Lesson About Work Happiness... From a Spartan Race
Recently, I participated in a Spartan Race – 10km of mud, obstacles, and barbed wire. I climbed multiple ski hills, carried sandbags, and hauled huge stones.
Would I recommend it? Honestly… no!
It was clearly beyond my fitness level. But I loved the novel challenge, especially with two of my closest friends.
At one point, our friend Kevin couldn’t get up the rope. When he gave up, we gave him a slap on the back ("You got this"). I saw the grit in his face as he pulled himself up – and made it to the top. (Kevin, that was seriously impressive.)
Three hours in, I was climbing the fourth ski hill and thought, “Wow. I paid to do this.”
But then I remembered:
I used to work every weekend for years.
I've missed out on races, events, and weddings because they usually fell on weekends.
At the time, I felt a clear divide between my work and life. At work, it often felt like the four walls of my office were keeping me from living my best life.
Still, I pushed those feelings down and kept grinding because that's what we were taught to do.
The result? Successful on paper, but quietly burning out.
My wake-up call came when I realized I hadn’t seen my grandparents in nearly 10 years. So I quit my stable job, took a month-long sabbatical to see them—and started designing my life from scratch.
Fred H Cho
Fred H Cho
Work Should Fit Your Life—Not the Other Way Around.
You hear stories like this all the time:
- A successful banker on a business trip, missing his daughter’s graduation.
- A corporate lawyer too busy to take a family vacation.
- An ER nurse skipping meals and sleep just to keep up with back-to-back shifts.
You could have the perfect job and still be unhappy if work keeps you from living your life.
In other words, work happiness doesn't exist in a vacuum.
Pause. Reflect.
Running the Spartan Race reminded me of why I began redesigning my life in the first place.
What about you?
Sometimes the real source of work stress isn't work.
Maybe it's neglected self-care.
Or not spending enough quality time with your loved ones.
Maybe fitness has taken a backseat.
If you don’t pause to reflect on your life as a whole, you’ll keep running on autopilot.
A little reflection can go a long way.
👉 Check out my guide to review your 4 pillars of well-being.
Member discussion