445: How Much You Accomplish Does Not Determine How Valuable You Are A Podcast For Accountants And High-Stress Professionals
445: How Much You Accomplish Does Not Determine How Valuable You Are A Podcast For Accountants And High-Stress Professionals
If you’re an accountant, CPA, bookkeeper, tax preparer, business owner, or other high-stress professional, there’s something I know for sure. Having spent over 20 years in accounting and owning my own business, I know we’re really good at getting things done. We meet deadlines, we solve problems, we take care of our clients, we answer the emails, we handle emergencies, we make the numbers work. And when something needs to get done, we’re often the person other people know they can count on. That’s a good thing, but sometimes there’s a downside to being really good at getting things done. You can start to believe that how much you accomplish determines how valuable you are. And when that happens, slowing down can feel uncomfortable for you. Taking a day off can feel irresponsible. Having an unproductive day can make you feel guilty. And sometimes, even when you’re doing a great job, you still feel like you’re not doing enough. So today I want to talk about something that I think is underneath a lot of the pressure high-stress professionals experience. Let’s dive in…
Whether you’re an accountant, CPA, bookkeeper, tax preparer, business owner, or other high-stress professional, this episode will give you practical ideas you can use to think more clearly, respond more intentionally, and get more out of life.
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If you’re an accountant, CPA, bookkeeper, tax preparer, business owner, or other high-stress professional, there’s something I know for sure. Having spent over 20 years in accounting and owning my own business, I know we’re really good at getting things done. We meet deadlines, we solve problems, we take care of our clients, we answer the emails, we handle emergencies, we make the numbers work. And when something needs to get done, we’re often the person other people know they can count on. That’s a good thing, but sometimes there’s a downside to being really good at getting things done. You can start to believe that how much you accomplish determines how valuable you are. And when that happens, slowing down can feel uncomfortable for you. Taking a day off can feel irresponsible. Having an unproductive day can make you feel guilty. And sometimes, even when you’re doing a great job, you still feel like you’re not doing enough. So today I want to talk about something that I think is underneath a lot of the pressure high-stress professionals experience. Let’s dive in…
Welcome Back…Did you know that your productivity is something you do, and it’s not who you are? Learning to separate those two things can completely change the way you lead yourself under pressure. I want you to think about how often you describe yourself by what you do. Maybe you say, I’m an accountant, I’m a CPA, I’m a business owner, I’m a partner, I’m a manager, I’m responsible for this, I’m the one who handles that. And there’s nothing wrong with any of that. But sometimes our identity starts to get tied to our performance. I’m successful because I’m productive. I’m valuable because people need me. I’m responsible because I always get things done. I’m good at what I do because I can handle a lot. And then something interesting happens. The moment you aren’t productive, you don’t just think I didn’t get as much done today. You start thinking something like, What’s wrong with me? Maybe you’ve had a long day, and you decide you’re going to stop working. But instead of relaxing, you’re thinking about the things you didn’t finish. You take a vacation, but you’re constantly checking your email. You sit down to watch a movie, but you’re thinking about tomorrow’s deadlines. You have a quiet Saturday, and instead of enjoying it, you feel like you should be doing something. Or maybe you finally have a day when you don’t have a long list of things to accomplish, and instead of feeling relieved, you feel guilty. That’s a sign that productivity may have become more than something you do. It may have become part of how you measure yourself.
The problem isn’t that you care about your work. I want to be really clear about something. I’m not suggesting that you should care less about your career. I’m not telling you to stop being ambitious. I’m not saying deadlines don’t matter. They do. Your clients matter, your business matters, your employees matter, your family matters. Your responsibilities matter. The problem isn’t caring about those things. The problem is believing that your worth rises and falls based on how well you’re performing at any given moment. Because if you believe that, there’s no finish line. You can always do more. There is always another client, another email, another deadline, another goal, another problem to solve, and another person who needs something from you. And even when you succeed, your brain quickly moves on to the next thing. You finish the tax return. What’s next? You hit your revenue goal. What’s next? You get through your busy season. What’s next? You finally clean out your inbox. What’s next? You accomplish something you’ve been working toward for months, and instead of allowing yourself to feel proud, you immediately start thinking about what you haven’t done yet. That’s exhausting. And it’s one reason successful people can sometimes feel like they’re failing.
You can be successful without constantly proving it. Here’s a question I’d like you to think about. What if you didn’t have to constantly prove that you’re successful? What if you could have a productive day without needing to have a perfect day? What if you could make a mistake without deciding that it says something about you? What if you could take time off without needing to earn it first? What if you could rest without having to justify it? What if you could have a day where you didn’t accomplish much and still go to bed believing that you’re okay? That’s a very different way of living. And for some high-stress professionals, it can feel surprisingly uncomfortable at first because you’ve probably spent years being rewarded for doing more. School rewarded you for getting the right answers. Your career rewarded you for being dependable. Your clients rewarded you for solving problems for them. Your business rewarded you for working hard. And over time, you may have learned that if I work harder, I am more valuable. But that isn’t the only way to measure a life.
