I'll admit it, I'm a workaholic & you know what, I'm not sorry about it. In saying that, I'm not the type of person who doesn't have friends, never talks to their family & has no social life at all outside of work. However I am a constant email checker, the late night & weekend worker & the person who can't turn off, even though I should & I'm a 100 percent ok with that. The word 'workaholic' has a negative connotation & in many cases, fair enough & rightfully so. Working to much is associated with high levels of stress, an actually decrease in productivity at work, strained relationships & an unhealthy work life balance.
If I deemed my day done at 5PM, drew the line & shut up shop, then some of my best work would have never got completed & most of my favourite highlights would have happened. I get it, we all probably wouldn't get half as much done if we weren't pushing ourselves as hard as we do. You tell me, maybe that's being a workaholic or maybe it's just being a hard arse worker.
This is why being a workaholic can be a good thing but keep in mind one VERY important thing.
1: Workaholics take on responsibility. They're are the people who are constantly picking up the slack, they are the ones who are willing to do the things that no one else wants to do. It generally comes done to a lot of us suffering from the 'if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself' mentality.
2: They won't stop until their mission is accomplished. No, nothing is actually perfect but there is nothing wrong with wanting something to be the best it can be & striving towards that goal. Us workaholics tend to tweak, edit, redo, start over & explore all scenarios until whatever they come up with is something that they can be 100 percent proud of.
3: 'Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.' I adore this quote & I think it rings especially true to use workaholics. Intelligence & talent will get you far in life but at the end of the day, the thing that trumps everything else is how much you put into something you really want.
4: They're willing to work anything, anywhere & do it to the best of their ability. You can count on workaholics most of time, no matter what. They will jump into the job willingly & with enthusiasm for the task at hand.
5: They're passionate. Like really, really passionate. Passion & hard work go hand in hand & make all the difference in any career. The effort behind the end result shows.
6: They advance in their careers & make sure they get there. Workaholics get where they want to go & they get there faster than most. It's because they are willing to put the time in & then some, they learn & work more efficiently. This means personal & professional success.
So how do we really draw the line between being a healthy workaholic & being the one in danger of burning out?
I mean, I think it's easy. You love what you do. You look forward to the long nights & random spurts of inspiration. You put in everything you've got. If you hate doing what you're doing, it's not sustainable. I've always said that I'd never do something that makes me genuinely happy. I feel that if you're not doing something that makes you genuinely happy then that begins to effect other parts of your life as well. Develop & do something you're passionate about growing, not just because you are wanting to advance your career. Know your limits, find & appreciate stress free & happy moments, schedule holidays you can look forward to then then get back to doing what you do best, being a workaholic. There's definitely nothing wrong with that!
B x
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