9 Keys to Success at Work (Without Suffering Burnout) — Unleash Your Genius

To many, success at work means pulling all-nighters, sacrificing professional and personal initiatives to achieve company goals, and doing whatever is necessary to get a promotion, and get a pay raise. Every day can feel like a struggle to stay afloat. While these activities may get you ahead in the short-term, they don’t guarantee long-term fulfillment.

The problem with forcing success at work is the amount of time, resources, and energy you invest without getting any fulfillment in return. You always feel stressed, unhappy, and risk burning yourself out completely.

Are You Forcing Your Success at Work?

When you’re not in an environment with a system in place for self-awareness, fulfillment, and growth, it’s easy to wear yourself out.

Clinical Psychologist Scott Bea cites the following characteristics as signs that you’re emotionally and physically drained from work:

Diminished performance
Lower efficiency
Loss of confidence
Avoiding or putting off work tasks
Exhaustion
Lack of interest

If this sounds like you, it’s possible that you’re forcing success without much fulfillment in return. Here’s how you can find success at work without suffering burnout.

#1. Focus On Your Individual Talents And Values

If you’re forcing success at work in a position that isn’t fulfilling, you’re not operating in line with your values. For example, if social connection is essential to you, you shouldn't be working on spreadsheets all day without much human interaction.

It will impact how much fulfillment you feel, because you’re neglecting your talents, values, and aspirations. However, when you identify and prioritize your strengths and values daily, you can tap into a zone of genius and unlock your full potential.

#2. Find Clarity of Work

A lot of people go into work every day and do the same things over and over. When you're not in a fulfilling career, this repetitiveness can lead to a lot of confusion and frustration because:

You don't have any idea of how these actions move you forward
You're not working in line with your values
You don't feel like you're working toward a greater goal or purpose

If you continue this way, over time, you will lose your greater purpose and ambition in the world. You can regain clarity and invest in personal and professional development with activities such as:

Setting short-term and long-term goals
Mind-mapping to realign yourself with your purpose
Creating a vision board to tap into your ambitions, interests, and desires
Consulting with a career development coach

Prioritize your self-growth and before long, you'll feel like you're back in control of your career.

#3. Regain Control Your Professional Development

Do you feel like you’re within reach of your next big success at work, or do you feel your professional goals are always out of reach? The truth is, the carrot and stick methodology that a lot of companies use to keep workers motivated and productive often backfires. Eventually, employees tire of waiting for a raise or promotion and seek out greener pastures.

If you have the ability, regain some control of your growth by requesting a special project or opportunity at work. Alternatively, you can also start working on more professional development on the side to help fuel your ambition and help you feel more in control of your career goals.

#4. Invest More In Your Personal Life

You’ve heard the phrase “don’t bring your work home with you.” Well, the same goes about bringing personal situations into work. When you’re at the office, leave as much of your life at home. Focus on the objectives at hand and separate work from personal matters. Because when there’s conflict in your personal life, it can impact your career progress.

If you bring that personal conflict to the office, it will jeopardize the quality of your work and your reputation. If it's health or emotional pain, consider seeking support and therapy. If it's harder to pinpoint, a sabbatical from your job could help.

#5. Find A Mentor

When you’re not advancing in your career, it can be challenging to identify the exact reason. In those circumstances, it’s beneficial to consult an objective third party about your career progress. They can provide advice about how to find more fulfillment at work, or help you navigate a career change.

You can run your long-term goals by them, coordinate a weekly coffee appointment to talk through challenges, or merely have a Zoom or Slack call where you ask candid questions and get honest responses from someone you trust.

If you don’t already have a mentor, make a short list of everyone you know that inspires and motivates you to be better. You want to connect with people that you know in real life, never a stranger.

#6. Create Community

Work relationships and your respective industry contribute to your well being. If you don’t have a network of peers at work to collaborate and consult with, consider trying to facilitate stronger professional bonds with your coworkers.

If you don’t like the people you work with, or you’re not a cultural fit within your organization, it will lead to dissatisfaction in the workplace or burnout. However, if it's too challenging to connect with your peers, invest in self-awareness exercises to understand what's preventing you from fostering better relationships.

#7: Be Open To Constructive Criticism

It can be difficult to open yourself up to criticism, but it can improve the quality of your work and the outcome of your projects. Ask your supervisor or manager for feedback on projects. Request an early progress review or report. Get as much feedback as possible, take it seriously, and try to improve from it.

The key to real success at work is professional growth and self-awareness. There’s always something you can do improve.

#8. Link Your Work To Your Goals

When you don’t know what you’re striving toward, it’s easy to feel discouraged by your work. However, if you can link your work to your goals, it gives everything you’re doing a purpose. Long-term goals can act as broader, more aggressive goals while short-term goals can help get you there.

When your work is linked to the big picture of where you want to go in life, it brings a level of positivity and fulfillment a lot of people never find.

#9. Get More From Your Workday

When you don’t manage your time effectively during the workday, you will bring it home with you. You won't be able to help it. You didn't get it done at the office, which means you will either be working late or not getting enough done. And when you work unpredictable, erratic hours, there's no opportunity to refresh. Your work will suffer for it.

Instead, plan your day for success. Try to accomplish one significant thing each day. Then, when it's time to go home, leave the office behind. Give yourself enough time to unplug and relax, so you can go in tomorrow feeling well-rested and prepared for the day.

Achieving Long-Term Success At Work

When you see success at work as something that is yours, you can find more joy and fulfillment in it. And when you feel happy at work, it will create a ripple effect. You’ll feel better physically. You’ll have more energy. Your accomplishments at work will feel like wins because you're applying your skills towards a goal or service you feel is worthy.

If you’re struggling to find success at work and have doubts about your path, take our Career Clarity Assessment. We'll provide a score based on your inputs, and help you get on track to finding more long-term fulfillment in your career.