Burnout is becoming more and more common. Statistics, especially among women, have shown a dramatic increase in employees that feel burned out or close to burnout. Women reported higher levels of burnout than men at 46% over men’s 37%. (CNBC). Focusing in on the WEST community event further, 82% of employees in tech feel close to burnout (spill). With such high levels of burnout, it leads to the question: “How did we get here in the first place?”
The answers can vary, but a lot of them start with how we define success. Success has become a very status-related ideal. The success many are chasing has more to do with high income levels or impressive titles in impressive fields. But what we should really be asking is: “Who is defining our success, and do we actually agree with that definition?” Quite often we can find ourselves chasing dreams that aren’t even our own.
That’s what Rimi Chakraborty found. After chasing the traditional metrics of success, and achieving them, she found herself wondering why she’d been fooled by the ever elusive dangling carrot of “MORE.” After gaining clarity on her core values, she realized she was chasing someone else’s dream. She left a star-studded corporate career that hadn’t left her happily ever after and instead spent the last decade pursuing a version of success that not only uses the skills she has developed, but leverages her passions for connecting people to their authentic selves.
Her upcoming workshop for WEST: “Rise & Thrive: Visioning Tools to go From Stress to Success to Achieve Your Dreams,” is rooted in the research she has done and practices she has developed that help burned out employees tap into their wiser self, support their rational thinking with engaging the default mode network. This network within our brains is most active when we are taking part in creative or imaginative tasks or while we’re daydreaming.
Rimi will help the WEST community tap into this subconscious super power and help us recognize the internal narratives that we experience daily. She will help attendees recognize what this narrative is telling us and identify any limiting beliefs rooted in it. Through this practice, attendees will experience what it is to tap into their wiser self and find the confidence to overcome limiting beliefs and align with what makes us shine.
What makes us shine? Simply put, this is where our skills and our joys overlap. Where we’re inspired, joyful, and fulfilled we can continue to grow in all aspects of our lives.
We often have this false notion that we can only accept our dream job if it pays a certain amount or has specific benefits; we’re only willing to accept our dream if it doesn’t ‘set us back’ in any financial or status ways. When we do this, we miss the realization that there is infinite potential in taking our dream job. Once we begin to dream we free ourselves to embrace what Rimi calls ‘the prosperity echo.’ The prosperity echo happens when our success positively impacts others. When we pursue our dreams, and go beyond the “shoulds” and obligations of family or society, we can find ourselves with even greater potential at the intersection of where skill and joy meet.
When it comes to setting professional goals, aiming high can be an amazing thing. The real question when setting these goals is: why are you doing it?
WEST is thrilled to be partnering with Rimi Chakraborty to bring the workshop to the WEST community. Career visioning is a highly requested topic for WEST and diving in by learning practices that help us build our best selves is the best way to start! Grab some paper and a pen to really get the most out of this amazing workshop on February 4, 2025. Register on the WEST website here.