Workplace well-being expert Kristel Bauer explains why chasing perfection can lead to burnout – and how embracing life’s challenges can create more sustainable happiness and success.
By Pete Mercer
Would you consider yourself a happy person? Happiness can be elusive – there are a lot of factors that have an enormous impact on your happiness, especially when it comes to your work-life balance. When you begin to focus more on what you feel like success should look like, it’s easy to neglect the things that bring real joy and balance to your life.
Repertoire Magazine spoke to Kristel Bauer, keynote speaker, workplace performance and well-being expert, award-winning author, and host of the Live Greatly podcast, about the importance of finding happiness at work. Bauer’s book, “Work-Life Tango: Finding Happiness, Harmony and Peak Performance Wherever You Work”, looks at what it takes to build a better work-life balance.
Defining happiness
Before entering media, Bauer worked in healthcare as a physician assistant and then later as an integrative medicine fellow. While she was practicing in an integrative psychiatry practice, she came across many individuals who were struggling with stress, burnout, and a sense of disconnection in their work and personal lives.
She said, “One pattern I noticed repeatedly was that many people had unintentionally started sacrificing the very things that contributed the most to their happiness and fulfillment while pursuing their version of success. They had become disconnected from what truly energized and inspired them.”
From that experience, she wanted to explore the science and strategies behind happiness, resilience, well-being, and maintaining a sustainable high performance. This inspired her to launch the podcast Live Greatly to begin sharing these conversations and insights with a wider audience, which also led to the opportunity to give a TEDx Talk about how individuals and organizations can rethink what it means to be alive.
Bauer’s own definition of happiness has evolved over the years, shifting from achievements and milestones to something that’s much more personal. “Today, I see happiness as something much deeper: living and working in alignment with what matters most to you, finding meaning and purpose in everyday moments, cultivating high-quality relationships, and developing the resilience to navigate life’s inevitable challenges with intention and perspective.”
What is ‘imperfect happiness’?
One thing that Bauer has observed over the years is that many people unintentionally make happiness conditional, only when we achieve that next goal or hit that next milestone. We put off any sense of satisfaction or contentment in the present, opting to look towards a future we might never get to.
This mindset is challenging because it makes happiness a goal in and of itself, instead of something that is accessible to experience now. Bauer argues that waiting for everything to be perfect before allowing ourselves to experience happiness is a “losing strategy.”
She developed an idea called “imperfect happy” which is one of her primary keynote topics. “The concept of ‘imperfect happiness’ grew out of my realization that life and work are inherently imperfect,” Bauer said. “There will always be challenges, setbacks, uncertainty and difficult emotions. Waiting for everything to be perfect before allowing ourselves to experience happiness is a losing strategy.”
In these sessions, she talks about how we can work with the present moment, instead of constantly fighting against it. If we allow ourselves to create more high-quality moments in our daily lives and let go of the idea that everything has to be perfect for any measure of fulfillment, we’ll be able to establish a better sense of happiness in our lives.
“Imperfect happiness isn’t about setting or lowering our standards; it’s about embracing a deeper, more sustainable form of happiness that can exist even during life’s messier seasons.”
Separating contentment from complacency
One of the consequences of making happiness conditional is that it confuses us into thinking that achievements create lasting happiness. While achieving goals certainly helps to bring excitement, satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment, these feelings aren’t built to last.
“A deeper and more sustainable level of happiness comes from living and working in alignment with your values, purpose and the things that genuinely matter to you. It comes from the quality of your relationships, the meaning you find in your work, and how you choose to spend your time day to day.”
Bauer argues that it’s essential to distinguish contentment from complacency. Complacency marks a lack of intentional growth and overall disengagement, while contentment shows that you have learned to appreciate where you are while still pursuing what you want.
She said, “I often find that people who experience the greatest sense of fulfillment are those who can simultaneously appreciate the present moment while continuing to pursue meaningful goals. When you develop a mindset that supports and encourages you, rather than constantly criticizing you, you create a stronger sense of inner balance and purpose that can sustain you through both successes and setbacks.”
The truth about resilience
Resilience is a hot button topic that’s easily misunderstood. It’s not about being perfect, avoiding setbacks, or pushing through difficult experiences, Bauer said. Rather, resilience is about how we react to any of these challenges we might face each day.
