Worth Beyond Work

November 10, 2023

What I'm Listening To

'Mirrors in the mind, leave you paralyzed...'

Story From The Week

I’d like to share a story from a few weeks ago that’s been on my mind lately.

At the start of the quarter, I had a performance review with my manager. To be honest, I've been struggling mentally and emotionally at work recently.

At the end of each day, I find myself plagued by a sense of not doing enough, which in turn leads to feelings of inadequacy. Living in the shadow of perfectionism has been a lifelong struggle for me. I've always carried this persistent notion that I could have done more or been better, whatever "better" meant in a given situation. It’s exhausting.

I contemplated whether I should tell my manager or not. Doing so would expose my vulnerabilities and insecurities, and that's a scary thought. What if he perceives me as weak or unfit for leadership? What if my honesty jeopardizes my chances for a future promotion?

In the end, I decided to share my feelings with him because I trust him. He's consistently offered support, encouragement, and allowed me to be myself.

He listened and asked questions - two qualities I've come to associate with the best leaders I've encountered.

A couple of days later, he even followed up to explore these issues further and reminded me that my identity isn't contingent on my ever-fluctuating emotional state. A setback that affects productivity might make me feel like a failure. Completing 7 hours instead of 8 in a workday might make me feel unproductive. However, those feelings are transient, while my identity is constant. My sense of self is grounded in my intrinsic worth, and I don't need to prove myself. I am loved, I am worthy, and my standing is secure.

My manager’s words meant more to me than he may ever realize, and I’m incredibly grateful to have such a supportive champion in my company.

If you're reading this, perhaps you need to hear these words today: You are more than your achievements or failures. Take a moment to slow down, show love and care for those around you, and remember that your worth extends far beyond your work.

What Did I Learn?

I stumbled upon a gem of a code snippet in our React codebase this week.

Have you ever tried using filter(Boolean) on an array?

What this handy trick does is filter out only the truthy values from an array. This is especially helpful when we're mapping through values from an API call or something, and there might be an undefined or null value lurking in the data. Attempting to access a non-existent value within an array can cause our app to crash! So by adding .filter(Boolean) to an array, we can prevent that from happening.

Here’s an example: const tvShows = [{ item: ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ }, { item: ‘The Kardashians’}, { item: ‘The Great British Baking Show’}, null, undefined]

const truthyTvShows = tvShows.filter(Boolean)

truthyTvShows = [{ item: ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ }, { item: ‘The Kardashians’}, { item: ‘The Great British Baking Show’}]

What Made Me Confused...

I work on a team where the majority of issues are urgent. This can lead to a constant state of confusion and anxiety. There’s only so much time to get all of the things done! I experienced this firsthand last week.

When everything on your plate is labeled as urgent, it becomes a daunting task to figure out how to prioritize.

My advice — don’t try to answer that question yourself! Seek clarity from a manager or coworker… and for God’s sake, resist the urge to take on everything by yourself all at once!