Most of us spend a third of our days working. It doesn’t matter if you’re in an office, driving a bus, teaching students, tending crops, or parenting (one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever done); you’re likely productive at something that must be done on a daily basis—work.
Why is ‘Work’ and essential life zone to assess? Just a few reasons:
The biggest proportion of our waking lives is spent doing it.
Work is one place from which we offer our unique contribution to the world.
It’s the wellspring of our abundance and ability to pay for our lives.
It’s a testing ground for our ambitions and our limitations.
Maybe you dislike your job. Could be that there are a zillion reasons why you took it and feel stuck? Do you dream of having a ‘take this job and shove it’ moment?
Perhaps you’re lucky enough to have landed your dream job or to be earning a living doing what you love. That’s amazing. But even dream jobs can be derailed by off-course habits.
I know this personally, as I’ve seen how my work as an author and entrepreneur can suffer when I’m not tending to my other life zones. I spoke above about “limitations” and nowhere does that show up more in my life than in my work. Am I good enough? Will my work resonate with people, touch them? Can this possibly fund my life? Am I afraid of success?
If I’m not working on my ‘Mind’ zone habits, these self-defeating limiting thoughts can have a real negative effect on my creativity and production. If I’m not taking care of my ‘Body/Health’ zone, then I’m less energized to work hard and put in the sometimes long hours my job demands. Those are just a couple of examples of why it’s important to Course Correct life-wide. Your work is very dependent upon your life-health in other areas.
Who you are in your life, who you show up as is also the person who shows up at work. Again, this is why it’s imperative to assess and course correct in as many areas of our lives as we can, so that we are showing up as our Highest Selves in all facets: as parents, lovers, friends, and workers.
In examining this area of your life, go back to your vision of your Highest Self and Best Life. Were there seeds of the career or work you dream of having or doing?
Some questions to stimulate your thoughts:
*Are you longing to change careers?
*Is there a vocation that more closely aligns with your Highest Self?
*Have you been sitting on a dream idea or business you’d love to start? What steps can you take to investigate the idea?
*Are there negative habits getting in the way of your potential?
*Is there a problem or personnel issue you need to address in order to be happier in your job?
*Do you need to set new, more inspiring goals?
*Are you in a soul-sucking work situation?
*Is there a truth about your work that you’ve been avoiding or procrastinating about?
*If money were no object, what would you do for a living?
*Are you willing to take even a single action toward that dream?
I believe, without a doubt, that everyone has a ‘calling.’ You have a unique set of gifts and desires within you that wants to manifest outside of you and into the world. It’s from this place that we have the most to give and therefore, the most impact.
I know that some dreams seem so far out of reach that you convince yourself you may as not try—look at all of the aspiring authors in the world! I’ve accomplished a feat that a very small percentage of writers ever accomplish. Yes, being published is one feat but that’s not what I mean—the accomplishment is I finished a book! The sad fact is that the majority of people who say their dream is to write a book, never actually sit down and write!
You can be sure that your dream job will never manifest if you don’t take even the first step.
There’s a reason you hear about so many people switching careers and starting over in midlife. Often, with children leaving the nest, our time and resources are freed up to pursue our own interests. A pull toward authenticity and fulfillment can be the impetus. Midlife is a time of awakening—awaking to ourselves and to the realization that we’re, if we’re lucky, at the mid-point of our lives.
Someday becomes ever more urgent when we have less days to bargain with.
If we finally allow our Highest Selves to have their moment running the metaphorical Board Room, we will hear the urgent message:
This is your life. Live the rest of it being true to who you are the core of your being.
Regret comes from ignoring that voice until it’s too late.
Action Item:
If you didn’t answer the above list of questions, go back and do that. From your answers, make a list of three to five new “rules” for your Course Correct in the zone of ‘Work.’
If there is one small action you can take to move toward a dream job, do it. A phone call, a meeting, a class…Your life is worth the time and effort to take action.
