One Breath Away from Burnout - A Frustrating Job (Part Deux)

One Breath Away from Burnout - A Frustrating Job (Part Deux)

One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important. —Bertrand Russell

CLOSELY LINKED with perfectionism is ego.

If you are a girlfriend who takes great pride in what you do, your self-worth might be closely linked to what you produce at work. This is not all bad, in and of itself.

Ego can be a great asset for one’s profession when it propels a well-grounded sense of self-confidence; but it can be extremely dangerous when we allow it to get out of check, draining our vision, ambition, creativity, and sense of balance.

It is ego, fanned by the flames of fear, that drives our compulsion to check our BlackBerrys every five minutes.

It is ego, driven by a Superwoman complex, that compels us to take responsibility for failures (and successes) for which we have been given no authority or accountability.

It is ego that throws the crushing blow to our sense of self-worth when we define ourselves only by our outcome measures at work.

It is ego, slapped silly day after day by the nonsense that occurs as a matter of course in the halls of corporate America, that convinces us that we have little to offer our coworkers, subordinates, or senior management.

It is ego, fueled by our need to be validated, that convinces us that if we work hard enough and long enough, we can single-handedly save the corporation from itself.

It is ego, driven by need for acceptance, that clouds our judgment of our own limitations.

And it is ego, generating enough stress to stop the heart, that kills. Literally, we can work ourselves to death trying to satisfy the ego.

So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. (Matthew 10:31)

If you’re not saving lives (as a doctor or volunteer for a suicide hotline); saving souls, literally or figuratively (as a clergy or social worker); or saving our next generation from illiteracy (as a teacher)—you can relax. Your work is not that important.

If you are a doctor, social worker, minister, or teacher, there’s a good reason for your high anxiety. I think I’m fairly safe in saying that it’s probably not ego that’s fueling your stress, as lives literally rest in your hands. The rest of us ego-driven maniacs will be lifting you up in prayer.