The Problem with Achievement – Summit Syndrome
You just reached a significant goal in life. How come you feel let down? It could be Summit Syndrome. Coined by George D. Parsons and Richard T. Pascale in their Harvard Business Review article, Summit Syndrome describes what happens to high achievers who master a new job or skill, then lose their bearings and question their purpose.
The First Summit
Summit Syndrome tends to afflict aggressive, entrepreneurial type folks who thrive on new challenges. Initially, they love the challenge and excitement of their work, but then find themselves flat-lining once they believe they have reached their pinnacle. They feel lost, unenthusiastic, apathetic and distracted. So, what can we do?
- Change how we think about AchievementThe most benevolent thing I ever did was leave a dream career in the military to go into the Christian ministry. Prior to that transformative series of events, 95% of everything I did or achieved was to my benefit. With the rare exception of showing up at a family event or going to a funeral – life was exclusively about me. At age 30, I began living out the radical belief that the foundation of fulfillment can only spring from improving the lives of others.
First step then is thinking more OFTEN about improving the lives of others.
- Reach A Second Summit
In my book, Rewired – Power Up Performance, Relationship and Purpose, I talked about what to do to prevent flat-lining after you reach your impressive goal. The answer is to directly connect your achievement to the benefit of others. In doing this, we create a Second Summit – an even greater dimension of achievement where the joy and benefit of your achievement are connected to the improvement and benefit of others.
Second step is connecting a goal with the people you’ve been thinking more OFTEN about.
A Cautionary Tale
One thing I didn’t mention was “generosity burnout” – a condition people-pleasers develop after giving themselves away from wrong motives. We can take a deeper dive into this – but not until we make a decision to reach a second summit and put far more meaning into our achievements. This is good stuff. Cue the music. Release the tiny bubbles!
Punch line? We can now look at goal achievement as having two separate summits: the first one is when you succeed, the second one is when others succeed. When this happens, we actually find meaning.
This is part nine of a ten-part series taken directly from “The Rewired Group – Coaching Experience”.