Wow! Sometimes I just can’t believe how coincident (but not coincidental) life can be and, in my case (forgive me for personalizing), how charmed my life can be. Just as I was thinking I was on the verge of a mid-life crisis or some kind of long-term malaise, along came a post from Harvard Business Review (HBR), the gold standard for the obvious, the trivial, and the sophomoric. And thanks to it, I realized I’m not burned out. I’m just not happy.
That’s right. Just as I was reaching the nadir of my existential despair, there it was, my salvation, appearing in a seemingly routine post called, “Just Because You’re Happy Doesn’t Mean You’re Not Burned Out“. It caused me to wonder if Scott Behson could be meaningfully aware of the miracle he hath wrought. Here’s what I mean:
I’m not burned out at all. I love my business. Our clients are a joy to work with. I’m fully energized and engaged. Between strategic problem-solving and hands-on creative activities, every day flies by. At the end of each one, I look forward to the next. And that’s why I’m not happy. The end of every week brings Friday, which is followed by Saturday, which marks the weekend, which is typically a time in which people don’t work. That realization may be the key to resolving my unhappiness.
If I work every day — plowing right through Friday and losing no momentum at all through Saturday and Sunday — it should only be a matter of time until I’m completely burned out. Shot. Spent. Exhausted. Drained. Kaput. Then, by the logic of Mr. Behson’s argument, I should also be happy because … well … I haven’t quite worked that out yet.
I’m thinking I’ll be happy because I will have succeeded in prostrating myself utterly. All of the folks in Mr. Behson’s article have burned themselves out, and they’re positively chipper about it. Why should I be any different? After a few overloaded weeks, I should be fried to a crisp and deliriously ecstatic about it.
Wow! I can’t believe I found that HBR post.
Serendipity-doo-dah, serendipity-ay.
Image by RyanMcGuire, courtesy of pixabay.com.