Do YOU have success addiction? Expert reveals what’s driving you to burnout

There is little doubt that work-place burn out is on the rise. 

According to recent research from Future Forum, more than 40 per cent of 10,000 people polled across six countries said they had reached their working limits. 

While another study of 1,000 respondents by Deloitte, showed that 77 per cent were suffering from burnout in their current job.

This stress may be down to overbearing bosses or workloads that are simply too high, but for others, working extremely long hours may be a form of success addiction. 

According to Emma Gannon, 33, a London-based journalist and author of six books, success addiction can take many forms.

Many people spend much of their lives seeking to find success at work – only to find that goal isn’t the only thing that matters (pictured: stock image)

She says it can be about achieving a certain level of wealth, accomplishments or admiration – but more often than not is focused on work. 

Often it can begin with people try and keep up pace to maintain productivity.

But then the initial positive rewards of productivity give way to fear of failing.

Soon enough, work can crowd out relationships and other activities – leaving nothing else but work which reinforces a negative cycle.

Emma said: ‘During the pandemic, we buried ourselves in our work and post-pandemic work burn-out is rife.

‘We wouldn’t go anywhere or see friends. Work was only thing that gave us any satisfaction, but we became addicted to it. 

‘People were doing zooms and calls even when they were ill. Work just came first – and this is a problem.’

Emma Gannon is an author and podcaster and has found herself reevaluating her meaning of success

Emma Gannon is an author and podcaster and has found herself reevaluating her meaning of success

Emma herself suffered from success addiction. 

In her latest book, The Success Myth, Letting Go of Having It All, she explains how the worry of not finding a job caused her to become a workaholic in her twenties. 

‘I am a classic millennial and graduated into a recession, being told I would never get a job,’ she explained. 

‘But then I did manage to get a good job and felt so grateful for it.

‘My success was all about being a perfect version of myself and I got a complete high from being in an open-plan office.’

In her early thirties, Emma then became self-employed, and found herself addicted even more to work and the idea of success.

She recalled: ‘I found myself hustling constantly and working night and day.

‘Work was my whole life and my entire identity revolved around my job.’

Her view of success changed following a successful tour following her second book in 2018 – The Multi-Hyphen Method.

She said: ‘I had just done a talk to 2,000 people. It was everything I had ever dreamed of.

‘I had been chauffeured to the airport in a silent black car with spotless black seats.

‘I was entrepreneurial, glamorous, with Instagram followers, book deals and success.

‘But that night I went back to my hotel room, I felt completely flat and felt incredibly alone.

‘I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen a friend, or remembered a birthday or done something for myself outside of work.  

‘I lowered my head into my hands and sobbed.’

Emma’s life is now her life around her values, having people around her who make her feel good and having her own schedule. 

She said: ‘I don’t even work that hard any more. It’s been a complete change.

‘Now I am much more interested in reading, writing, travelling and seeing my friends.’

Here, Femail brings Emma’s top tips on how to avoid success addiction.   

1. Listen to your body

Our bodies hold a lot of wisdom, and in a Western culture we often ignore them and think our minds rule the roost. Our bodies process so much more information than our brains do. It is therefore able give us clues, as we know emotion is often stored in the body. Often a minor health issue or physical anxiety symptoms can be trying to teach us something. Does your chest feel tight every time you say ‘yes’ but mean ‘no’? Do you ignore your body’s desire for some exercise? Do you feel jittery when you’ve been at your laptop for too long? Tune in, and see what your body is communicating to you.

2. Ask yourself a simple question

Cut to the chase and ask yourself: ‘what do I want?’ Often we follow the straight and narrow and climb a ladder just because everyone around us is. Then we look up and realise we’re not on our right course. When you figure out plainly what you want, you are more likely to get it in a way that feels right. It could be more time for your family, it could be a four-day-week, feeling freer, it could be more time gardening, or working overseas. When you get really clear on this, you can stop doing all the extra stuff that won’t get you there. So: ‘what do you actually want?’

3. Reconnect with childhood you

Children naturally tap into the things that bring them joy and fill them up. Ever seen a child jump in a puddle for the first time? Pure joy and contentment — they aren’t worried about what they’ll be doing next week. When we are addicted to success (or any other substance for that matter) we are losing connection with a part of ourselves that desperately wants to be heard and understood. Treat yourself like you are your own child for the afternoon: wrap yourself up in a blanket, watch Disney+, borrow a dog, do some journalling.

4. Try dopamine dressing

Success addiction can make us feel like we have to impress everyone around us, tapping into the latest trends, buying more, looking the part and feeling like we fit in. Ditch the suit and start ‘dopamine dressing’ instead — a mood-enhancing way of dressing (pick bright, colourful, fun/patterned clothes) that releases dopamine, a chemical released in the brain that makes you feel good. It’s also said to make people feel more confident too – and can help when making big decisions (aka quitting your job or breaking up with someone).

5. Be aware of ‘arrival fallacy’

Coined by psychology expert Tal Ben-Shahar, arrival fallacy is the illusory concept that we will finally ‘arrive’ once we reach a certain goal in life. For example, ‘when I get married, I will be happy forever.’ We know intellectually that this is not true but we can fall into the trap each time. Instead of thinking you’ll ‘be happier when’ realise that we are always in the present moment, so try and enjoy it along the way.

6. Focus on process goals instead of milestone goals

When working on a big project, we can often fantisise about the end goal or get overwhelmed. Process goals are all about making the act of doing itself a goal, rather than only focusing on the outcome. For example if you are working on a novel, a process goal is ‘I’ll do some writing for 15 minutes a day’ whereas a milestone goal is: ‘I’ll win an award for my amazing novel!’ You are more likely to succeed at your process goals and actually enjoy it along the way too.

7. Ignore self-help gurus

There are apps now that help you ‘speed-read’ books and listen to podcasts at lightning speed. An addiction to courses, gurus and self-help can often fuel the success addiction instead of learning to listen to ourselves and our own gut instinct. Next time you go for a walk, why not leave your headphones at home, and see if you can solve your own problem — it’s amazing what you find when you listen to yourself instead of others.

8. Take each day at a time

When addicted to success we can live in the future a lot. Try and live in each day and realise that this is your life — not some magical future, but right now. As author James Clear says try and make your life just 1 per cent better. You don’t have to have the next five years planned out perfectly, you just have make today a little bit better for yourself and the meaningful people in your life. Small steps lead to great things.

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