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Writer's pictureMeltem Bozçal

The answer is "you"


Sometimes you can see yourself superior than anyone else.

A couple of years ago: I was sitting in the magnificent pavilion office of the big company I worked in, watching the highway flowing in front of me but, an important part of my life was missing.

My mind is confused and headaches with all unanswered e-mails, unanswered calls, how to meet the needs of the household while I am traveling, and how I am going to compete from one meeting to another.

At that time, a quiet calmness collapsed and I heard my inner voice "Whose scenario is this, what do you live?"

According to the definitions of success of the society, I was living the dream: I am a top level manager, publications, awards, spouse, child, Jimmy Choo heels in a good foreign company un.

Still, I felt cramped in designer shoes. And a signal of stress or distress was not the only thing my body sent. My skin was dry. My hair was broken. My smile was gone. (And you know I can't pretend to be smiling.)

And I was watching the traffic flowing out of the plaza window, but everything in my body was moving in the opposite direction to traffic. And I was really realizing that even though everything was perfect I was in "MAYDAY" mode since a long time.

How come no one has ever said that it would be so sad to be successful?

The moment was very clear to me: The pursuit back to back success was not a sustainable way to unite unrealistic thoughts about ”balance".

If I hadn't bothered me with the buzzing of my inner voice and the traffic that was asking me what role I had in that scenario, I would probably never ask this question, and I would have been able to travel with increasing speed in the pursuit of success: Who am I doing this for?

Did I live for myself? Did I honor my values? What were my values? If I'm not living for myself, then who is this - for who or what?

And then I started to realize that: We are all interested in living and working in a sustainable way, but we define it inadequately.

For most of us, is sustainability means monitoring our waste and reducing waste. But this is causing us to ignore the fact that we are our greatest and most valuable resource!

In the equation of life is the missing variable, although we are always said to call the solution outside.

In fact, wherever we look, we are bombarded by what the Italians call l imbarazzo della scelta - the shame of choice: for happiness, you definitely need {system, product or whatever} to look good.

They all support the idea that we're not good enough, but the ‘next best thing can fill this gap. Unfortunately, the Three-Month-Bandage-Solution approach does not work in the long run.

In the pursuit of my response to the long-term sustainability issue, I found a new definition of what I call "ability to sustain”, that is, the ability to sustain myself.

My theory is simple: the change begins in you. You have the answer to the puzzle.

And what I'm talking about is that each of us is like a cell that serves the larger body - it is a community, a company, or a world in which we live. Each of us has its own advantages and a unique DNA that we can only contribute to. But if we don't see what the individual contribution is, we start to follow everyone's standards. Burnout, comparison with others, and disconnection are only the first side effects of this approach.

The way to sustain the talent, which is the greatest resource that our communities and companies will touch, begins in us, it is not our output. We're more than an assembly line.

Think about it, what are you accomplishing when you are yourself and can sustain yourself?

Take a few minutes to start feeling the transformation you're looking for. And then tell us your experience in the comments.


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