People always love to be appreciated by their colleagues, friends, and family. In simple terms, people always love to be recognised.
In today’s world, most people are driven by their work. They want to be recognised for the work they do.
People always expect their boss or colleagues to appreciate them for the work they do, but the truth is, they never realize that seeking recognition can be the greatest impediment to their growth.
There is a saying in the Bhagavat Gita: Do your work responsibly and don’t expect any outcome from it.
Any form of expectation can be injurious to our mental health; likewise, seeking recognition is a kind of harmful expectation that sabotages our competence and makes us lose interest in our work.
It’s important that we be true to our hearts and don’t worry about what other’s think of us.
We have to validate ourselves, which is a very healthy act that most people never do.
In the act of seeking recognition, we expect the external world to validate us, which is not going to do us any good.
As humans, we all have unique talents and powers by which we can serve humanity, but what we do is run behind external validation, which we feel makes us worthy.
But you know what? That is not the truth.
Our worth is what we think about ourselves, and no one else can determine that. Our worth is determined by how selfless we are; it’s focusing on what we can do to serve without expecting any appreciation or recognition.
Seeking external validation at a point that numbs us, paralyzes us, and makes us stay within a limit, unable to think beyond the box, hinders us from seeking innumerable opportunities one can explore to work and serve humanity.
This life is very limited, and it’s a waste of time and energy to seek recognition, which literally sabotages one’s emotional health and limits us from expanding our skills and potential.
I realized this life lesson when I watched a spy thriller movie in which the spy took the blame for the betrayal of a traitor but never stopped working for the welfare of his country, even though the whole country called him a traitor.
In the end, when the protagonist asked him why you accepted yourself as a traitor, the people may not know what you have done for this country.
He says…
The people’s appreciation and recognition for me don’t determine who I am; I am determined by the good consequences of my fruitful act.
Don’t expect any outcomes from your work; work with passion and selflessness; seek inner satisfaction, which gives you more pleasure than external validation.
If you work for recognition, you will never be satisfied with your life.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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From The Good Men Project on Medium
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Photo credit: Robert Linder on Unsplash
