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0 pointshermannj31413y ago0 comments

I'm not talking about clinical depression. But let's say the general, "I didn't get the promotion" style of depression.

For me, you can view that problem two ways, "I'm going to work harder and prove my value to the company" or the move the goalposts approach, "I really didn't want that promotion anyway, I'll spend more time with my kids! No one will judge me as a failure if I do that."

Shifting priorities can be rational if you honestly realize your tastes and interests have changed over time, but most often it seems shifting priorties are just a manifestation of weakness - a decision to flee rather than fight.

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4 comments · 3 top-level

bdunn13y ago· 1 in thread

Hang out around enough old people, and you'll realize the overwhelming majority of them would have preferred more time with their kids to that promotion.

robryan13y ago

Retrospectively. For some what they would have liked to do more of looking back and what they wanted to do at the time may be different. As we live in the present, the question really is what we would like to be doing now, not what we would liked to have done looking back.

AlisdairO13y ago

> For me, you can view that problem two ways, "I'm going to work harder and prove my value to the company"

Surely that might also be a realisation that the promotion you wanted takes more effort than you're willing to put in to it?

batista13y ago

>For me, you can view that problem two ways, "I'm going to work harder and prove my value to the company" or the move the goalposts approach, "I really didn't want that promotion anyway, I'll spend more time with my kids! No one will judge me as a failure if I do that."

The idiocy of the comment is that "not getting that promotion" is not a failure anyway.

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