My Professional Odyssey: The Road to Fulfillment - Part 2

To summarize Part 1: Often in life we listen to the wrong voices in our heads. I was letting my ego dictate key actions in life. Usually the ego is driven by fear, hurt, and anger. Emotions never associated with happiness, health, and fulfillment. So, I made a correction, and by using the teachings from a book called "The Untethered Soul" (See Part 1), I was able to realize that my conscience, or true-self, was being ignored. I told my ego to take a break, and started listening to the right voice.

 My conscience said, "You are burnt out my friend." It continued: "You have built 3 markets in 3 years, lived out of a suitcase, uprooted your life, moved to another province, started 2 new jobs, sold two houses, lost a job, gone on a maniacal job search, had 100 interviews, and sealed it off with a Las Vegas bender that would have made the Rat Pack bow in respect", it exhaled.

 In a concerned and parental voice, my conscience finished, "Before you do anything else, you are going to take some time to rest".

 I hate being wrong. I hate being wrong even more when it's my own conscience that is pointing it out. Swallowing that lump of false pride and freely admitting that I needed a break was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Admitting I was frail, vulnerable, and unhealthy made me feel weak mentally. Again, this was my ego speaking from a place of battered pride. The Ego must be a "tough guy" at all times.  

 Internalizing conversations can be both healthy and unhealthy. In my case, I overthink everything. It's a bane and a boon. In strategy, negotiation, and analytics, it's positive. When fueled by stress and anxiety it can become a Negative Thought Spiral. As with any challenge, we must first educate ourselves as to what the problem is. From there we can take progressive action to fix it. Here is a great article on Thought Spirals, and how to neutralize them in advance. See HERE. 

 Because I had already internalized so much, and was beyond burn out, I took the other option available to me. I reached out. I asked for help. Letting the people in my circle know where I was at and how I was feeling was not only existential, but redeeming. The advice and counsel I received from all of my peers was surprising, yet unanimous:

 "It takes strength, courage, and self-respect to admit that you are down and burnt out, and not feeling healthy. It takes strength to ask for help, and it means that you have integrity at your core. You care about yourself, which is the opposite of weakness", they said.

 What still chokes me up to this day is that they thanked me for reaching out to them. I am grateful and blessed to have such beautiful people in my corner. Counsel can be both personal, and professional. We live in a country where there is a plethora of options and resources available to us all. The first step is reaching out. You will thank yourself for it. I would also encourage anyone reading to reach out at the beginning of calamity, and not at the end. Don’t try and "tough guy or girl" your way through it.

 The second half of the advice given was to "take a break, Rus!"

 Resting and recharging was not a practice I was familiar with. I'm a workaholic and always have been. When I have mountain to climb, I will climb it. When there are no more mountains to climb, I'll go build one (that's a problem for another post). I once came to work over a vacation to "get caught up", and my old boss stormed over to my desk, and called me the "worst vacation taker ever!"

 He then paced around my desk like a jailhouse guard, until I finally powered down and went home. It agitated him. I never understood why until I finally reached this breaking point. He saw how I was treating myself, how I was behaving, and it bothered him that I wasn't respecting my own need to recharge and rest. He knew that vacation would make me more effective, healthy, and productive, whereas I viewed quitting or stopping as weakness.

I hate being wrong.

 My old bosses, my peers, my counselors, and my own conscience were right. Time is precious, and we only have so much to invest. Investing in yourself is too often overlooked. Especially in times like these. Giving your mind, body, and spirit the opportunity to recharge is so vital, and so important. For those younger workaholics, you will also thank yourself for doing so later in life. It will give you back something that I lost due to my own ignorance: your health and longevity.

 It was time to take a very long break; enough of a break to recharge, forget, contemplate, and find my smile again. Setting aside, all those fears and anxieties driven by career uncertainty, I booked a 6 week trip to Bali, Indonesia. It was the first time in my life I had ever traveled that far from home, and the first time I had ever taken that much time off in life, from life. I chose to truly invest in Rus in that moment, and after 6 weeks, and 13 thousand miles, I found my smile again. 

By the time the trip was over, I had invested a surplus of time and energy back to my conscience. It was then that I knew what my soul wanted. I knew what I wanted to build. I knew what my goal was.

And I was ready, charged, and motivated to go and get it.

 Conclusion in Part 3.

 About the Author

Rus Reuser is a business strategy consultant, entrepreneur, business owner, and sales & marketing executive. His passion and belief in innovation and continuous improvement, is the ethos of his consultative approach to business enablement. Native to Calgary Alberta, he embodies an active lifestyle, and can be found pursuing a multitude of adventure sports and activities in the Rocky Mountains. 

LinkedIN: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/rus-reuser-1226811b/