A Workaholic's Approach
I would consider myself a mild workaholic. I enjoy tasks, I enjoy the business world, and I used to wear my busyness with a badge of honour. But I think my original intentions were twisted over time. In my mind, I once believed that work determined your worth—that you had no use to society if you didn’t have a job you loved. I held impossibly high standards for myself, standards few people could meet, and I chased them relentlessly. I was dedicated to becoming the best at what I do: studying for 12 hours a day, working sometimes for an entire day and through the nights, all to build a great CV and get hired. This was not sustainable. It is not sustainable to dedicate your whole life to someone else’s business at the expense of your own well-being. By working myself into the grave mentally, I was trying to prove I was worth something. From my perspective, it all made sense—I thought I could “make it” and then be happy, earn money and then be happy. But the happiness never comes. It doesn’t work that way.
It’s not a new idea that you should be mindful of each day and every moment, but it’s one I had to learn the hard way. To slow down and just be is to reclaim your life from the illusion that it’s a race. I highly recommend Alan Watt’s book The Wisdom of Insecurity if you like philosophy, and Why Did Nobody Tell Me This Before? for a more down-to-earth, accessible take. Both reinforced the truth I wish I had embraced sooner: life isn’t just about the finish line—it’s about the walk itself.
Remember, take your time, don't rush life. It's not a competition.