How recharged are you?

As the year drew to a close, I took some time to reflect on my experiences and realized that one of the most important lessons for 2024 is to pursue my calling: a career and life that is driven by passion rather than conforming to the expectations of others.

In 2023, a distressing 40% of US workers made the difficult decision to leave their jobs due to burnout, a situation estimated to have cost American businesses an astounding $300 billion. A similar survey also revealed that 40% of employees globally reported feeling burned out. The reasons for this burnout are numerous: individuals find themselves fatigued, bereft of both energy and passion, and often perceive a lack of impact in their current professional engagements.

A few weeks ago, I met a businessman who had been working in the same industry for over 25 years. He confided, "You know, Pierre, I'm tired of working for people who don't truly care about the environment. I want to spend my last 15 years in the workplace (guess his age!) doing something meaningful that I'll be genuinely happy about. Not just making money, but creating value for future generations. Please help me." I encounter countless people sharing similar stories, and for each of them, I say, "Let's write your beautiful story together!"

A beautiful story starts as follows

At the close of each year, I take a moment to reflect on its entirety, engaging in a comprehensive review by asking myself these five questions:

1. How recharged was I?
2. How grateful was I?
3. How self-aware was I?
4. How self-defeating was I?
5. How will this year be different from the last?

This period has been the most productive one for me this year, and here are some insights to share with you.

How recharged are you?

One simple way to assess your energy level is to evaluate how you respond to change. Do you avoid change at all costs or do you embrace novelty as an opportunity to grow and develop? Do you see more threats and risks than potentialities and opportunities? Score yourself on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is totally avoiding change and 10 is embracing any change.

This year, I assessed my energy level (around 4-5) and realized that I was working more often from a scarcity mindset rather than an abundance mindset.

Let me explain:

I often took on tasks and projects out of guilt and negative reinforcement ("I have to do this if not...") because I lacked the energy or passion to be fully engaged in them. I was pursuing ambitious projects and goals with depleted energy. This is when I came to understand the importance of kindness.

Kindness helped me shift from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset.

I was no longer working out of guilt but rather out of passion. And the more I engaged with this mindset, the more difficult it was to stop what I was doing. Artists and athletes call this state ‘flow’. While science is not clear on how to enter and maintain flow, there are several conditions that can be created to make it more likely. One of these conditions is kindness to yourself and others.

What does this look like in practice?

During the past year, I spent at least 5 minutes each day reflecting on how I practiced kindness. And I discovered two key elements:

1. Doing less/being more (self-compassion)

Frustrations with not being productive enough sometimes stem from something other than a lack of work. For example, I often found myself trying too hard on something I didn't need to. What was missing were the components that were holding me back (e.g., energy, project purpose, external resources…).

As a way to cope with the pain, I'd compulsively check my social media. This became a breeding ground for judgments and criticisms of myself and others. And this is exactly what happens when we take on too much.

So doing less means doing less work or "hard work"—the kind that makes you feel depleted, like work that engages your weaknesses instead of your strengths—and let go of your inner critic, which saps your energy more than it empowers you. Focusing on doing only leads to frustration that we haven't achieved enough or met our own or others' expectations.

However, if we focus on being more, we give ourselves the opportunity to reach our full potential. Here are a few examples of how I have focused on being more in the past year.

Being more…

• Recharged: Slowing down everything (more space for silence), ending my day much earlier, and writing to release the pressure inside
• Compassionate rather than adviser: listening to the needs around me and in me and being more curious.
• Joyful for the small and daily ordinary events: Appreciating small wins, improvements, and daily learnings.
• Caring more about my own health: Taking better care of physical and mental health.
• Accepting (humility): Embracing flaws, weaknesses, and limits, and not striving for perfection
• Empowering: Helping others to be at their best.
• Confident in God: Growing more confident in faith and trusting God to guide through life.
• Faithful in my engagements: Follow through on my promises.

2. Putting others first

Beyond self-compassion, kindness also includes putting others first. It manifests through four pillars: listening, loving, forgiving, and serving.

• Listening involves not only speaking less and refraining from judgment but also letting go of the urge to assert my own thoughts or showcase the brilliance of my words. True listening emerges when I overcome reluctance to connect with others, allowing me to perceive the unspoken and empathize with their pain or burdens. In essence, it's about cultivating a heightened sense of curiosity.
• Loving others beyond myself, including my wife and in-laws, entails genuine care for their needs rather than imposing my intentions. It involves assuming the best in them and seeking constructive feedback for personal improvement. This also means accepting them for who they are, even when they make mistakes.
• Forgiveness, both of others and myself, is a process of releasing anger and resentment, approaching challenges with ease, and seeking forgiveness, especially in challenging moments. It embraces the idea that mistakes are part of growth and learning.
• Service to others is about inspiring them to reach their full potential, providing additional resources to help them overcome obstacles at work and in their lives. It also extends to simple acts like cooking for someone else or aiding individuals in connecting with themselves.

Summary

Assessing our energy levels, gratitude, self-awareness, and actions provides a compass for navigating the complexities of our lives.

Kindness towards ourselves and others is not just a fleeting gesture. It has the power to transform our mindset from scarcity to abundance. The practice of doing less and being more helps us to focus on our strengths, give up unrealistic expectations, and savor the richness of each moment.

Placing others first by actively listening, genuinely loving, forgiving, and serving has a profound ripple effect on both our own well-being and the well-being of those around us. In a world that often glorifies individual achievements, the true essence of a fulfilling life lies in our connections and contributions to others.

As 2024 just started, let these reflections guide our actions. Let us be architects of our narratives, crafting stories that align with our passions and values. May we choose authenticity over conformity, passion over mere productivity, and kindness over self-criticism.

Remember, your story is still being written. Embrace the journey, savor the moments, and continue to ask those key questions that lead to a life well-lived. Here's to a new chapter, where energy is abundant, kindness is boundless, and fulfillment is the guiding star on our collective journey. And happy new year 2024!

To Grow Further

1. When did you last feel truly alive? Describe the situation you were involved, the people and the different thoughts that came to your mind.
2. What activities or situations drain your energy the most? How would your life be different if you could eliminate these?
3. Who are these people that you could prioritize in your life? How would your life be different if you were to do so?