“What if I am not good enough, if I work less?”

He has a higher level of education than most. He has achieved a lot in his life and works at a company that many would love to work at. In addition, he is a caring and loving person who speaks several languages after having lived and worked in many different countries.

He works far more than the normal 40 hours a week. Cutting down feels impossible, he barely manages to do his work as it is.

I know all of this because I have the privilege to coach him and other leaders throughout a year.

During one of our interesting talks, he softly said:

“What if I am not good enough if I work less?”

 

It doesn’t matter how accomplished we are, the feeling of not being good enough is shared by many. Regardless of what we achieve, regardless of how much we do the things we believe are expected from us.

He is not the only one who works excessively to compensate some imaginary inadequacy.

It is time for all of us to stop equating spending many hours doing something with delivering great value.

I am not saying that someone who works 40 hours a week does better work than someone who works 60 hours a week. But I am saying that the opposite is not true either. It’s simply not that simple.

It is not about how many hours we work; it is about how we use the hours.

Great ideas come when we are relaxed.

Great value is often created when we collaborate with others.

Having fun together with your colleagues on the journey towards the deadlines lead to better results.

All of that requires energy and peace of mind.

Not hours.

Dare to work less hours.

Dare to believe you are good enough.

Why?

Because you are.