Are we trading happiness for success?

This has been long due. I have been so so occupied. But I love to write. Love to express my thoughts. Like to share my views with my readers. My love for writing gives me happiness. And yes, very true, today I am writing my thoughts on happiness. I have been hearing a lot about work-life imbalance recently. In some way, I realise that I am experiencing the same also. Work from home is getting more hectic, than work from office. Defined work hours, interaction with colleagues, break times, meal times, chai pe charcha, many such elements were actually de-stressors. Work from home has become boundary-less in so many ways, extending work hours indefinitely is one boundary which is broken. To top it all we have parents, spouses, children who demand our attention too. The instability of job markets has also made people work harder than usual in their existing job roles. People have also realised the importance of up-skilling themselves. Learning new skills, keeping in mind present and future requirement, has been an in-thing now, than ever before, especially using online learning modalities. 

We are so into doing everything. Life is getting over-cluttered. Our plates are full, to the brim. Overflowing with the amount of work we need to finish. I agree time management is essential. However, here it's more a matter of prioritisation.


So, what are we doing all this for? Most answers will be "For success.." But, will that bring happiness? It is a cause and effect or do they run parallel?

Self-Esteem

Here I am trying to express my views. Yes, success does bring happiness and happiness in turn breeds and nurtures a successful individual. What is happiness at the end of the day? It is partly family, health, stable job, good money, praise, recognition. All of this. As per Maslow's hierarchy of needs, if human being fulfils his basic necessities of survival, he turns towards social needs of friendship, relationships, love and care. Then once those are fulfilled he aspires to get recognition and intellectual growth (the so-called higher-order needs). The fulfilment of these needs brings happiness and satisfaction. If the individual grows to his fullest potential, that is self-actualization (as per Maslow), then he is alive. Being alive is happiness.

Achievement

And I saw this happen during lockdown. At first, we were worried about our survival and got into a complete lockdown.. the first stage of Maslow's hierarchy. Then we progressed to getting social and felt the need of relationship-building.. the next stage in the hierarchy of needs. Then came the intellectual need for self-esteem and self-actualization..where there was a need to be recognised and feel worthy.. so we started upgrading ourselves and putting in more efforts in our work.

I also believe that something you are truly passionate about is what will pull you towards it. You will take time out.

However, here is a warning. Happiness and success should be parallel. We should, at no cost, trade our happiness for getting success. In this race to be on our toes to be successful, work-life balance should not be ignored.

Winner

To attain our goals we must plan. We cannot get overwhelmed and ultimately stressed. An interesting LinkedIn article talks about the 3 things we must do to attain our goals. They are:
Have an understanding of your strengths and weaknesses, build better career habits, Incorporate content, coaching and community building.

Another article which I came across on LinkedIn states, we must get more by doing less. Piling up meetings, emails, phone calls may keep us occupied, but not necessarily make us more efficient. It may land us feeling stressed and overwhelmed.

Another thought which caught my attention was answered by another article which stated that it is ok to show your weakness. Even if you are a boss or leader. Many-a-times the stress and pressure to succeed is because 'What will others think of me?' We must learn, 'It is okay to show your weakness' 'You are judging yourself more than others are of you are thinking what will others think of me?'

Climb the ladder

So the bottom line is: do what you love, what will give you a good night sleep and make yourself feel motivated for another day. Do what makes you happy and successful parallelly.