Star Reachers

Striking A Balance

Long distance phone lines once again are challenging. Furthermore the techniques under this chapter are rather long. For both these reasons I have decided to post the techniques in written form.

To enjoy maximum work satisfaction and performance, we must find a balance between two poles - too much challenge on one end and not enought challenge on the other. Either would not work. As such, here are some pointers when looking at Striking A Balance.

1. Renew your enthusiasm for your work and reawaken your dedication by reflecting on the wider purpose of your work.
2. When faced with non-challenging or boring tasks at work, which at times cannot be avoided, learn to deal with this dissatisfaction by focusing on bringing spirituality to your work to strike a balance. For example: be compassionate, show empathy and kindness to colleagues with whom you do not get along. This would, of course, be challenging and would require all your attention and focus. This challenge would in turn take your mind off your dissatisfaction with work.
3. If there is no challenge in your work, you can still strike a balance/gain a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction from work, if you approach each person with warmth and affection. This act does not require a lot of challenge, but offers a lot of satisfaction.
4. Remember that satisfaction at work and a job that is challenging depends on a person's willingness to respond to that challenge. Some individuals thrive on highly challenging work, while others may be less willing to take on challenging work.
5. As we seek to optimize our happiness at work, it is for each one of us to decide what level of challenge provides the greatest degree of growth and satisfaction.
6. Relating to others with love and affection is a rich source of satisfaction that can seem effortless. This can be practised not only at work, but also in every aspect of life.
7. Work on increasing your level of interest in the kind of work you are doing as this increased interest will lead to increased focus, concentration, and absorption, which in turn will mean "being in the flow".
8. Being "in the flow" means being so completely absorbed in your work that you lose track of time.
9. In life there are different levels and categories of happiness - pleasure and happiness.
10. Pleasure provides a temporary kind of happiness and arises on the basis of sensory experiences and depends on external conditions. This can make pleasure an unreliable source of happiness.
11. Happiness, on the other hand, is associated with a sense of meaning, and arises on the basis of deliberately cultivating certain attitudes and outlooks that can be achieved through a systematic training of the mind.
12. True happiness may take longer to generate and requires some effort, but it is this lasting happiness that can sustain us even under the most trying conditions of everyday life.
13. To find real happiness in life, cultivate other sources of satisfaction and fulfillment, so that you do not have to reply on work as a primary source of satisfaction.