Follow Us
Posts Tagged ‘work’
How Soul Purpose Discovery Happens Thursday, May 5th, 2011
There seems to be this belief for many seekers of Soul Purpose that the discovery happens during an a-ha moment. This ends up leading to a lot of frustration on the seekers part as they just don’t know when that moment of inspiration is going to come. For my frustrated friends of Soul Purpose discovery, let me tell you how discovery happens.
Purpose and passion are sexy topics that seem to really speak to people who are at a transition in their lives where they are feeling unfulfilled and wondering where their life is going. It was at this type of transition that my own Soul Purpose journey played out.
Like a lot of people, I went through the tools for discovering my talent, asked questions and reflected on my life.
That was where my journey started. Where the mistake is made is in thinking that knowing what you are good at is the same as knowing how you can utilize those talents.
I will hear people say, “I know my purpose, now why isn’t anything happening?”
Understanding yourself better really is a critical first step and knowing the first step in your Soul Purpose journey is important. It’s the second step where true knowledge is attained.
The second step revolves around taking action and putting your assumptions, about how you create value, to the test. Soul Purpose is as much of a science as it is anything else. It’s putting together a formula or a process and then putting that into play to see how it comes out.
The great thing about doing this is that you can then review your actions during your morning routine and analyze what is working and what isn’t. My purpose has been refined considerably since I started my journey. Things I thought I liked, don’t engage me. Things that I ignored that were staring me in the face I realized were drivers for me. You never know until you go out and do it.
Realize that during this journey you fail some and you will succeed some. Analyze each and use that data to move forward with more certainty than you had going into the process. Each failure and success brings you one step closer to understanding the true path for creating value in the world.
If your Soul Purpose does happen to fall out of the sky and hit you, that’s great. Just do me a favor, don’t make that plan A.
What are your successes in Soul Purpose discovery? What are your failures?
How To Assess If You Are Busy Or Productive Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
We spent our last My Business World coaching call talking about planning efficiently and effectively. We don’t just get tripped up because we don’t plan. In fact I don’t think planning is our #1 issue. What good is planning after all if you don’t execute.
This is where time management comes in. Business owners can find things to do for days but how do you know if you are spending your time wisely?
There are two pieces to this formula that you can look at to help you assess your time management.
The first exercise is to do an activity inventory. Take five-ten and write down every single thing you have going on personally and professionally. Don’t over-think this and literally write everything down.
Now step back and look at it. Are there things in that list that need to be moved off of your plate?
Here’s one way that you can help decide.
Think about an ideal situation where you are only doing the work where you bring the most value to the table. What does that look like on a per hour basis? Is it $100/hour? Is it $500/hour?
Now go back to your list and ask yourself if there are activities that you can give to someone on your team or that you can hire out that would cost you less than the dollar per hour value that you ideally bring to the table.
This means most likely cutting out some paperwork or maintenance activities etc.
This sounds simplistic in its’ approach but the reality is you are probably wasting a lot of time working on activities that bring no real value to your business and that keep you plenty busy but ultimately keep you from being productive.
Spend some time this week to assess your activities. What are you spending the majority of your time on? What are the time wasters for you? What are you doing that you hate? Look at these activities and look for ways to get them off your plate and move you closer to your most productive year in your business yet.
Maybe You Should Quit Your Job Pt. 3 Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
So I was sitting at my home pulling up my e-mail and enjoying my weekend recently when I ran across yet another article on the state of the American worker. Newsweek is the most recent commenter on how American workers are fed up with the treatment they are receiving at work. Instead of trying to bend your large and inflexible corporation to your will, try this instead….quit.
That’s right the economy is apparently shit and I just told you to quit. Why would I do that? The reason for it is right in this article that Newsweek put out.
The article says that workers are becoming disillusioned with the state of the workforce. Here are some of the inspiration stats that the article has blessed us with:
- companies cut a higher-than-expected 131,000 jobs in July
- Much of the workforce has endured pay cuts, furloughs, and a loss of benefits.
- Eighteen percent of large companies recently surveyed by Towers Watson said they had cut or eliminated the matching money they contributed to employees’ retirement plans
- Companies have been slow to hire new workers, even though corporations, apart from financial firms, have $837 billion in cash, an increase of 26 percent since last year.
- Nearly 48 percent of Americans say they planned to look for a new job once the economy stabilizes.
- Roughly half of those surveyed say they no longer trust their companies or feel like they treat workers fairly
Doesn’t that sound great? I don’t think so either. The reality is that it is looking a whole lot better for large companies than it is for the average worker.
If you want more pay, benefits and respect then go where you are going to get it, on your own. The economy has changed the way the job market works and it’s never going to be the same. The article from Newsweek does in fact correctly state that the employment rate isn’t going to be coming down anytime soon.
The concept of quitting your job may cause you some anxiety but you don’t have to quit your job right away. You can start building your platform on the side and start telling the world who you are and how you create value for them to help your transition. Start thinking about what kind of products and services you could offer. Take a look at the kind of job you have and the company you work for and ask yourself what you would do differently with the company that would be better than what they are currently doing.
There is a work revolution going on out there and it’s time for you to look at how you can grow and do the work you were meant to do because chances are you aren’t doing it now and that’s a shame.
PS… In case you missed them here’s Pt 1 and Pt 2.