Laughing Through the Dark Times

My boss is absolutely incredible. He gives me time off whenever I need it. I can leave early or come in late if I have something important to do. He is by far the best boss I have ever had and is the only reason I have stayed at this company for so long, and he knows it.

Now, he is retiring in 2 years, and they are grooming me to take over for him. Starting in January, he and I will have the same title and level of authority. However, every once in a while, my boss gets super antsy and starts to obsess over minute details.

We are both employees of a Fortune 100 company, and we both understand that the company doesn’t care about us at all. Most days, he is like me; he shows up, does his job, and leaves. But occasionally, he acts as if he personally will benefit greatly from pushing these mundane issues.

Is this something that happens when you become a boss? I understand that he has more responsibilities than I do at the moment, but will I change to be like him too? Is it the natural progression of things? Do you start off as an employee who is indifferent about the little things and gradually enter panic mode?

I hope that doesn’t happen to me when I assume his title. I know that to some degree, it will increase my workload and stress, but I’m not the kind of person who brings work home with me. My boss understands that too, but sometimes he still becomes overly concerned about things.

I have many friends and have dated plenty of girls who stress out about their jobs to the point where it affects their relationships and friendships. Meanwhile, they are at the bottom of the barrel, with others doing the work while they are on vacation, busting their asses to help coworkers who are in the office and capable of getting it done.

It’s the same story as when we were kids working on group projects in school. There’s always the try-hard, the person who does most of the work and has to share the grade. Then there’s the person who doesn’t care at all, so the try-hard ends up doing all their work. Finally, there’s the person who does just their part and nothing more. The try-hards firmly believe that their future is riding on every project they undertake, and they grow up with the same mentality.

I know plenty of try-hards who, as adults, experience severe anxiety and depression because they still believe that going above and beyond and taking care of everything for everyone else matters. When the optimal place to be is the person who gets their work done and simply does their part.

Some may argue that there’s something wrong with me because I don’t want to go the extra mile and knock out 100 tasks a day. They might say I’m lazy or not a hard worker. However, I make the same amount of money as those try-hards, and I have little to no anxiety about work. Outside of work, I don’t think about it at all. I am much happier than most people I know who are try-hards.

We’re not put here just to work and die. If I’m going to make money for a billion-dollar corporation without earning millions myself, then I’m going to keep my head down and do my job. I’ll put in an average effort. If you consistently go above and beyond, that becomes the expectation every single day. If you coast and do your job, it looks great when you occasionally help someone else on another project.

Hopefully, when I assume a position of power, I won’t lose this sense of “screw this job” that I currently have. But I guess only time will tell.