Episode Summary:
In this week’s episode, we discuss the sometimes toxic pressure of career growth, titles, and money. We hear from a couple of listeners who share their personal stories of how the anxiety to go for higher jobs has caused them to rethink their priorities. For anyone who’s worked a job with a hierarchy, there can be immense social pressure to climb the ladder. For many people, though, it’s a source of constant anxiety, and there are ways to deal with this. We review some of the reasons why workers feel compelled to grow their careers and how you can let go of those pressures and be happier in your job.
Episode Notes:
Having a “career” and a job with progression is, in many ways, a great privilege. You’re paid to learn new skills and master them, make friends, influence decisions, and grow as a person. And you’re paid for it, sometimes very well. But for many people who work in competitive hierarchical organizations, it’s easy to find yourself wanting things that cause anxiety and depression; and we don’t even realize why. We go along with the narrative that more is better, that titles are what we want, and that we need to sacrifice pieces of ourselves to get there. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s all for, this episode is for you.
It can be a good thing to have aspirations and to grow. You should absolutely spend part of your life growing and spending your time doing something you feel good about. What we are talking about, though, is when we embark on a journey that isn’t what we actually want. Some people might really want this out of life, and that’s great. Knowing what you want and being happy is a rare gift. Many more people think they want it, but find out too late in life that it didn’t really matter to them.
You are not your job. And your job doesn’t determine your value as a person.
- Organizations of all complexities need hierarchies. That’s how work is managed with structure.
- In theory, the more challenging the job or, the more value it brings, the more it gets paid. But that’s not really how it works in practice with corporations.
- Hierarchies in both title and compensation are also social cues: how much respect someone is owed, how dedicated they are, and how important their superiors believe they are.
And we go through life thinking this stuff is really important because of a few factors:
- Where does the messaging come from? Ask yourself who is telling you that the better title is important. It’s the executives.
- Why does this messaging exist: two reasons, the first being the ego of the people at the top, but more importantly, it creates obedience to the system.
- Companies need a pipeline of people to have continued operations, so they need people to want those things. It’s not for you, it’s for the shareholders.
- It gives companies power because when they have something you want, they can get more of you in exchange. You will sacrifice more for it.
- All of this creates a reality for people where their self-worth and happiness are inextricably linked to their career success.
Let’s take a step back, though:
- When we look up an organization, they’re all just people. Some are happy, some are miserable. Some are really smart, some aren’t. Some started from nothing, some got everything handed to them. They’re just normal people.
- For those of you who’ve progressed, are you happier now? What are you happier with, and what are you less happy with?
- Do your closest friends and family care more or less about you because of your title?
- Have you had to sacrifice something really important, and was that trade-off worth it in retrospect?
- Are the people who held higher roles still admired now that they’re gone?
- Have you ever been to a funeral where someone talked about their career accomplishments?
This affects everybody to some degree.
- We want what other people have
- We want to be treated fairly
- We want to be recognized and appreciated
- We want our sacrifices to mean something
Top 3 Takeaways:
- Careers and progress can be meaningful ways to learn skills, make relationships and grow as a person.
- Understand, though, if it’s really you that wants this or if you are reacting to social pressure.
- Listen to our next episode if you’re struggling with this pressure to hear our advice.