Corporate life is like running a marathon everyday for next 40 years of life. Do you have the physical training to run this race? GoMissing caught up with Anuraag, who mentors GoMissing team on growth, strategy and success. A senior industry leader, Anuraag combines his corporate ambitions with his passion for running, cycling,skiing and love for outdoors.
Here is what he said,
Consider this, in normal course of corporate life a person spends around 40 years of his most productive and active life fighting corporate battles, burning midnight oil, battling stress, working for that next promotion, the next increment, the next customer win and so on. Isn’t that a little like running a constant marathon?
A long endurance race like this which involves body and mind can be run only by those who are fit in both these faculties. In contrast the longest lasting Olympian will perhaps spend only 8 to 12 years of his/her life training and performing.
The 40 years of non-stop work in a corporate world could indeed be exhausting. It is not surprising to see people wanting to quit/retire at 40 and battling burnout at 55 rather than enjoying their work. To compound this feeling are messages from peer group, self styled gurus and lifestyle experts who champion an easy life and demonise corporate life. But is early retirement, quitting work the solution?
The book of Genesis says, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread” and indeed, work gives us identity, confidence and purposeful existence. The same thought resonates in Flow – The classic work on how to achieve happiness, a book by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (MEE-hy CHEEK-sent-mə-HY-ee), a Hungarian psychologist who has created a psychological concept of flow, a highly focused mental state. He believes that people achieve most happiness in their chosen field of work, provided if the work is challenging and gives adequate mental stimulus.
If you too look back, chances are that you will come across multiple examples from your corporate life when work gave that sense of fulfillment. Does it, then, make sense to deny yourself such opportunities of satisfaction and happiness by wanting to quit early?
If work is important and we cannot give it away and if it is going to play such a huge role in our time on earth then why not equip ourselves to do it better? In India, the generation of freedom fighters has lived well into their 90s, the baby boomers and GenX will probably live well into their 100s….so if we are going to have so much time on our hands, does it not make sense to become fit and use the time productively? A healthy, fit and energetic body will help us stretch 24 hrs effectively and of course, extend 40 work years into 50 or maybe 60 years.
Hitting the gym and spending time pumping iron are not the only way to reach your fitness goals. You could reach the basic level of fitness by taking on active lifestyle. Think about that trek in the wilderness and a night under the star-filled sky or that weekend cycling trip, these will not only get you moving, it would pump up those corporate muscles as well.
We are not the only ones saying this 🙂 Peak Performance Expert Jack Groppel too makes a case for training to improve business performance in his book, The Corporate Athlete.
Do share your thoughts and comments with GoMissing team and Anuraag on info@gomissing.in
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