This is not about the red-pill blue-pill option. It is about my fascination with energy and drive. People are driven by different things – some by deadline pressure, some by external pressure to achieve or to be seen as having achieved something, some by purely internal satisfaction, etc. – I am not a motivation specialist, but the list is probably finite. I have also come to learn that drives are not necessarily good or bad – it is the ultimate intention that matters. – Are you doing what you are doing from a well-intended place?
The “progressive” culture tells us that we need to put-in the hours in order to achieve our goals, and I fully agree with this. As much as it is a cliché – “easy come, easy go” – one needs to be stretched and challenged in order to appreciate the achievement. Even in a world of full bliss, I believe one still gets stretched and challenged in order to maintain that bliss. As economists would say, “There is no such thing as a free lunch” – so, therefore, there is a price for everything.
The “progressive” culture also promotes the concept of adaption of role models. I must admit, that I have always been puzzled why there is so much hype around the term role model and why it puts so many people under so much pressure. Is a role model someone that you fully emulate or you emulate certain aspects of them?
I understand the word “role” to mean acting in a particular way, maybe because of the position you hold. In this context “model” as an action word, would mean mirroring someone or something’s behaviour – a tough and unrealistic ask in my view. Why? If each one of us is driven by different things and have different backgrounds and circumstances, it then follows that there could be a huge discrepancy in how we go about achieving similar goals – but if one is then forced to emulate a role model who is not truly aligned with their background and circumstances, friction is inevitably going to start occurring – a conflict between who you truly are and the role model you are trying to emulate.
Sustained friction is then going to cause a fire and that is when flames start building up. Flames from a tense situation are likely to become a raging fire which becomes difficult to put out because of the need to keep up or demonstrate the ideals of the role model – one becomes helpless and the initial drive dampens and dies out, that is when one has reached a state of burnout.
So, if role models are necessary, can burnout really be avoided? I think it can, but the signals of potential burnout happen much earlier, at the early stages of choosing, if you believe you have a choice, a role model. It actually starts with you – by finding the burn-in(side) of you that doesn’t make you feel worn out. When you burn-in you are not pressured about meeting the standards of your role model – your flame becomes a radiant light to others. Where are you now? Burnt out or burnt-in?