When you think about culture, what is the first thing that comes to mind?For many the answer is people, traditions, values, leaders. Over the last couple of years, we have seen a shift in the way people and organizations work. For some, they are caught without a divide between work and life, for others remote working created more flexibility and space to be able to care for their family members.
We want you to now think about your own personal journey going through a pandemic, having to shift the life that you thought was “normal.”
- How did your routine change?
- How did your work schedule change?
- Did you find yourself working more efficiently or having to spend additional hours compensating for all of the meetings you had to be a part of during the day?
Go deep, notice the emotions you are feeling now. Are you experiencing joy, resistance, overwhelm? Are you now having an even harder time trying to balance your home and work?
Let us break it down to you, the idea of balance is a myth. If you can picture yourself in the middle of trying to pull your work on one side and your life in the other, I am sure you are feeling what we are feeling just by picturing this reality. This reality is not sustainable, and it’s bringing nothing to you but anxiety, fear, depression, overwhelm. This reality of never being good enough or of having to meet a certain type of imagine is not sustainable, and it’s eating you up!
Part of the experiences and the work we do for companies is to design spaces and programs where leaders like you can release, share and reclaim what has brought you so much exhaustion and disappointment in the past.
Our work is meant to liberate you, yes, to give you the tools to know what’s real and what’s not, but most importantly to give you applicable knowledge to reclaim the life you deserve.
My first job out of college was in a tech consulting firm, and I went in with the idea that I was going to work 80+ hour weeks and that I had no other choice.
At the time, I had a manager that was completely in love with overworking, and he would even do 5-day cleanses without food to be even more productive. Now, I don’t have anything against doing a cleanse, but the worse part is that I found myself doing them too just to prove that I was strong mentally and that I too could do 5 days without eating.
Now, I don’t recommend this to anyone, without talking to a specialist. But it wasn’t the cleanse it was the toxic way of working, this deep trauma I carried of having to prove myself by proving others, this false idea I had that I had no choice to influence a life where I did not work 80+ hours a week.
Now, this job only lasted 2 years before I ran out the door trying to find myself again. Since then I promised myself that I would never put my body and mind through this type of pressure, and I continue to remind myself that I always have a choice.
Many people are still trapped in this toxic reality, and the sad part is they are not aware that they have a choice. Now, as we think about diversity, equity and Inclusion, think about this. Think about the way your people work, the habits they’ve picked up because of the culture, how are you as a leader allowing them to feel supported, and make their own choices?
This is what organizations need to do, give their people the tools, space and resources to learn how to make decisions that enrich their life and not pull them into balance.
Balance is not what we are striving for, we need harmony. We need people that are in control of their life, people empowered to make a choice.
Learn more at notainclusion.com
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