Ask HR: Is it possible for one to be fully content at work?
What you need to know:
- While you have scaled remarkable heights in your career, remember that true contentment resides not just in what you have but in the journey you undertake to discover what truly matters to you.
- ‘Enough’ is not a scientific metric; what you find insufficient may look like surfeit to another. The desire for more cannot be quenched by more.
I am fortunate enough to have achieved my career dream of becoming a CEO in a reputable organisation. I have acquired most of the things I had desired, yet I feel as though it is not enough. Is it possible to be fully content?
The pursuit of contentment is a timeless endeavour that transcends the precincts of career success and material acquisitions. Your inquiry underscores the notion that contentment is personal and not merely contingent upon achievements. While reaching the pinnacle of one’s career is undoubtedly an accomplishment to be celebrated, it is instructive to recognise that contentment often eludes those who exclusively tether their happiness to external markers of success. To cultivate contentment, it is crucial to introspect, align personal values with one’s pursuits, and foster a sense of gratitude for what has been achieved.
It may help to seek meaning and purpose beyond endeavours that feed traditional measures of success, to explore avenues for greater self-awareness, self-improvement, and giving back to society. What might you offer those around you and beyond in terms of your time, experience, and resources? How about learning to relish the joy of giving?
Some have said that contentment is a delicate equilibrium between ambition and inner peace that emerges from an intricate interplay between internal disposition, personal values, and evolving aspirations. While you have scaled remarkable heights in your career, remember that true contentment resides not just in what you have but in the journey you undertake to discover what truly matters to you. ‘Enough’ is not a scientific metric; what you find insufficient may look like surfeit to another. The desire for more cannot be quenched by more.
Consider the words of the poem On the vanity of human ambition by H.P. Lovecraft.
Apollo, chasing Daphne, gain'd his prize
But lo! she turn'd to wood before his eyes.
More modern swains at golden prizes aim,
And ever strive some worldly thing to claim.
Yet 'tis the same as in Apollo's case,
For, once attain'd, the purest gold seems base.
All that men seek's unworthy of the quest,
Yet seek they will, and never pause for rest.
True bliss, me thinks, a man can only find
In virtuous life, & cultivated mind.
