Some time ago I was watching and listening to a woman give a presentation about achieving excellence in one’s life, and then when she was describing the kind of dedication that’s necessary to achieve excellence within one’s career, a woman then interrupted her from the audience and said, “But doesn’t that then risk becoming a workaholic?”
And then immediately the woman leading the presentation didn’t skip a beat when responding back with, “In my opinion, the term ‘workaholic’ is oftentimes used to describe people who love their job, when being criticized by people who don’t like their own job.”
Wow, I thought that was an incredible reframe!
But of course, when looking at that reframe, I believe we also need to consider the concept of balance here, in determining whether or not one’s work is causing problems within the other areas of one’s life.
For example, is the person who’s working really hard harming or sacrificing the relationship with their spouse or with their own family, or could they maybe even be sacrificing their own health?
These are the kinds of questions that need to be answered, but if someone is working hard, loving what they do, and they have solid relationships with their spouse and with their family, and they’re fulfilling their obligations to them, while maintaining solid health, then maybe they’re just someone who truly loves what they’re doing for a living.
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