MFSA043: The Illusion of Transparency

In my experience, stress and boredom exist as opposite ends of a continuum. As such, professional development is the process by which we keep the goalposts apart – ensuring there is room to carve out a life between the things we find too boring to tolerate, and the things we find too difficult to deliver on. For those who experience stress as excitement, the world can be a very exciting place. And for those who carry the burden of self-awareness, pushing the envelope can mean running a gauntlet of self-doubt. Thankfully, we tend to overestimate the extent to which others can perceive our state of mind. We are assessed not on our thoughts, but on our words and our actions. Managing the inner dialogue may be difficult, but it is truly a personal problem.