Have you heard of attainment remorse?
Attainment Remorse “The feeling of regret experienced many years after making a significant achievement.”
It’s a phrase I’m working on coining, although it’s probably not cool enough for Urban Dictionary and not yet well enough researched for The Oxford English Dictionary. 📖
But I wonder if it’s something you can identify with? 🤨
Back when I was in the corporate world (a year that feels like a lifetime) I wanted to make a change for a long time but just could not rationalise it in my own head, never mind to anyone else. 🤯
I used to go over and over all the reasons why I should stay, try to look on the bright side and focus on all the pros of the job. ✅
And when I did this the perceived security and stability of my job always came out on top. 🔝
I just couldn’t logic my way out of the corporate world. 🤓
I’d followed this path to success and here I was stuck right in the middle of it not feeling successful at all. 😭
I sometimes wished that things hadn’t worked out for me. 😫
Back in school and university I hadn’t questioned the need to strive for A*’s. 🥇
I’d never questioned that working at a large well known global company was the way to feel like a professional. 🏆
Attainment remorse kicked in big time.
I thought to myself “If only I’d been one of the unlucky ones who hadn’t aced my exams, or landed a job straight out of uni, or got the promotions I’d been angling for.”
Things might be different now if I’d been forced to carve my own path early on. Ouch. 😣
You see, I didn’t hate my work by any means. There was so much about it that I loved. The people I worked with were amazing.
But it just didn’t light me up. 🌟
I needed something deeper and more meaningful. Something that was hard to articulate logically to my physicist brain. 🧠
But something that I now know is absolutely possible. Because I’ve found it. ✨
What do you think, now you’ve heard the context, is attainment remorse real?
And if you want to hear more, head over to episode 77 of the podcast where I’m talking about constantly second guessing what you want to do for work. Tune in to listen: https://www.debbielee.co.uk/podcast