You are a person before you are a professional. One of the things I want you to remember is that you are a person before you are an accountant. Before you’re a CPA, before you’re a business owner, before you’re a manager, before you’re the person everyone calls when something goes wrong. You are a person. You have relationships, you have interests, you have things you’re curious about. You have experiences you want to have. You have people you love. You have a body that needs rest. You have a life that is happening outside of your work. And sometimes, especially during demanding seasons in your life, it’s easy to forget that. You start thinking, I’ll get back to my life when things slow down. But if you’ve been listening to me for a while, you know things don’t always slow down on their own. There’s always another busy season, another deadline, another client issue, another project, and another goal. So if you’re waiting for the perfect time to start enjoying your life, you may end up waiting a very long time.
This is where leading yourself comes in. This is one of the reasons I created The RE*INVENTION™ Process. It starts with Think. Respond. And Live. Today I want to apply that framework specifically to the way you think about your own productivity and worth. Start by noticing the thoughts you have about productivity. Maybe it’s something like, I should be doing more, I didn’t get enough done today, I can’t stop until everything is finished, Everyone else seems to handle this better than I do, if I slow down, I’ll fall behind, I need to be more productive, or I should be able to handle this. I don’t want you to judge those thoughts. Just notice them, because you can’t change a pattern you haven’t noticed. Next, I want you to ask yourself, what am I making my productivity mean about me? This is a powerful question. Maybe you’re making it mean that you’re responsible. Maybe you’re making it mean that you’re successful. Maybe you’re making it mean that you’re worthy. Maybe you’re making it mean that you’re a good employee, business owner, parent, spouse, or professional. And if that’s true, it’s worth questioning. Because your accomplishments can be evidence of what you’ve done, but they don’t have to be evidence of your worth as a human being.
Once you notice the thought you’re thinking, you get to decide what you want to do with it. Instead of automatically responding to the thought, I didn’t get enough done today, you might say, I accomplished what mattered most today, and I can continue tomorrow. Instead of thinking I should be working right now, you might say, I’m choosing to be present with my family right now. Instead of thinking, I haven’t done enough to deserve a break, you might say, Rest isn’t something I have to earn. This isn’t about pretending everything is fine. It’s about choosing a more useful thought for you because the way you talk to yourself affects the way you show up in life.
And then there’s the final part. Live. What do you want your life to actually contain? Not just your career. Not just your accomplishments, your life. Who do you want to spend time with? What experiences do you want to have? What have you been putting off? What would you do if you weren’t constantly trying to get caught up? What would you make room for if you stopped believing that your value depended on how much you accomplished? These questions matter because the goal isn’t to become less successful. The goal is to stop sacrificing your entire life in order to feel successful.
Here’s a simple experiment I want you to try this week. At the end of each workday this week, instead of asking, what didn’t I get done? I want you to ask yourself these three questions. First, what did I accomplish today that mattered? Not everything, just what mattered. Second, what am I choosing to leave for tomorrow? You’re not failing because something remains unfinished. You’re making a decision about where your attention goes next. And third, what do I want to do with the rest of my day? Not, what should I do. Not what else can I accomplish. But what do I want to do? Maybe it’s dinner with your family. Maybe it’s a walk. Maybe it’s reading. Maybe it’s going to the gym or doing absolutely nothing. It could be calling a friend, or simply sitting on the couch and watching television without checking your email. Whatever it is, practice letting yourself be a person, not a productivity machine.
What I really want you to take away from this episode is that you don’t have to earn your right to enjoy your life by accomplishing enough first. You don’t have to finish the list. You don’t have to answer every email. You don’t have to solve every problem. You don’t have to prove that you’re valuable by being constantly busy. You can care deeply about your career and still care deeply about your life. You can be ambitious and still rest. You can be successful and still say, that’s enough for today. And you can be proud of what you’ve accomplished without making your accomplishments responsible for how you feel about yourself. Because you are more than what you get done, and your life is more than your work. You can’t always reduce the workload that’s causing the pressure in your life. You can’t always control the deadlines. You can’t always control what your clients need or what happens at work, but you can change how you lead yourself through it. And sometimes leading yourself means recognizing that you don’t need to accomplish one more thing before you’re allowed to live your life. So the next time you catch yourself thinking, I should be doing more. Pause, take a breath, and ask yourself, what if I don’t need to prove anything right now. Then ask yourself, what matters most to me in this moment. And lead yourself toward that.
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