When we continue to push through these challenges without processing what we are experiencing, that can contribute to our sense of burnout. That recovery process from these challenges is an integral part of resilience, Bauer argues. “It’s about allowing yourself to experience emotions, process what happened, extracting any lessons, and then moving forward with greater wisdom and perspective while staying focused on what matters most.”
For some, the actual pursuit of happiness can become a significant source of stress and burnout. If you spend a lot of time focusing on formulating your self-care routine, you can forget to actually take care of yourself. Eventually, the routine itself can become its own problem, which is something Bauer experienced firsthand. Wellness should never feel overwhelming, only supportive and restorative.
“Research has shown that aggressively chasing happiness can sometimes have the opposite effect. That’s one reason Bauer embraces the concept of ‘finding your imperfect happy’. It means not expecting yourself – or your happiness – to be perfect. “Life includes joy, sadness, disappointment, excitement and everything in between,” she said. “The goal is to cultivate a deeper sense of meaning, purpose, and balance that helps carry you through all of life’s experiences while allowing you to live and work with greater intention.”
Pushing through rejection
Sales reps must get used to hearing the word “no”. It’s hardly ever a personal reflection of the rep, but it can sting on a personal level. Those setbacks can add to that overall feeling of pressure, but it doesn’t have to dominate everything – you can develop a better mindset and healthier habits to navigate those moments more effectively.
It starts with building a healthy relationship with yourself. Bauer said, “During stressful times, we tend to fall back on the habits and patterns we’ve built beforehand. That’s why prioritizing foundational areas such as sleep, movement, nutrition, recovery and stress management is so important. These aren’t luxuries; they’re performance strategies.”
There are plenty of habits that can help prevent burnout. Taking regular breaks throughout the day, even if they are only two to three minutes long, can help to regulate stress and improve cognitive performance. Movement is key – we aren’t meant to sit for long periods of time, so it’s important to move your body and get a quick change of scenery to promote optimal physical and mental health.
Even something as simple as starting your day ‘phone-free’ can have an enormous impact on one’s happiness. Most of us wake up and immediately begin our days by checking our notifications, reading emails and scrolling on social media. If you instead take 10 to 20 minutes for yourself before engaging with the digital world, it can have an immensely positive influence on your day.
“Use that time to reflect, move your body, set intentions, or reconnect with what matters most to you,” Bauer said. “How we begin our day often shapes how we respond to stress and show up for ourselves and others throughout the day.”
Hope for the future
Even with all the stark differences between the older and younger generations colliding in the workplace right now, Bauer has hope that the younger generations are going to be on the right side of finding their imperfect happy.
She believes that younger generations have helped move important conversations about well-being and mental health into the mainstream workplace, which has played an incredibly valuable role in establishing boundaries around work and life. These young professionals place a much greater emphasis on flexibility, purpose, well-being, and work environments that support both professional performance and personal fulfillment.
“I think there’s tremendous value in recognizing that we spend a significant portion of our lives at work. Because of that, work should ideally be a place that challenges us, supports us, and allows us to grow as individuals.”
Part of this outlook on happiness and success has altered the way that younger generations are looking at success – it’s no longer just tied to titles, compensation or status. People are wanting to grow, make meaningful contributions and enjoy the life that they work hard to build.
Which is what it all really comes down to. We only get one chance, one life. There will be plenty of missteps, mistakes and dead ends that we’ll have to work ourselves out of, but it’s what makes humans so unique. We’re problem-solvers, and we get the chance to shift a mindset for future generations. Life is hard, and it’s not going to get any easier. We might as well try to be happy while we’re here.
Key Takeaways
- Happiness is not something to postpone until the next achievement or milestone; it comes from aligning daily life and work with personal values, purpose, and meaningful relationships.
- “Imperfect happiness” means accepting that challenges and setbacks are part of life while still creating moments of fulfillment, joy, and connection in the present.
- Resilience is not about avoiding difficulties but about processing challenges, learning from them, and developing healthier habits that support long-term well-being.
- Sales professionals can improve performance and reduce burnout by prioritizing foundational wellness practices, setting healthy boundaries, and redefining success beyond titles and accomplishments.