Welcome to this week's episode of the Modern Mentor Podcast, formerly known as the Get It Done

Guy. I'm Rachel Cook, your modern mentor host. Today I'll be answering a listener

question. How can I be successful at work

if I don't want that promotion they keep offering? Congratulations. You've landed your dream job,

and you are, if you do say so yourself, crushing it. Your work is top-notch, your ideas innovative,

you meet every deadline and ask for more.

You've been recognized and celebrated. And your reward is, drum roll please, a bigger, more sought-after job.

The only problem? You don't want the bigger job. You love the one you've got. That's why it was your dream job in the first place.

I received a question from Anna, a modern mentor listener in Oregon who's struggling with this very

conundrum. She says, both my husband and I are in jobs that we currently really enjoy. We feel

like we are constantly being offered up-the-latter positions

that are not interesting due to the increase in stress and decrease in work-life balance.

It's uncomfortable to feel like you're being pushed into something you don't want to do,

and there seems to be a culturally inflicted shame and stigma around not wanting to climb the corporate ladder.

My friend in Portland, I hear you. One of the tenets of this show is the idea that we all get

to define success on our own terms. If the idea of earning a promotion inspires you, then lead

on in. But if you're happy in the role you've got, know that success comes

in many forms. No one should feel pressured to take on someone else's vision. So what can we do

when we're happy where we are? How do we continue to feel valued by our organization without

feeling the shame my listener described. You can start by sending

shame packing. Anna used the term culturally inflicted shame. Famed researcher and author Brunay Brown

defined shame as the intensely painful feeling that we are flawed. Something we've done, experienced, or failed to do

...