I'm pretty sure each and every one of us have already experienced at least once in our life the feeling of exhaustion when you come to a point where you thought and believed that you have done it all and yet you don't succeed; you have given it your all and yet you lose; you have thunk of every solution possible and yet problems still arise; you have devoted most of your daily lives to what you normally do, and yet it still demands more time.
You then ask yourself...wasn't that enough?
Man does has its limits. But we have always pushed ourselves beyond. We knew that doing that extra mile to our customers pays off, and eventually feel fulfilled. We knew that spending those quality time with our family is priceless, and eventually feel blessed. We break the limits because we are not asked to do so, but because we want to.
And this where our problem lies.
I recall the time when I loved playing basketball so much, that I played 4 straight games in one day. The energy and desire was at it's peak. Especially when my first 3 teams lost, and I injured both ankles already, I came into my fourth game still having that drive to play. Not because I had nothing to do that day nor was I asked or paid to win, but because I wanted to win. But in the past 2 years, the wanting and the desire seems to have dropped a notch. Either I no longer look forward to the next game, play sub-par, and sometimes even passes on it.
The same way can be said about our jobs. (It is no longer an expectation but a fact; 100% guaranteed, whether scientifically, socially or professionally proven fact that our jobs have, are, and will always ask for more.) Thus, you have to really want to do your job, otherwise, when you lose that desire and commitment, the exhaustion will now come into play. We have to admit, we sometimes tell ourselves, "What am I complaining about when I know this is what I do. This is what my profession requires of me and even if it is not part of what I normally do, I know that my contract states that I may be tasked to do work that is beyond my job description."
And so that is where our fault is evident.
A good mentor of mine once said, "We can't just sit around and say, that ain't my job. If you see that something is wrong, call it out. Or better yet, if you know how to fix it, then make it happen." Which makes a really good point. We all work in one company and is geared toward common goals, so even if it is not part of our job description, if you really want to help the company succeed, you would want to make things happen.
Make it Happen.
That really stuck to me for the past 2 months. To be given that empowerment to see things in a different perspective and make changes to benefit the organization. Look at it this way, instead of treating demands and requests to do things outside your scope as added work, why not view it as people seeking your expertise and execution on the problems they encounter. You are a subject matter expert, you are a role model, you can make it happen.
There is also no question when it comes to your family. You just have to give it your all. And I am sure we always end up giving everything and more. Because for me, family is everything.
Indeed everything you do may not be enough, because the things that happen in our lives never stops. So for 2016 and beyond, instead of feeling exhausted, we should feel invigorated and make things happen.
