It seems the conversation around maximising our productivity, becoming ‘that girl’ and documenting an impeccable 5 - 9 am routine, before your 9 - 5 pm, is louder than ever. At times, it feels as though society is encouraging us to split our soul into seven pieces, yet thankfully the counter conversation for building stronger personal boundaries and being more compassionate with ourselves feels like it’s starting to tip the balance.
I had the pleasure of getting stuck into Emma Gannon’s latest Sunday Times bestseller: ‘The Success Myth’, whilst away from my desk and general day-to-day noise, for a long weekend – the ideal time for reflection.
Reading ‘The Success Myth’ felt as though I was having a conversation with my wiser, older sister (if I had one), relaying that certain thoughts and fears needn’t manifest into feeling like the world is on my shoulders. As things go, I think I’m fairly well equipped at setting out my boundaries with others and the wider world, but of course we are only human, and moments of comparison can rear its head occasionally, so it’s important we can take some time for inward reflection.
After Gannon’s extensive career and thriving personal life, she relays how after seemingly looking as though she ‘had it all’, there was an underlying feeling of unfulfillment and discontentment. Both reflecting on her own career and interviewing a sizable list of successful people, Gannon’s Success Myth buster lays out how to set one's own realistic life goals, teaching us the importance of living a more present life without comparison, and reiterating that the grass often isn’t greener, no matter how much society has drilled it into us that it is.
Emma shares insight at the end of each chapter, summarising digestible take-home actions to implement to help ease these possible stresses, so not to feel as though we are just another cog, but instead having greater ownership over our long-term goals, rather than those we feel like we ought to be following.
I found The Success Myth greatly thought provoking, providing an opportunity for internal conversation and how to better understand my own idea of success and what that might look like for me - highly recommend.
