A WorkLife Lesson: Katrina’s Story: How Loss Gave Her a Deep Sense of Her Own Mortality
Katrina began working as a banker immediately after graduating with her MBA. Still, in her 20s, the allure of a high salary was particularly appealing because she and her boyfriend Mike (also a banker) were planning on buying their first property. They both worked in the heart of the city of London, and this is where they also wanted to live. They wanted to immerse themselves in London life. Their jobs in banking would enable this.
Katrina’s education and skills were a good fit for the job, but her disposition wasn’t. She knew putting in long hours was an expectation, and she was OK with doing what she needed to do in line with the demands of the role. What she wasn’t OK with was the competitive nature of the culture, where putting in ‘extra’ long hours was regarded as a badge of honour.
To help relieve the stress from her work, Katrina started painting at home. Her love of art had begun when as a student, she would escape to the coast whenever she was feeling overloaded. The gentle sound of the waves whispering along the seashore always brought her to a place of tranquillity. A keen photographer, Katrina captured these moments. She then recreated the memories by painting the scenes she had caught on camera. Amidst the hustle and bustle of everyday WorkLife in the city, Katrina found a way through her collection of photographs to take herself back to the peace and calm of the sea. Back to that moment in time. A place and time of tranquillity.
This is how Katrina’s WorkLife continued. She worked long hours, and when she was feeling overwhelmed, she came home and painted a seascape.
In this lesson, you will learn how over time, cracks started to appear in Katrina’s WorkLife and how this impacted her mental health and wellbeing, her relationship with Mike, and her ability to cope with her job.
You will learn how leaving London for the tranquility of the seaside helped her to recover and to think about what she wanted to be remembered for - her legacy.
In this lesson’s WorkLife Learning Assignment, you will define and build your personal brand in line with what you want to be remembered for - your legacy.
In this lesson’s Continuous WorkLife Learning Assignment, you will develop a practice of feedback through insightful questions to help you to be self-aware about what you need to be doing more of or less of to live your WorkLife true to your personal brand identity while creating the legacy you want to be remembered for.