Your Job Cannot Be Bigger Than You

Tweet My teacher spoke these words and it struck a cord within me. He went on to say how one person undertakes responsibilities reflects the way he is as a person and that life would not send you a job that is bigger than your ability.

As time goes by work can get into a grind, your eyes start to glaze and blur with each passing year as you go through the routine of work.

It’s easy to let things slide and once you do, it can be a slippery and hard slope to climb back up. Letting standards drop at work and learning to accept compromises can get into a habit which spreads into the other aspects of your life and it can lead to a downward spiral.

In my 20s and early 30s I used to fill every moment of my life with some activity or another with an ability to find deep reserves of energy to take what I was doing from pretty OK to wow. Passing the 35 mark I started taking things a little easier and paused more often to do nothing and enjoy the moment. It was hard at first because feelings like guilt, letting go of overly compulsive behaviour and letting my attention to detail slide because not everyone could work like I did were things I had to deal with. But I finally got around to appreciating quiet moments and be happy with doing and achieving less.

After taking things easier for a while, I learnt the laws of physics with regards to inertia apply to life as well.

It was hard getting my engine revved up again to perform and live life as fully as I used to. Having a monkey in my life, picking up tennis again and taking up different things to fill up week nights are helping in moving my 60kg out of it’s slowed state back into a higher gear.

Lately I’ve been thinking of doing more professionally and have plans of drastically switching my full-time job come 45. My teacher’s words are a wake-up call in some ways as the job switch at 45 is likely to demand much more of me than what I’m doing now or did before. If I don’t start prepping myself, start pushing myself to where over-performing and finding reserves of energy regularly is the norm, I might find myself struggling. Or perhaps life might think I’m not ready for the role I want and thus not allow me to take the path I hope to.

Work isn’t a definition of one’s self. Our selves, values, standards and morals would be reflected in the job we do living life and working the job we chose.