Surviving the Success Sickness, Why We’re No Longer Dying for the Deadline

Way back in 1860, American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The first wealth is health”, which got me thinking why, after 164 years, we have not yet got the memo?

I see it all the time (and I have been seriously guilty of this myself): We push, strive, and flat-out exhaust ourselves to reach a goal or outcome, often at the detriment of our own well-being.

In my case, this scenario was all too often. I’ve reached burnout three times in my life; the last time was the last. Too many crack-of-dawn mornings and burning the midnight oil, fuelled by caffeine and not much else, left me sick and tired (literally) and with an inner ear condition that left me barely able to get out of bed for an entire month. I worked in corporate back then, and it felt like a disaster.

What would happen if I couldn’t get to work??

Let me tell you what didn’t happen.

- The world did not stop turning.

- The company I worked for did not fold due to my absence (This was a shocker to my ego, ha!)

- I did not die from having 30+ days of rest

- My family and friends did not disappear because I didn’t keep up my crazy social schedule

While being bedridden might sound like an extreme way to learn a pretty simple lesson (I have never been one for the middle ground, preferring instead to swing wildly into extremes of any given situation), it was a lesson I never forgot — and to date, I have never repeated.

What I do know, though, is that I am not alone; you only have to read through some of the stories In The Spotlight to see that this bullshit is typical of the kind of pressure we put upon ourselves to be everything to everyone, always at our own expense.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Whenever you feel overwhelmed or find yourself agreeing to yet another event, project or favour that you can barely squeezzeeee into your overflowing calendar, STOP.

Ask yourself, is this event/ collaboration/ work/ podcast recording/ client adding to my health or chipping away at my well-being? If the answer is to your detriment (in any shape or form), give a polite but firm no.

Remember, nothing works unless we do.

As always, I believe in you.

Tricia xo

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