Workaholics are seeking to obtain a sense of fulfillment by directing their life energies to a field of endeavor from which they have obtained satisfying results in the past.
Success in a job can make people feel wonderful in their 20s and 30s and early 40s. There comes a time, though, when the rewards provided from a job are not as great. Most of us can rise only so high up the corporate ladder. And earning more money does not count for as much after we have earned enough to support a comfortable middle-class lifestyle.
The remedy is identifying alternate means of obtaining the same sense of fulfillment. Workaholics can apply their goal-oriented behavior to goals other than corporate success. For example, a workaholic who made it a goal to see the world could become highly focused on accomplishment of that goal so long as he or she received praise or other rewards for hitting specified targets.
The workaholic needs to see that goals that are hard to attain for others (corporate success) are not so hard to attain for the workaholic, and that goals that are easy to attain for others (enjoying family life) are hard to attain for the workaholic. The typical workaholic responds well to a challenge.
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