Kill the Pleasure Guilt
Recently, Tiffany Dufu, author of the book Drop the Ball: Achieving More by Doing Less and CEO of The Cru, shared a post about pleasure guilt. Evidently and clearly, this does not just apply to women (even though her post focuses mainly so) and has been consistently penetrating the lives of most of us out there, including yourself and those around you.
The term ‘guilty pleasure’ should be no stranger to anyone and everyone - we hear it when we spend time playing games, indulging in fried chicken and beer, and even taking the time out to have a day off when we have work piling up on us. This is even more so in the localised case of Singapore, where we have an undeniably stressful education system and certainly beyond that.
It seems that this popular term has been normalized under the context where time is precious. But perhaps it’s time to question ourselves - isn’t our happiness even more precious than time?
It’s about time we kill the pleasure guilt; as Tiffany Dufu most succinctly explains why:
“..One of the common themes I hear is this feeling of guilt about engaging in activities that have no other purpose than to make us happy, as if our happiness isn’t a valid enough reason for us to do something! Guilt is what we feel when we believe we’ve committed a moral transgression or done something terribly wrong. It’s our social conditioning that teaches us we should be sacrificing for others at our own expense - that we’re doing something wrong if we prioritize ourselves. The end result is that we feel unworthy of a life that we’re passionate about“, she says in her LinkedIn post.
We certainly agree, and here is how:
1. Recognize what makes you happy
Be conscious of what brings you the little tinge of joy and satisfaction - be it a walk, a meal with your loved ones, or watching the sunset. More often than not we are cooped up in our bubbles chasing deadlines and responsibilities that we lose awareness of the small pockets of happiness that bring us calm and peace. Get out of your house during your lunch break and take a little breather, you never know the calmness you may find.
2. Force a time out
The notion that time is precious, unfortunately, often due to the construct that time is money. While time allows us to work which gives us the monetary power that arguably provides us the material items for satisfaction, one cannot live without the non-material needs - and that is why it is so important to take time out for these things. For many of us, this will pose as a struggle and we will no doubt face discomfort in doing so, but take comfort in the fact that..
3. It is not a want, it is a need.
Be it taking the time out to chill out for workaholics or indulging in sinful food for the health-conscious people, we have to acknowledge the fact that we are not robots after all.
It isn’t about pampering ourselves 24/7 or feeling bad about ourselves after indulging, it’s understanding that pleasure is a feeling and guilty pleasure is a construct.
For us at BCD, we strive for excellence and work-life balance is paramount in achieving it. If you have questions about working in the property industry or you want to be a part of us, reach out to us! Our focus is YOU.
