Hiring a workaholism coach in Toronto can prevent many problems.
I didn’t do that and destroyed my relationships, business growth, and happiness.
Today, I’ll break down my workaholism mistakes so that you don’t repeat them.
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My first business
I started my first business with my best friend Oleg in 2005.
It was a Russian translation agency.
At that moment, we were both working as translators at another agency.
I kept asking my boss for more work but it never materialized.
So I suggested that my friend and I leave to create our own agency.
We did so and oh boy, we were lucky!
From day one, we had more work than we could handle, so we never looked back.
And we worked a lot, typically 12 to 18 hours 7 days per week.
I loved it and wanted to translate each text myself.
- I loved running my own business. It felt liberating so I felt motivated to work a lot.
- I loved the challenge of doing large projects. I wanted to set performance records.
- As a perfectionist, I didn’t trust others to do the job as well as I could.
I felt happy and never suspected that I was in for a crash a few months later.
#1: Workaholism destroyed my opportunities for growing the business.
Because I worked a lot, I performed well as an employee but terribly as a business owner.
Bogged down by work, I never had time to think about growing our business.
I focused on performance records, working myself to death.
But my partner had more of an entrepreneur mindset.
He wanted to bring in other Russian translators to work for us.
Another smart idea he had was to build a team of consultants that could help us run our agency more efficiently.
But I sabotaged our growth by rejecting those ideas.
#2: Workaholism destroyed my relationships.
Business relationship
Because I focused on work too much, our business relationship deteriorated.
We didn’t talk enough since I was busy translating all the time.
I saw talking to him as a distraction that would prevent me from setting new performance records.
We also used to be good friends and spent time together outside of work.
My workaholism put an end to our friendship as well.
When he offered to hang out, I would refuse.
I even resented it because to me, it meant he wasn’t 100% committed to working.
I felt I had to lead by example: work more instead of “wasting time” on leisure.
Intimate relationship
Another relationship that took a hit was the one I had with my girlfriend.
I put her on the back-burner: whenever I could choose work over her, I would do so.
We were lucky if we got one date a week.
It’s okay when a man’s work is important to him but I overdid it.
She felt lonely and resorted to drama to get my attention.
That was bad for our relationship.
One example was how she used this as a reason for us to move in together.
This wasn’t right for us at that point because I wasn’t mature enough to do that.
But she insisted since she saw it as the only way for us to see more of each other.
That’s how I self-sabotaged my relationship with her, finding myself in a “Catch 22” situation.
I couldn’t reject her offer, even though I knew it wasn’t good for us.
#3: Workaholism destroyed my ability to enjoy life.
My excessive focus on work caused me to see everything else as a distraction:
- I used to like video games and read about them but now I didn’t.
- I used to play and watch soccer but not anymore.
- I used to work out and be muscular but I stopped and lost weight.
I felt something changing me—psychologically and even biochemically.
I didn’t feel happy when I wasn’t working.
My workaholism created a happiness barrier in my head.
It didn’t allow me to enjoy things like I used to.
Say, I had been able to enjoy a movie at a level 9 out of 10.
But now I could enjoy movies only at a level 3 or 4.
Not because I was thinking of work.
But because this barrier in my mind gained strength of its own.
And now I had to dismantle it.
My advice as a workaholism coach in Toronto
Having had these experiences, this is what I explain to my coaching clients:
Tip 1: Be grateful.
Being a workaholic is a good reason to pat yourself on the back.
There is nothing wrong with liking hard work.
Many people hate their work so you and I are lucky.
Tip 2: Awareness is good.
It’s a good thing that you recognize your self-sabotage.
An executive coach Suzie Doscher explains that awareness of your self-sabotage is crucial:
Being open and honest with myself helped me acknowledge that I was standing in my own way.
Realizing you have a problem is a big step toward resolving it.
Tip 3: Put extra attention on time management.
As a workaholic, you need to set aside time for three things:
- Your relationships. That’s one of the biggest sources of happiness that you can’t ignore.
- Small tasks. If you ignore them in favor of more important work, they will pile up and bite you.
- Something you enjoy (to relieve stress). As a workaholic, if you don’t allow yourself any joy, you might lose the ability to enjoy life altogether.
Tip 4: Learn to work both smart and hard.
If you don’t work hard enough, your half-hearted approach will never bring results.
But if you don’t work smart, you might end up doing meaningless work.
The solution is to hit the sweet spot by working both smart and hard.
Asking for help
Another effective method is working through other people or simply asking for help.
When I get work done through other people, I love it and feel inspired to do it even more.
That helps me stop the urge to do everything myself.
And this approach also has other benefits:
- I work through other people.
- It builds my confidence.
- People who help me are more likely to want to build a relationship with me.
Break down your walls with a workaholism coach in Toronto
If you live in Toronto, I can coach you in-person to help with workaholism.
Or we can meet in an online session.
We’ll design a balanced lifestyle where you won’t have to sacrifice life for work.
And you’ll enjoy every moment of your life without guilt or regret.
Book a free introductory session with me here.