Keeping the Peace

“If A equals success, then the formula is A equals X plus Y and Z, with X being work, Y play, and Z keeping your mouth shut.” – Albert Einstein

I hope the subject ‘Algebra at Work’ did not freak you out. Some of you love math, but some of you don’t miss your days in algebra class at all. So don’t worry about the math, just look at the idea.

To have success you need to work at it, you need to give yourself time to play and you need to know when to speak and when to remain silent. Many of us face challenges with various parts of this equation. Perhaps you have no problem with the working part. But if you excel at the working part are you paying enough attention to your need to play or are you working too hard? And what about Z or keeping your mouth shut? I think we all need some balance here too. If you are too vocal at the wrong time or about the wrong thing it can detract from your success at work. But if you never speak up nobody will know you exist and that definitely gets in the way of your success at work. You need to find your balance in this equation, the right values for A (success), X (work), Y (play) and Z (when to keep quite) are most likely different for each of us.

The formula is easy to understand, determining the right values for X, Y and Z takes time and wisdom.

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