I doubt anyone will run up to you on Monday morning at work and ask. Organizational life is concerned with productivity, revenue and efficiency. What’s most important you and your life is of little value or concern.
What do you do?
You figure this out. Your behavior is driven by what you do and more importantly who you are. This starts with a deep analysis of who you are and what is most important to you. Since most of your waking days are spent working, what you do will determine who you are.
Which work is most important to you?
Have you thought about this? What is the work which best fits you? Which is the work which best aligns your abilities and your interests?
Which is the work which gives you a sense of fulfilment and meaning?
This is another question no one will ask you at your job today.
This is up to you to determine. Which culture best fits you? Do you want to teach?-Then work around teachers. Do you want to design? Then work around engineers, Do you want to build? Then work around builders.
Design a environment which best fits you
Many studies have shown that the best work environments include fresh air,windows,soft colors, individualised music and climate controls, cushy chairs and so on. Yet instead we spend our lives in gray faceless cubicles with walls where hanging pictures of loved one’s is out of the question because they won’t stay up on those walls. Windows and fresh air are no where to be found or have to be earned!
Do you yearn to work in a big building in the city or a small cottage in the country? Do you want to work inside or outdoors? Do you want to work by yourself, with a small group of people or a large group? Are you an early riser or do you prefer to ease into your day?
Make a list
Start with list which details what is most important to you in your life.
Write down how you will know when you are following what is most important and how you will know when you are not. With this list in mind you can begin to design short and long term goals which align to what is most important to you.
Your work determines who you are
So many people come to me stuck in a vocational rut. They soon discover that the work which they have been doing all their lives no longer fits their self image and what is most important to them.
I had a friend once who was a painter. He took a day job processing paperwork for an insurance firm to pay the rent. He told me later he came home too exhausted to paint and soon realized he had become an insurance clerk.
So many possibilities for you
There are so many possibilities for you. What bothers most about the world which you would like to change? What change do you most want to see in the world, your country, your city, your neighbohood?
You can do the work which best impacts the changes you want to see but it takes new possibility thinking.
What is possible right now?
As you think about the work you are most passionate about, what is possible right now? Be careful however as your life is determined by what you do
Your sense of happiness and self worth impacts the quality of your life.
This is impacted by what you do each and every day.
There are no shortcuts to vocational passion.
Retirement is the biggest myth of all
The only people who retire don’t love what they do. If you did what YOU loved each and every day, what would you ever want to stop?
Mid-life is a time to narrow the choices
With the best part of your life remaining-now is the time to focus on truly what is most important and the work you are most passionate about.
There is no time to waste
After forty, there is a greater sense of the movement of time and the need to make the most use of it. There is no time to be wasted on activities, especially, one’s work which lacks meaning.
What about the money?
No more excuses. You have a choice right now. Fill your days with lots of work which lacks meaning and happiness or decide NOW to close the gap between the work you most want to do and are most passionate about.
Dying wealthy is not an option!
To truly experience a rich life, you must decide NOW to focus on what is most important and to take action to move towards it.
The secret six steps to reach your goals (In this order)
- Envision it
- Write it down
- Talk to others
- Take small steps daily towards doing what you love
- Measure your progress and self correct your journey as you go
- Reward yourself daily
Your life is a journey
Take the path which seems the most interesting, the most fun and the most meaningful. You’ll never look back and in the process will live both a richer life and become a wonderful role model for others.