Latest / The Humanistic Leader Podcast- Dr. Craig Nathanson / The Achievement Treadmill: Live Today, Not Someday

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The Achievement Treadmill: Live Today, Not Someday · The Humanistic Leader Podcast- Dr. Craig Nathanson

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  Welcome to the Humanistic Leader podcast. This is Dr.
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  Craig Nathanson, and in today's short reflection, I want to invite you to slow
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  down for a few moments and think more deeply about leadership,
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  life, work, and what it means to remain human in a rapidly changing world.
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  Today, I want to talk about the life you're actually living now.
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  You know, many of us spend a surprisingly amount of time preparing for life.
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  We prepare for the next promotion, the next vacation, the next project,
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  the next degree, the next phase of life, and even the next version of ourselves.
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  Sometimes we become so focused on what comes next that we forget what is happening right now.
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  We begin treating today like a waiting room.
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  So the achievement treadmill works like this. We tell ourselves fulfillment
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  is just waiting beyond the next accomplishment, the next promotion,
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  the next degree, the next financial milestone, the next chapter.
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  For just a brief moment, we feel satisfied, and then the feeling fades,
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  and a new goal appears, and a new challenge emerges.
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  A new version of success begins to call our name.
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  Many people spend years running on what I call the achievement treadmill.
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  You know, back in 2015, I created a model. I called it the Joyful Work Model.
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  And the first stage is a treadmill. You know, a lot of us do things that we
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  have to, not because we want to.
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  This relates to work for many of us.
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  And then something happens Something happens to cause us To temporarily fall off the treadmill,
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  I call this a trigger event It could be big or small It could be something really
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  serious Like a death in the family It could be something small Like,
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  you know, you just feel a little bit uncomfortable,
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  But most important is When you have the trigger event.
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  You don't just go back to the treadmill. You don't just jump up and say,
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  wow, that was painful. Now I'll go back to where I was.
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  No, we use the trigger event to move forward to what I call stage three, which is reflection.
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  Reflection can take an hour, a day, a month, a year, but it's important that
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  we use a process for reflection.
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  All the way back in 2001, I created the 10P model as just one way For people,
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  to go through personal reflection,
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  If you could do reflection You don't want to give up and go back to the treadmill
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  That moves you forward to stage 4 Which is what I call change And normally it takes big change,
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  To change things in our life that are important to us And if we could do that,
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  we end up at stage 5 Which I call a new beginning Where all of a sudden.
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  Life just looks different We become more comfortable with our soul With ourselves,
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  So many people spend years running on this achievement treadmill.
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  And, you know, there's nothing wrong with wanting achievement in our lives.
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  There's nothing wrong with ambition.
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  But in fact, growth is, you know, part of being human.
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  The danger comes, however, when achievement becomes our primary source of meaning.
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  No accomplishment can permanently provide, you know, what only presence can provide.
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  So if we're not careful, we spend decades climbing mountains only to discover
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  what we missed much of this landscape along the way.
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  I like to tell my students, you know, sometimes we want to climb the corporate ladder.
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  And then later in life, we realize the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall for us.
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  So perhaps success is not only about reaching destinations. Perhaps success
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  is also about learning how to appreciate the journey while we're still traveling.
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  Many of us are taught to think this way from a very young age.
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  Work hard now, enjoy life later. Sacrifice now, relax later.
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  Push now, you know, rest later.
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  There is wisdom and discipline, but there is also a hidden danger.
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  We can become so accustomed to postponing joy that we no longer know how to
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  experience it when it arrives.
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  I remember a few years ago taking a walk and my mind was so preoccupied with
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  planning for the future that all of a sudden I realized I missed where I was even walking.
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  So life is happening now. Not next year, not after retirement,
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  not after every problem is solved This ordinary day, this cup of coffee, this conversation,
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  this walk, this quiet moment We're looking for fireworks while life keeps offering
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  candles We're looking for milestones while life keeps offering moments,
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  I sometimes wonder if life speaks in whispers, not in dramatic announcements,
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  but in small moments that ask us to really pay attention.
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  You know, a conversation that stays with us, a feeling we cannot quite explain,
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  a moment of gratitude, a walk, a sunrise, a quiet morning before the world wakes up.
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  So perhaps becoming deeply human means becoming better at hearing those whispers.
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  You know, many of the moments that matter most never make headlines,
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  and yet somehow they become the story of our lives.
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  Like this sudden realization during my walk.
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  That life is happening now, and I should enjoy this moment now.
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  The quality of our lives is often shaped, I think, less by extraordinary events
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  and more by our ability to notice just the ordinary ones.
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  The older I get, the less convinced I am that a meaningful life is built from
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  a handful of these extraordinary moments.
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  I think it is built from thousands of just ordinary ones, you know, noticefully.
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  I was teaching recently in China. I was at a small little restaurant,
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  reading the news and just relaxing. And all of a sudden, my phone rang,
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  which was strange. I rarely get calls when I'm in China.
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  And normally, I would just ignore it, you know, spam, costly call coming in.
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  For some reason, my intuition told me to answer the call. And I'm glad I did.
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  It was my son. He needed help.
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  I dropped everything. I helped him and felt good about this, you know, later.
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  Later that same evening, I was walking around the block from my hotel,
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  and out of nowhere, I suddenly felt this, like, rush of happiness.
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  And instead of analyzing why I was feeling this way, I just decided to enjoy it and not analyze it.
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  So today, I want to leave you with a simple question. What part of your life
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  are you postponing until later?
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  And what would happen if you experienced a little more of it right now, today?
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  Recently, I had a few students on my last trip invite me to dinner.
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  Normally, I would decline it so I could rest and go back alone to my hotel.
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  Well, I accepted the invitation, and I had a great time, and I followed my own advice.
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  So again, I ask you, what would happen if you experienced a little more of your
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  life that you might be postponing today?
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  Because the life you're actually living deserves your attention.
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  Not someday, today This is Dr.
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  Craig Nathanson Wherever you are on your journey Remember to be your own best
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  friend Learn to lead yourself before leading others And keep becoming more human
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  in a rapidly changing world Until next time.