The Third Metric

Scanning my news feed this morning, I was drawn to an article on HuffPost regarding marriage, and some supposed magic decision you can make to change yours. Being engaged, I enjoy reading articles on marriage and relationships (I'm studying up!). Here's the article.

For those who don't feel like reading the whole thing, Meghan Telpner and Josh Gitalis, a married couple from Toronto, live a life that many here in America might find odd. Neither of them work in a corporate environment, and they prioritize their lives around what makes them feel healthy and happy, not necessarily what will make them the most money.

This article was categorized under "The Third Metric." Here's the blurb HuffPost includes on its page:

     "The current, male-dominated model of success -- which equates success with burnout, sleep deprivation, and driving ourselves into the ground -- isn't working for women, and it's not working for men, either. On June 6, Arianna Huffington and Mika Brzezinski hosted a conference called "The Third Metric: Redefining Success Beyond Money & Power,” bringing together women -- and a few good men -- to focus on redefining success to include well-being, wisdom, our ability to wonder and our ability to make a difference in the world."

I was instantly struck by how simple, and yet so CRAZY this idea is to our established way of thinking in the West. I know I've been taught and advised to always have a job, and to try to rise up both in rank and in salary as often as possible. I haven't been spectacularly successful in this endeavor, although I've been able to support myself (for the most part) independently for the last 9 years or so. I've jumped from job to job, industry to industry over the last few years, and as I've been examining myself this year, a shocking truth is starting to dawn: Maybe I'm just not cut out for this shit.

"This shit" being Corporate America, and the constant desire for advancement and RESULTS, regardless of what I might actually want to accomplish in my personal life.

Why do we feel the need to follow this pattern? What is it we think we'll gain from this lifestyle? Money, power, respect, love? Why do we automatically reach for our careers as a way to achieve these goals? Can these needs be met another way?

That is what I'm trying to do here. Reach for the good feelings FIRST, instead winding my way through my JOB as a circuitous way to get to Love and Contentment. Concentrating on what will make me feel fulfilled and purposeful, instead of what society might define as Success. Finding security through my own inner satisfaction instead of my bank account.

I'll let you know how it goes. :)