Are you trapped on the midlife plateau?

by Lionel Wijesiri

Job burnout is widespread today - especially among high-achievers. One could say it's an epidemic in the modern workplace. How do we slay this burnout beast? There are three primary weapons at our disposal, but first we need to understand exactly what it is we're up against.

According to the modern psychologists, job burnout is a response to work stress that leaves you feeling powerless, hopeless, fatigued, drained, and frustrated. It is a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job.

In today's hyper-competitive (and ailing) economy, we can easily fall prey to burnout that comes from information overload, 'perpetual busyness', and constantly racing against the clock.

So how do we slay this beast?

"My life is boring," complains one 47-year-old man working as a senior sales executive in our company."Every morning I get up and go to work and come home. When I get home it's the same old routine - I read the paper, eat supper, do some work, watch TV and go to bed. Then I get up and I go to work again."

"Work used to be exciting - but now I've gone as far as I'm going to go. What am I going to do with the rest of my life? I hate the thought that it's going to be like this forever. "

This man is plateaued - not going anywhere - and he is feeling trapped. He doesn't know how to break out of his rut and he is afraid. But if he can accept the fact that he is at the end of a phase, he is in aposition to begin a new one. And what he stands to gain is the rest ofhis life.

For many of us, work is the basis of our identity and self-esteem - which is fine as long as we are successful. But mastery of the work may also bring feelings of tedium; dentists tire of filling molars, teachers become bored with teaching seven-year-olds, lawyers get weary of legal cases. When this happens, there is a good chance of feeling like the man I've just described. Although different strategies work for different people, there are courses of action that can take us all off that plateau.

Take the initiative

Plateaued people often tell me, "I do my job and I just hope that something will turn up." If you wait for superiors or fate to create opportunities, you give others too much power over what happens to you. It's your responsibility to say what you want.

You know your competencies better than anyone. You are in a unique position to make a case for yourself, to initiate the redesign of your work so that it's more challenging. Think about the aspects of your work that give you intrinsic satisfaction, and develop them. Then speak up, and ask for a change. While you are unlikely to get everything you want, you are more likely to get something than you are if you don't speak up.

Changing careers

A second career is a major throw of the dice. But for those prepared to take the risk, it may be the best choice of all.

Ajith had been working in corporate sector all his life, and his wife, Dilrukshi, was a secretary. Both of them weren't aware of how repetitive their lives had become until all the children married and left home; but once they realised their lives had slid into comfortable boredom, they agreed to do something about it.

After some lengthy discussions, they decided to start a bed-and-breakfast place. It would be work they could share, they liked people, and they enjoyed entertaining. They'd really be starting all over. But that, in fact, was exactly what they were looking for.

Once they knew what they wanted, the rest was relatively easy. They learned a lot in the first six months and they're still learning. They're also working 12 hours a day, and that is perfectly in order with them. Dilrukshi and Ajith have moved off their plateau. Today they are happy.

Return to learning

Continuous learning is what you need for continuous challenge. You can upgrade and extend your job skills, or follow shifting career interests to improve the likelihood of doing new work.

In work, the pace of change is continuously accelerating, and opportunities will be seized by people whose capacity to learn, whose ability to adapt and anticipate, keeps apace. Learning, like any other skill, takes practice.

Use skills in a different way

Plateaued people unable to change their jobs need to use their knowledge and skills in different ways that feel significant. One way to be productive is to become involved in your community. The volunteer sector can be as gratifying as your professional work if you approach it with the same kind of commitment.

Participation in the community offers opportunities to wrestle with different issues, to have hands-on experience, to be creative, to exert leadership and to make a visible difference. It is another place where leadership and wisdom can be used.

Time that you take for yourself is important. Being able mentally to leave the stress of work and relax is necessary for creativity.

Here is one parting note. The most important change in terms of priorities is creating a balance between your personal and professional lives. If there is a significant imbalance, the chances are that you won't do terribly well in either sector.

No one can or should tell you what to do with your life. Periodically, you yourself must evaluate it. And I am confident that when you evaluate alternatives, make choices and initiate changes, you will increase your sense of confidence and control. It is only when you take the initiative that you can control your life. That's what you're going for; it's the essence of being able to slay the burnout beast.