This column is for anyone who is experiencing a feeling of job burnout and needs a hand up.
Everyone who plays the game of work
long enough will find themselves in Isolation Canyon, also known as a “work rut.”
Instead of viewing the experience as negative, be open to all that it can teach you. In the empty, quiet spaces of your career when the phone is not ringing and your inbox isn’t overflowing, you can discover meaningful catalysts for growth and renewal. It is possible to soar higher after experiencing a downturn in your career; we call it “Failing Up.”
We know what it is like to sit alone and wonder if you will ever be called up to play in the big leagues in the game of work again. The answer is a resounding yes!
Your best work will naturally reveal itself when you discover your best self.
The suggestions below serve as a guide to help you develop an invigorating game plan and to discover your natural work rhythm where you can tap into what energizes and inspires you. We can transcend work ruts when we understand that all experiences are unique. Your rut doesn’t resemble anyone else’s. The way you rise up isn’t like how others might.
Our journey out of Isolation Canyon begins with a science lesson and a few insights from poets and masters to make the climb more enjoyable.
You can rise to the top of the mountain after falling into the deepest canyon in life and at work.
Understanding Polarities
We believe that one of the ways to climb out of a work rut is learning about the concept of polarities. A polarity could be seen as two tendencies that appear to be opposed, but actually are interconnected at a deeper level. From another perspective, a polarity is one thing “stretched” in two opposing directions, generally as positive and negative poles. We encourage you to study the mechanics of how polarities work in your life. Complexity is always counter-balanced by simplicity.
This is a simple concept, but it will require you to stretch your brain into new ways of processing and thinking.
Life itself is a field of polarities that are manifest in countless ways. There is burning heat and freezing cold, day and night, etc. It is always relative, with extremes at both ends of the spectrum.
Polarities are not opposites. The South Pole, for example, is really not the opposite of the North Pole. They are two poles of the same planet. The two apparent opposites are connected on a deeper level of truth that transcends both. One polarity cannot be thought of as separate from the other and it is impossible to understand one side of a polarity without having experienced the other. Studying polarities will help you to understand that falling into a work rut is an opportunity to develop, learn, and grow.
Polarity expert Michael Sternfeld describes this process in daily life, “The day doesn’t lament when it gives way to night, because it knows there is a natural rhythm between the two, and its “day in the sun” will return. Whenever we feel stretched between two apparent opposites, remember, there is an inevitable ebb and flow between the two fields that will unfold. In fact, we actually grow by shifting to the deeper level of order or truth that encompasses these seemingly irreconcilable opposites. Polarities, then, are not really a problem, for some of our best growth actually emerges from them!”
This perspective is mirrored in a famous quote by Rumi: “There is a field between right and wrong, I will meet you there.” For the longest time, we thought the poem was about meeting other people in the field. A defining moment came when we realized Rumi might be talking about meeting our best self in the field.
This quote is the grand-daddy of all the great polarities: right-wrong, win-lose, loss-gain. We imagine the person who is waiting in the “center field” of the polarity. Perhaps this movement between right and wrong, loss and gain is the field of your best self.
On this field, your best self is asking you to show up, participate, and create what you were destined for. It doesn’t ask you to make a lot of money or achieve status. It’s much more important. Your best self is asking you to remember what you were born for.
We all have a tendency to detour onto other people’s fields. Stay off other people’s grass. No judging! Getting out of a rut doesn’t include judging your company, your boss, your colleagues, or the situation.
Remain on your own field and focus on what is possible. The only person you should compare yourself to, compete with, or try to be better than is the person you were yesterday. Your best self is remarkable and unique, and so is everyone else’s. “Until you wholeheartedly believe in your own value, there will always be a void in your spirit,” proclaims Iyanla Vanzant, bestselling author of Peace from Broken Pieces.
Polarities That Help You Out of Your Rut
Defending/Offending Polarity: Know who you are, what you stand for, and why. “People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character,” wrote poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. What makes you unique is your greatest asset. No two people are exactly alike. Everyone is on their own polarity path and just as you move off center from time to time, so will they.
Positive/Negative Polarity: “There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. The BIG question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty YES to your adventure!” said author Joseph Campbell. Obstacles can be viewed as learning tools that can help us determine what we really want and what is worth working hard and fighting for.
Rugged Individualist/Team Player Polarity: Great team players are also incredible rugged individualists. “When you give another the freedom to follow their path, you’ll discover what your true path has always been,” said David Paul Doyle. E Pluribus Unum: When we work together as a team we are better than the sum of our parts. Strong individuals make the best team players in the long run.
Old/Young Polarity: “Today is the oldest you’ve ever been, and the youngest you’ll ever be again,” said Eleanor Roosevelt. Make the most of every day and experience.
The Defining Moment
The defining moment (center-field of the polarity) comes in understanding that a canyon is just an upside-down mountain – another polarity. A rut can be your mountain, your finest hour, and your saving grace or it can be perceived as a huge hole of regret, blame, and despair.
Ruts are part of the path and the journey. When we return on the other side of an experience, we are changed. It is inevitable. The path marks us and our footprints mark it. “I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then,” said Lewis Carroll.
Martha Beck stated that, “Every time a catalytic event forces you to let go of your identity, you have the chance to go on a vision quest.” You choose the petroglyphs – how you will be remembered, your life, your story.
Sometimes we need a jolt/wake-up call. Face what haunts you and overcome it. When you climb to the top of the obstacle that is blocking your view, you are able to look at your situation from a different perspective. The physical climb can get your heart pumping again.
In the humility born in the heart of falling into the rut, we can become understanding, whole, wise, and free. “ When you enter a dark cave, you either take the next step, or you’ll learn to fly ,” according to a Native American Proverb.
Viewing life as a polarity hopefully makes the canyons (your ruts) as interesting and adventurous as the top of the mountain. We have known both at our company, Fishbowl, and we know that the secret is to just keeping swimming. Our definition of swimming is: Try a little bit harder each day to do a little bit better. All of us can do this or at least try to.
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