When our personal and family life is in fully harmony, the rest simply falls into place. I believe this 100%. Sadness in one’s heart and anxiety in one’s soul always decreases our abilities and motivations to act. Life does in fact verify our choices for us, as well as the life situation which we are presently in, regardless of our plans and wants. When the feeling of happiness and general self-satisfaction fill our mind, our will to act returns.
The relationship between one’s personal life and professional career are inseparable. Of course there are persons who believe that regardless of their private situations, they have the energy to work, new ideas and the will to act, and they escape from their personal problems by working and in doing so, become more efficient. So where does the truth lie?
Taking the level of personal life and professional satisfaction into account, one begs the questions as to whether personal life has a greater impact on the level of satisfaction from work or vice versa. Opinions on the topic of the consequences from private life and its impact on professional work are very divided. There are no explicit tests on the subject of the dependency between life satisfaction and productivity. Some persons researching the said issue claims that life satisfaction impacts the involvement and ease of interaction at work, as a result of which, it increases productivity. Others claim that the high level of satisfaction and joy from life impact motivation to work, as the present standard of life is sufficient and we are not striving towards further development, and what follows, higher income. As a result we become less ambitious, lazy in fact. This issue cannot be explicitly settled. One could easily say that satisfaction from work is highly depending from the general feeling of satisfaction from life, our happiness in fact. It may be examined as one of its main elements.
For a potential employer, the level of the employee’s satisfaction both from personal as well as professional life is not without meaning. The feeling of satisfaction from work is a subjective feeling, for this reason the question arises as to whether this is fully measurable. In observing certain behaviors of an employee we can presume what their attitude towards the company and responsibilities is, however is an employer in every company really interested in the employee’s true feelings? I am not certain of this. Unfortunately…I experienced such a moment several years ago, when I dreamt of a wider scope of obligations, so that I could develop and learn, and not just carry out the same, rather repetitive, series of tasks. Hmmm, what do you think, will I ever develop? Unfortunately not. I have thought about this for a long time – why? My opinion is such that in many companies certain people do not have access to certain tasks, more advanced processes, as they could be “too good” and someone in a different company unit could appreciate them and say that they are better than the boss. I know what I am writing is horrible but this is what I feel based on personal experience, as well as that of my female colleagues. Luckily not all employers think the same and intelligent companies both their very qualified staff, not blocking promotions or personal development. I wish you any myself only smart employers! Satisfaction guaranteed 🙂
However, going back to my train of thought connected with the relationship between personal and professional life, I can myself say that the impact of one’s self-esteem connected with one’s loved ones, family relations or any sort of disagreements, have a very strong influence on my self-esteem, and this is always reflected in work. I do my job with a great deal of professionalism of course, and to the best of my ability, however enthusiasm and satisfaction from doing it is significantly smaller. When I asked my participants during training sessions as to how they feel at work after, i.e. an argument with a spouse, or knowing that someone at home is sick, everyone replies identically: “horrible”, “I cannot concentrate” “my thoughts keep wandering” etc.
Hence according to my observations, persons for whom personal life takes precedent are those with a large dose of empathy, who ambitiously strive to achieve their objectives both in their personal and in their professional lives, as these two elements are inseparable. Let’s not try to separate them from each other, as if work and personal life were opposites. Let’s just accept that they mutually overlap, as it is an art not to build a wall between one and the other. The art is the conscious making of decisions as to when and what we devote our energy to.
