Trying to continuously beat your competition at work is truly exhausting even for the top women professionals out there. It gets even more difficult when your rivals are your fellow lady-colleagues who are very good at making you feel incompetent in their own “femme fatale” manner! On one hand, this ongoing rivalry weighs you down and makes you lose focus of your goals. On the other hand it pushes you off the edge and puts you under a lot of pressure. Well, it is time to stand up against all of these factors and step up for your own well-being! So how could you detox from this ongoing unhealthy competition at work?
First of all, never allow others to define your priorities. You need to outline your own career objectives and never allow your competition to push you into changing these goals. If your goal is to keep a healthy balance between work and life while enjoying your career doing a job you love, then so be it! The fact that you have colleagues who are only focused on their career and nothing but their career should not make you look down at your way of leading your life.
Remind yourself of what you are doing right, versus what others are exerting too much effort to get accomplished. For some people, it makes perfect sense to leave work every day at 8 pm but this does not make them any more “professional” or “successful” than you! Remember to evaluate yourself as an overall “human being” in the first place; you are not just a working robot!
Secondly, do not let what other people are getting stop you from fighting for what you deserve. There will be times when someone working in the desk next to you gets an opportunity because they are someone’s relative or friend (this is an Egyptian fact so let’s face it). When this happens, don’t stop there and whine for what you could have gotten and focus on what you believe you deserve.
Continue fighting for it without letting the negative impact of occasional disappointments – that are part of being a professional – get in your way. You will get there with your hard work, whether with this employer or another. The loss of an opportunity is not always a bad thing and if you are a true caliber you would want to set your hands on a chance that you earned, not a chance that was bestowed upon you.
Third and most important is to remember to take time off to have fun and detox! I realize that not all of us can afford a holiday whenever we want to, but you always have your evenings and your weekends, make them worthwhile! Take your mind and body off work and treat yourself as nicely as a royal princess! Spend a day at the spa enjoying relaxation time and spoil yourself with different treatments and indulge in new experiences. And, if it is later in the month when you are low on cash, you can always do other fun stuff that do not cost at much! Try to visit a friend that is far from your home and you normally do not visit. Catching up with friends who live far from you and spending a night at home watching movies and eating popcorn beats a night at a lousy café watching Arabic drama and drowning in shisha smoke. Remember to use the weekend as a “Re-charge” time and make the most of it.
The way to detox is not the same for everyone and there isn’t a single manual that we should all follow in order to keep a stable emotional state while we keep our brains on our career targets. This is not some kind of a user’s guide on how every woman should detox, but rather a strong reminder that you need to remember to treat yourself nicely despite professional challenges. And trust me, when those trying to bring you down feel your indifference and cool attitude towards their attempts, they are more likely to stop trying to beat you and will realize that they are better off befriending you or letting you be! It is as easy as this: work – be cool – stay focused – have fun – restart!
