A Corporate Fog

I have been thinking about how a corporate career produces a mental fog that is hard to break out of. This fog demands that we conform to a certain standard that the company has set forth in exchange for adequate pay, benefits, free coffee (if you are one of the luck ones), and a few vacation days. Here is how the fog takes over...We wake up and to get ready for the day already tired because you did not get home until 8:00pm from the previous day's 13 hour effort. By the way, most endurance athletes can complete a full ironman and find out more about themselves in those 13 hours that an entire career could not produce. For this endurance effort of dried eyes, endless conference calls, and one too many coffees, one thinks for sure that they are making a "difference". A badge of honor for those killer hours that one logs. A false sense that you are more committed to success than the next person. A fantasy, that instead of that 2.2% raise that one will get a 3.0% raise.

Take notice of this corporate fog the next time you are in the airport. You know the guy. He has his laptop fired up at the first moment possible after rushing from one terminal to the next to catch that next meeting. The guy who turns on his cell phone as soon as possible to check those voicemail messages and e-mails. The guy who looks like he has been in the same suit for three days making poor food choices while sucking down a high sugar drink while frantically making changes to that "all important PowerPoint". The guy in the gym locker who every day talks only of work, and how stressed out they are. The guy who gathers at a social function only wants to talk about "what he does" and is the first to ask "what do you do?" (I will save this question for another blog post).

Take notice of the guys and gals in the cubes next to you. Frantic to get in the last word on the conference call. The associate taking the second smoke break before 9:00 am. Is it all worth it? What if we just stopped...for 10 seconds, 10 minutes..but I can't because I have to get this e-mail, or phone call...NO! JUST STOP! LISTEN. OBSERVE..

What if you just paused, took a long deep breath and thought about what your calling in life is. Would it include what you do day in and day out for a paycheck every two weeks and a false sense of job security? It might. Many folks have gone thru this process and it turns out that the corporate job is exactly what their passion is..and that's OK. I would suggest that most folks don't take the time to go thru this process.

Think about all of the hard work that you put in day in and day out. What's the goal? Are your priorities in order? What are your priorities? Are you in a corporate fog, or do you have the ability to step out, take a walk around the "office park" and make sure that you are following your passion. You might be surprised what door that opens or closes for you. It might mean walking right back into the door that you just came out of back to your cube, which is perfectly acceptable. Or it might mean that you open the door to your car door to start chasing your dream. I certainly don't suggest that you make a career decision in 10 minutes, but you get the idea.