Poverty behind pin-striped suits: is career and wealth defining your identity?
“I’m really sad to see James struggling…” Ita Buttrose (commenting on billionaire investor James Packer’s health)
The emptiness of some of the most successful executives is well hidden. Often it is hidden behind pin-striped suits, expensive cars and luxurious houses. But until I started training and coaching, I did not get close enough to it all. Confessions of some are painful to hear but they are still thought provoking. The fundamental question is “Is the career and wealth defining your identity?”
What are the key drivers and “early warning signals” that will assist in identifying the drift towards this trap? Why do some manage to continue to enjoy life and career while others find it a struggle? The following verses might help us put things in perspective.
“What do people gain from all their labour
at which they toil under the sun?
Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.”
Ecclesiastes 1:3-5 New International Version (NIV)
Strange it may sound but is this not the reality? We plan for projects, initiatives and even companies but often fail to plan for our short lives. There are some strange things that happen to us as we strive for “achievements” and feed our ego and forget to nurture our well-being. Some of them are quite common.
- As we earn and accumulate money, we tend to measure success in terms of a narrow definition of wealth. That is money. When money is lost or something money cannot buy (health) is lost, then, unhappiness creeps in. Feelings of abundance may run against the opportunity to enjoy simple but important things in life. Sounds simple? Not really.
- With increased monetary wealth some lose the ability to enjoy/appreciate simple things in life. Satisfaction can only be achieved by material things that money can buy or even by knowing that so much money is available for deferred consumption. Our ability to enjoy simple things like smelling the roses, enjoying a walk, appreciating a relationship etc. disappear as we view life through the prism of money. The ownership of things that money can buy becomes a goal.
- Money feeds ego and ego feeds money. This vicious cycle eats into family, health and inner peace of the victim without his/her realisation, and life becomes too complicated. Ultimately it affects the financial wealth one is striving for. Only those who could think beyond money and ego would escape this vicious trap.
- Many have written on work-life balance, but the real issue is work-wealth and/or work-ego balance. Often it is a mirage. Even those who have billions struggle to maintain work wealth and/or work ego balance. At times it is not even for money but just for ego one strives for and sacrifices simple but important things in life.
- Lack of understanding the brevity of life seems to be one of the main problems. Brevity of life helps us to put life in perspective and plan accordingly.
“Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.” Albert Einstein
COVID-19 brought home the message of fragility of life and futility of financial wealth. Now it is up to us to craft a meaningful life focussing on Total Wealth (totalwealth.digitalart.lk/).
