The most exhausting thing in life is being insincere. Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Insincerity could take many forms; be it succumbing to laziness, being unfaithful, remaining ungrateful, lacking earnestness or simply being tardy and casual in what we do. Simply put insincerity is being disloyal. When objectively analyzed, the act of being insincere takes a lot of effort simply because it goes against the natural mindset and nature of the average human behavior. All human beings are born with the seeds of goodness in them and it is only those influences and circumstances that we are exposed to that occasionally negative influence our thoughts and makes us deviant in our ways. Insincerity is one such deviant way in which the human being traverses during his earthly life.
Laziness is the one ill that plagues each one of us in varying degrees. Given a choice we would be happier to sit and do nothing provided we get all the comforts and luxuries of life. To avoid any kind of hard work, we attempt to automate it, delegate it or find short cuts in doing it. Automation will work for repetitive and mechanical jobs but at a high cost. It is delegation and short cuts that could prove to be the bigger stumbling block and make us pay for our insincerity to our tasks for it could be inefficiently executed by others or the short cuts could give us disastrous results. In either case we could end up exhausted attempting to redo the task under severe time constraints and supervisory pressures.
Being unfaithful to a commitment, a task or a relationship is just as stressful partly because it means that we have to wrestle with our conscience and mainly because we still have to deliver the goods. In effect what this means is that we would have to fulfill our commitments, ensure that the tasks on hand are executed to the highest possible standards and maintain a healthy and balanced relationship. If we are not aligned to these goals, our insincerity will create stress because we have to keep balancing between the reality and the optimum. Similarly, when we are fortunate to have the benefit of family friends and strangers who may have supported us in various ways, courtesy and decency demand that we are grateful for all they do and if possible at least return them the favor. Either because of our embarrassment or because of our preoccupation or simply because we do not want to acknowledge their support it is possible that we avoid, evade or ignore those to whom we owe a debt. The unfortunate part is that then we will have to wrestle with our conscience and sense of decency all the time and this can be extremely exhausting.
For the vast majority of us, work that we do not like, tasks that we do not enjoy, assignments thrust upon us against our will all generate a sense of antipathy and we rebel by being tardy, disinterested, casual and uncommitted to it. The result is shoddy work, incomplete work, plenty of excuses and the underlying fear that our lack of effort or lack of interest will be very visible and possibly be a point of disagreement and reprimand. This creates anxiety within us and there is both physical and mental exhaustion.
Remember: “No man can produce great things who is not thoroughly sincere in dealing with himself” James Russell Lowell
Try this:
- In your current work profile outline 3 tasks that you would ideally not like to do but are forced to do since it forms part of your work profile. Ask yourself how sincerely you do that task. What are your ways of coping with these tasks that you would if possible avoid. Do these tasks exhaust you more as compared to your regular routine job?
- All of us are guilty of one or more of the forms of insincerity. Identify the ones you are most prone to and honestly evaluate how taxing it is. Are there alternatives to cope with it? Why have you not resorted to those alternatives?
This post is courtesy www.actspot.com
You are also invited to visit our WEEKLY Inspirational and Motivational Blog www.poweract.blogspot.com
