Chip Conley once asked, “Is life a stressful sprint or a meaningful marathon?”

If you ask me, it is both!

The key to success is knowing when we need to persevere—which can be a stressful sprint—and knowing when to follow our hearts—which will be a meaningful marathon.

Throughout my career, I have always found myself sprinting stressfully. I once held the position of a Financial Controller and saved the company between $50 to $5000 a day. Despite my high performance and strong work ethics, I was still scrutinized by my colleagues. They associated productivity with coming into work early and clocking out late. However, to me, productivity meant efficiency and the successful completion of value-based activities.

To add salt to the injury, the Procurement Director of the company at the time told me one day that I needed to be extra polite when conversing. Only then, would she give me the data and other materials I requested on time.

It took me a while to realize that, while my stressful sprints benefited the company, its toxic work culture affected my peace of mind. So I slowed down to the pace of a marathon, left my job for a much better one, and started sprinting again in a different direction.