Tying our self-worth to our careers can have a detrimental emotional impact and lead to fear and loss when we step back.
Setting boundaries at work is crucial for preventing burnout and creating a healthier relationship with work.
Deep dives
The Devastation of Losing Work as Identity
The podcast episode explores the story of Gloria Chanpacher, a management consultant who was forced to take a leave from work due to chronic migraines. She shares her experience of work becoming her entire worth and identity, and the fear and loss she felt when she had to step back. This highlights the emotional impact of tying our self-worth to our careers.
The Importance of Boundaries at Work
The episode delves into the importance of setting boundaries at work. It discusses the challenges of balancing ambition and self-care, and the struggle to determine what is truly important in life. The conversation explores the need to draw boundaries to prevent burnout and create a healthier relationship with work.
Identifying and Communicating Needs for Healthy Boundaries
Gloria Chanpacher shares her personal journey of discovering the significance of identifying and communicating needs in creating and maintaining boundaries. She emphasizes the complexity of this process, given our individual behavior patterns and past experiences. She suggests taking the time to reflect on what makes work or overworking feel safe, and communicating needs authentically.
Navigating Burnout and Changing Work Relationships
The episode provides insights into managing burnout and changing one's relationship with work. It emphasizes the need for a sustainable approach rather than pursuing the complete eradication of burnout. The conversation touches on recalibrating work hours, evaluating personal bandwidth before saying yes, and focusing on specifying needs and impacts when communicating boundaries.
For some of us it’s easy to lose ourselves in our work. But a lack of boundaries between your personal and work life is something mental wellness educator Gloria Chan Packer would warn you twice about. Gloria speaks about the perils of gaining your sense of self-worth from your job, discusses her experience with burnout and stress and shares empowering insights on how to shift our perspectives to create – and maintain – a healthy distance. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts