When Work Feels Like Too Much: Let’s Get Honest
I want to kick off this blog post by acknowledging that the world can often feel incredibly heavy. Especially these days. Our thoughts, feelings, and even our actions can feel like a lot to carry.
If you were expecting me to come out with some toxically positive message, well, that's not what we're about today. We're right there with you. We’ve all felt overwhelmed at times, and it can definitely take a toll on our productivity. One of our favorite quotes for times like these isn’t some fluffy platitude; it’s a simple, powerful truth from Mark Manson: “You don’t build psychological resilience by feeling good all the time. You build psychological resilience by getting better at feeling bad.”
When the world feels this way, it’s natural for big questions to surface. Many of you have been coming to us with thoughts like:
Does my work even matter right now?
I was unhappy before, but with everything going on, how do I even begin to think about work?
Am I truly in the right job?
Given that work typically takes up a significant chunk of our days, it’s no surprise that we often look to our jobs as the culprit when we’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or just plain tired. Sometimes that’s spot on, and sometimes it’s not. Either way, our work situation is usually a major factor in figuring out what’s going on with our Mental Fitness. Understanding what truly matters most to you at work is an incredibly worthwhile exercise. It helps you get super specific about what you need, so you can either recommit to your current role with clarity or start looking for a new one with a clear mind and heart. As Tony Robbins famously said, “Where focus goes, energy flows.”
So, whether you’re actively job hunting, contemplating a career change, or just having a few rough days, this one’s for you. We’re excited to share a tool we use to help bring focus to your mind when those big life (including career) questions pop up.
In our last blog post, we encouraged you to think about your core values – those three elements, behaviors, feelings, or things that, if absent from your world, just make everything feel wrong. Was that exercise tough? Surprising? A good reminder? A nudge? A major epiphany? Good, because that was exactly the point! If you haven’t done that yet, we highly recommend you take a moment to do so before diving into this week’s questions. It’ll lay a solid foundation for what we’re about to explore.
Now, let’s take things a step further and add some much-needed specificity to what’s important to you when it comes to your career. We’ve put together a set of five key questions designed to help you zero in on what truly matters in your professional life. This exercise can help you understand why your current job might actually be a great fit for you, why it might genuinely be time for a change, or even why, despite feeling pretty frustrated about your current situation, it’s actually a good match and you just need a mindset upgrade. And for all you job seekers out there, this is a super helpful exercise we’ve used countless times to help sharpen your search and find what you’re really looking for.
Ready for your next round of homework? Grab a pen and a piece of paper (seriously, writing this down makes a difference!), and let’s dive into these five questions:
1. What skills are you looking to develop in the next 2 years?
A. Personally? Think about skills that will enrich your life outside of work. Maybe it is becoming a better communicator, learning a new language, or developing a new hobby.
B. Professionally? What skills would genuinely boost your career? This could be a technical skill, a leadership quality, or a specific industry expertise.
2. What are your non-negotiables for your job? Choose 4. These are the things you absolutely must have in a job, the deal-breakers. Is it a certain level of autonomy? A specific work-life balance? Opportunities for growth? A particular company culture? Be honest with yourself here; knowing what these are can save you a lot of confusion and/or heartache.
3. What day-to-day tasks interest you? In which industries?
A. Personally? What activities do you genuinely enjoy doing on a regular basis, even in your free time? Do you love organizing? Creating? Analyzing? Being in a sp
B. Professionally? Think about the specific tasks you’ve enjoyed in previous roles or tasks you’ve observed others doing that truly pique your interest. Are you drawn to problem-solving, collaborating, leading, researching, or something else entirely? And what industries truly fascinate you?
4. What kind of problems do you want to solve/questions you want to answer?
A. Personally? What issues in the world, your community, or your personal life are you passionate about tackling?
B. Professionally? What challenges in a business or industry context excite you? Do you want to optimize processes, innovate new products, help people, or something else? This often connects deeply to your sense of purpose.
5. What are the best things you currently offer when you work on a team and/or to the world (top 3 skills)?
A. Personally? What are your natural strengths that you bring to personal relationships, community involvement, or even just daily life? Are you a great listener, a natural organizer, or a calming presence?
B. Professionally? What are the top three skills you consistently bring to your professional roles that truly make an impact? Think about what others praise you for, or what you feel most confident contributing.
If you found these reflection questions—or mind exercises—helpful, we’d absolutely love to hear from you! What did you discover? Did anything surprise you? In these challenging times, leaning into self-reflection and working towards internal clarity can be a powerful antidote to the overwhelm. It’s not about finding all the answers at once, but about taking those small steps towards understanding yourself better, especially when things feel hard.
And work doesn't have to be so hard…especially when you find a place that shares your values and priorities.