Welcome to the Year One -blog! A series of posts where I, a fresh graduate, break down prejudices a youngster might have when entering the work-life rat race. My name is Martin, and as a young engineer, I try to write about work stuff that’s relevant for all ages, but with a young person’s perspective. Are the prejudices young people have about work true? Or are we just naive? In an attempt to find out, I will return to certain topics after a while and analyze what I have written.
–Martin Ekman
Performing vs. Being Able to Perform
Some months ago, when the sales team at Chemigate was reminiscing about their long careers in the company, and laughing about how some of them are like old married couples, our CEO, Tom Schauman, suddenly turns to me with a dead serious look in his eyes.
He told me, “Martin, whatever you do, swear to me that you will always have a life outside of work”. This stuck with me. Because, as many of us know, a big part of fresh graduates in the work-life feel an immense pressure to perform. Numerous studies confirm this, for example:
“60% of young people (aged 18 to 24) have felt so stressed by pressure to succeed that they have felt overwhelmed or unable to cope.’” (-Mental Health Foundation, 2018)
In my opinion, one important aspect of performing is the realization that not all days are created equal. You can’t expect to perform at the same level 365 days a year. It’s important to be able to change your performance expectations from day to day.
Always do your best, as long as you remember that your best changes every day.
Additionally, one should take into account what affects our ability to perform. Things such as health, nutrition, sleep and exercise all change the way we can perform. So, to be a high-performer, you need to focus a great deal on the things that make high performance possible. Because these are the things you can impact. Much like how you can’t control the weather when you’re about to go for a long car trip, what you can do is make sure you have enough fuel, good tires, and great headlights. Other than that, you’re just going to have to accept that you can’t drive as fast if the weather is really bad.
This is one of the main reasons why I enjoy working for Chemigate. The company cares a lot about the well-being of its employees. Tom’s advice is a good example of this. But not only that. The company radiates a kind of warm aura, enveloping everyone with the sense of belonging that is the Chemigate Family.
What do You think? What do You need to be able to perform?
Thanks for reading!
//Mate
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