takes too long and doesn’t deliver what you expect
You have no idea when you’re going to be promoted, or if you want it when it’s offered….
Then you are totally, entirely normal and pretty much every person out there doing work that matters feels like that too. It’s the price of progress.
Constant dissatisfaction and a push for improvement are the symptoms of a person who cares a lot and is working hard. It doesn’t mean you’re doomed to keep feeling like that, just that you’ve got new skills to learn now, because what got you here isn’t going to get you there. It might be time to level up.
(Also: it probably doesn’t have to be as hard as you’re making it. But you already know that.)
TL; DR The price of progress is perpetual dissatisfaction
Til next week,
– A
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