Is It Actually Lonely at the Top?

Successful people often experience feelings of isolation, which raises the question, is it actually lonely at the top? Or can you be a top-level executive and also feel fulfilled in your life? While reaching the top of your industry takes dedication, sacrificing your personal relationships to get it isn’t necessary.

Many top leaders face difficult decisions and feel they have to choose between their work or their close friends and family. The truth is that this feeling is a choice.

It can be challenging to hear that your feelings are a choice, but taking radical responsibility for them is what leads to change. And, if you’re feeling the impacts of loneliness and have a sense of isolation, change is likely a desired result.  

What it means to be at the top of your industry

So many business owners, chief executives, and managers get to where they are by giving up their personal lives. This leads them to believe that the cost of being successful is working hard and sacrificing social relationships.

Most leadership advice states that being a successful entrepreneur means alienating your friends and family in order to move up in your company or acquire new business opportunities. Because of this, a lot of people don’t have an effective support system or a deep connection with other people.

The sad truth is that there are millions of successful people on this planet who are also lonely people.

Reaching that senior management team may mean everything to you, but once you get there, you may realize something is missing.

How being at the top results in loneliness

When you put work above all else, the inevitable outcome is becoming isolated and therefore lonely. This feeling creates negative feelings and the impact of those feelings reaches out into the rest of your life.

What are the deeper, more rippled impacts of these feelings in your life?

Is it affecting your relationships? Do you have a best friend or group of people you spend time with?

How does it affect the bottom line of your business? Do you think having an internal feeling of loneliness can create blind spots in your business? 

What is your quality of life? Do you feel balanced and content with more than just the success of your company?

When you really begin to think about what this feeling has been impacting, understanding the desired result becomes more clear. Once you attach to that desired result, you become more solution-oriented.

Define your desires and reach for them

The corporate world tells you that you need to behave a certain way to get the things you want in life. This is on purpose. The system operates only by everyone falling in line and believing in the culture of a formal business network.

But this doesn’t have to be the case. You can break out of the mold you’re put in, find your areas of strength, and become one of the rare authentic leaders in the world.

You do this by first identifying how you want to feel every single day. It’s really as simple (and as hard) as that! 

Then, figure out the steps it takes to get there. 

By becoming solution-oriented when it comes to feeling fulfilled in life, you get one step closer to a lifetime of positive mental health.

Suggestions for combating that lonely feeling 

There are a number of ways to get help with addressing your feelings and learning how to find the best solutions for you.

External coaching can become an important source of support and a powerful tool for finding fulfillment. 

Getting a different perspective through one-on-one coaching or mastermind coaching can combat workplace loneliness.

Once you’re in alignment with your feelings, you may want to think about how you can help others in your same situation.

Workplace culture shifts can have long-term results for people struggling with loneliness as well. 

Conclusion

Being a successful businessperson has its own gains in life, but if you’re looking to improve your family life or cultivate friendships outside of the workplace, it all starts here.

The most important thing to remember is that your feelings are a choice and you don’t have to sacrifice your close relationships for the sake of the business.

There are better ways to live life! Discovering what means the most to you and finding solutions to get where you want to go is the first step.

If you are now or have ever, felt that feeling of being alone at the top, schedule a Complimentary Consult in an Alignment Strategy Session.

Liz also provides exclusive 1-1 Coaching where you can get right to the point and find a path through to the other side.