How working too hard gets us to the opposite of sustainability and what to do to reverse that.

“More men are killed by overwork than the importance of the world justifies”.

—Rudyard Kipling, The Phantom Rickshaw, 1888

THE STORY:

Have you had this experience? You see a friend or colleague of yours working hard every day. All week, all month, all year. You try to tell them it’s bad for them. Once or twice, you offer a recreational activity. They refuse. Nicely. In fact, they behave super nicely. They appear in control. I recently offered my help to an ex-colleague of mine, a sustainability leader who was working too hard, in my view. I received this response:

“I think you have a wonderful idea and I believe there is much need for it. It is however not my priority at the moment. I would not have the calmness and focus to do this at this moment. In fact, I am working hard now in order to be able to have more time to do this kind of thing more often in the future”.

I did not insist. Can you sense this leader’s stress in their response? If they do “not have the calmness and focus at this moment”, they probably do not have the calmness or focus to do whatever they are currently doing either. Blinded by some powerful character in their inner story, they rejected an opportunity to try something that would have, in fact, helped them make their current work a lot easier.

This interaction got me thinking about how often sustainability leaders become tethered to the overwhelming tasks of their vast work and responsibilities, and miss crucial opportunities to make their work more efficient, or even check that it is effective. I decided to explore these pitfalls through one of my mini-series – The Deadly Sins of Sustainability Leaders.

For part three in this series, I invite you to revisit the reality of “working hard today in order to be able to do the things you dream of in the future.” Upon deeper glance, we find that this common notion is not sustainable behavior at all, even for a sustainability leader.

 

THE PROBLEM:

You know the Brundtland report definition: Sustainable development means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

As sustainability leaders we believe we are working within this framework, but our recurring patterns of thought, feeling and action often prove otherwise.

How many of us find ourselves expressing that we are too busy to do the thing that we know would be good for us? Who do not see their families enough?

Who do not rest enough? Who do not take the time to intentionally create our life experience here and now, and instead say “mañana” … and keep saying “mañana” every day?

How many of us, sustainability leaders, continue sacrificing our basic needs (today) … in order to get our basic needs fulfilled (tomorrow)? Can you see the fallacy in this proposition?

These mindsets are the antithesis of sustainability.

The truth is that working harder non-stop in the name of a better future experience (for self or others) only keeps us in the repetitive reality of martyrdom, in which our satisfaction is always “tomorrow”. We will NEVER achieve satisfaction this way. Workaholism is an addiction like all others. And it’s one of the widely accepted ones, in today’s society. Encouraged, even.

The truth hurts. Sometimes a lot. But this kind of hurt is temporary and well worth learning the truth. Overworking – even on a project with great intention or foreseen impact  – ultimately leads to disease, burnout, and premature death if we continue for long enough. And contrary to what we may think, it does not help anyone else. Martyrdom attracts more martyrdom. It is with good reason that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 3 is: “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”.

So, I ask you: how can you be sustainable if you are not even meeting your own present needs?

THE SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION:

Albeit somewhat imperfect in their formulation, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 were intended to be all important and work together in a systemic and compounded way. Those who can live by ALL of them can be considered to behave sustainably.

If we are not meeting our own needs today, the chances of us, or those we influence, meeting our or their needs tomorrow are compromised. And if you are a C-suite executive in a big corporation, your behavior has a significant, far-reaching impact.

Maybe you were raised to believe, like most of us, that work is more important than all other things or that you must work hard to get what you are after. But what are we after? Take the time to reflect on this question intimately: Really, what are you after?

No matter what got you into that frantic pattern, it is taking you in the wrong direction. But there is a way out. And YOU are the one choosing the rules you live by. Try thinking of a way you could be living, embodying sustainability goal number three TODAY. Take the first step. When you shift from a mindset of dominant doing to a mindset of dominant being, you will access greater presence, focus, and calm within your day-to-day decision making, bringing your visions of future ease into your moment right now.

Living sustainably is about enjoying the present moment as much and as deeply as possible. Many of our needs are already met and require we stop doing. It is time to have a long, loving look at our behavioral patterns, and to correct them.

Have you been working too hard, too often, in hopes of ease tomorrow?

Which needs have you been sacrificing?

What small change in your routine can you make, starting today?