Month: February 2021

Love the World

Posted on by WorkAuthentically

“What the worlds needs now is love, sweet love / It's the only thing that there's just too little of…” Whether you’re imagining Jackie DeShannon, Dionne Warwick, or Burt Bacharach in Austin Powers, chances are you’ve heard those song lyrics (my apologies in advance that it will be stuck in your head the rest of the day!).

So if the world needs love, how do we put more love into the world?

It starts by being ourselves.

You were probably expecting a rant on being nicer to strangers on social media (you should!) or showing kindness to anyone that crosses your path (yes, do that!) or hugging everyone you see (nope, don’t do that yet! There are pandemic protocols!).

Instead, we can put more love into the world when we embody the amazing, interesting, unique people we all are.

Appreciating what makes you authentically you enables you to find meaningful work that perfectly aligns with you. And the whole point of all of that is to share wonderful you with the world! You can do this as an unknown, but no less significant contributor to the tapestry we all weave, or as the most famous person ever to walk the earth, literally known the world over.

As David Whyte so eloquently put it, “What if the world is holding its breath – waiting for you to take the place that only you can fill?” 

I love that question! Have you ever considered the possibility that the world is waiting for you, right now as you are today? It doesn’t need us to be perfect or successful or rich or a certain weight. We don’t need to change anything. We just need to be willing to offer who we are, strengths and flaws and everything in between, to the world.

There are lots of ways to do this including through your work, volunteering, raising a family, being a good neighbor, fixing something that’s broken, helping without being asked, saying a kind word at just the right moment, and so much more!

So be you and share that with others. It's what the world needs.

#PositiveAction Anything, no matter how small, that puts more love into the world is the best thing you can do in any given moment.

 

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Love Work

Posted on by WorkAuthentically

Have you ever been so excited about your day that you woke up early, with enthusiasm to get started? I remember feeling that way regularly as a kid. It seems the older we get, the more rare those days tend to be. Often it takes something out of the ordinary, like a special holiday, a special trip, or a special occasion for us to feel excited about our day.

Have you ever woken up that way thinking about work?

I shared last week that I believe everyone deserves to find fulfilling work that leverages their strengths and interests.

I also believe that work can be fun and enjoyable and if yours isn’t, it’s time for a change! I help people turn their job into joy because I’ve seen first-hand how our homes, workplaces, and communities are transformed when people love what they do.

It’s pretty simple, really. Miserable people who are grumpy about going to a job they hate have a hard time letting the miserable and grumpy go when they get home at night. Joyful people who are happy about going to a job they love have a hard time keeping the joy from seeping into everything they do.

If you don’t enjoy your work (and 70% of American workers don’t!), I want to encourage you because I’ve been there. It’s hard. Most days are a grind of surviving until Friday when you hopefully get a break. If you’re feeling stuck there right now, give yourself one thing to look forward to in the next week. Just having something small, like talking to a friend or getting a special coffee can make a huge difference when you’re struggling.

In order to find work you do enjoy, you need to believe that it’s possible.

Most of us are more than willing to settle for work that doesn’t excite us. We believe that responsible people go to work so they can pay their bills and provide for their families, without any consideration to purpose, which is a shame since that’s what our souls crave. We long for meaning in our work, doing something that matters and that lights us up inside. But we let another day, week, month pass in the name of being responsible.

I’d argue that the most responsible thing you can do, the thing that will have the greatest impact on your life (and everyone around you), is to instead find work you love.

#PositiveAction Search for one job posting where you would actually be excited to wake up and go to work!

My recommended reading on this topic: The incredible book by David Whyte, Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity.

 

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay

Love You

Posted on by WorkAuthentically

There are so many things I love about my job. Every day I get to educate and empower people to take positive action to transform their careers. I get to hear fascinating stories of the twists and turns careers take. I get to support and encourage people as they find work they love. It’s awe-inspiring and humbling to be part of my clients’ journeys.

One of the reasons I do what I do is because I believe everyone deserves to find fulfilling work that leverages their strengths and interests. More importantly, I believe that work is out there waiting for you if you haven’t found it yet! Yup. There’s a dream job for everyone (though it definitely changes over time).  

Guess what gets in our way of finding our dream job? We do!

There are two things I see repeatedly in my work with clients that are often a barrier to getting that dream job. It has nothing to do with resume format or LinkedIn profile skills or the usual things you would guess need to be improved.

It starts with strengths. First we need to know what they are, then (and this can be the hard part) we need to love our strengths.

Finding strengths sounds challenging, but it can be as simple as paying attention to the compliments you get or finally noticing what’s been in front of you. The important thing is to lean into those strengths when you discover them.

The harder piece for most people is to appreciate the strengths they find. And not just appreciate them, but to love those strengths because they are what make you authentically you! Even the weird strengths and the boring strengths.

I regularly work with people that don’t see the value in their unique strengths. I help them understand and appreciate how awesome they are so they can communicate that value to others. But it doesn’t happen until they find a way to love their strengths.

When we see the value and appreciate the value, we can share that value with others. If you’re thinking about starting a job search, start with love. Love your strengths and everything else that makes you authentically you. You'll be amazed at how much better your career story is when you do this!

#PositiveAction What strength have you had the hardest time appreciating? Ask someone else to tell you about a time when your strength helped them.

And as always, I have a book recommendation if you want to dive deeper. I didn't love it (see what I did there?) but it's extremely popular and I know it's been helpful to some.

 

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Love

Posted on by WorkAuthentically

Hands in shape of heart

I always share my word of the year (sharing is great for accountability!) but this year I felt more awkward than usual in doing so. It’s a word that we don’t frequently use in the world of work.

My past words of the year felt safer to announce and talk about. Words like grateful, listen, release, enough, abundance.

For 2021, I had originally been thinking about a word like opportunity, since I want to be the type of person that is open and recognizes opportunities in all their many forms. But on reflection, that word felt too small and me-focused. It wasn't the right word for my year. Then, I changed the question from “Where do I want to go?” to “What is needed most right now?”

As I thought about that question and the year we all just lived through together but apart, only one word came to me.

Love.

Love is what is needed most in my family, my work, and my world right now. It’s not that I don’t need or want opportunity, but I believe I’ll be able to create different and better opportunities through love. And one month in, I’ve already seen and felt a difference this year.

Love changes the way I respond to people. Love changes the way I show up for my clients. Love changes the way I assess what’s going on in the world, but more importantly, love forces me to take action to change what I can’t accept.

This is why I love (see what I did there?) choosing a word of the year! It permeates everything I do, both in ways that I expect and in ways I could never have imagined. Having a word of the year creates an intense focus and a growth that has been transformational for me over the past 6 years. There are many advocates of having a word of the year and you can’t really go wrong. If you’re curious, I started with Jon Gordon’s approach. 

#PositiveAction If you haven't already, it’s not too late to choose a word of the year. You’ll be amazed at the giant transformation that can happen through one word!

 

Image by Photo Mix from Pixabay