Have you ever said, “there must be more for me in this life?”
January is inventory time and everyone in the retail industry is frantically counting and recounting their inventory to create a complete list of their wares. As I’ve watched this process, it has prompted me to think about how useful inventory could be in certain areas our lives.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had several conversations with people in which they have shared with me the following sentiment “there must be more for me in this life.” When I ask them what they mean by that, it always comes back to the unfulfilled feeling they have in their career.
Let’s spend today taking inventory of the wares required to create a sense of fulfillment and identify how aligned you are in your career.
Oxford Dictionaries defines career as an occupation undertaken for a significant period of a person's life and with opportunities for progress.
This definition prompts the first question in the inventory. Thinking of opportunity as the first ware in creating fulfillment, are you excited about your opportunities for the future in what you are currently doing? Let’s use a 1-10 scale, 1 = no opportunities in sight creating zero excitement 10 = plenty of opportunities are on the horizon and you are thrilled at the possibilities in front of you. Where are you on the scale?
The dictionary also defines work as an activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result as a means of income.
I love this definition, effort done to achieve a purpose or result. Here it comes, the next set of questions, using purpose and results as the second ware for fulfillment.
- Does your current role provide you with a sense of purpose?
- How connected are you to the result of your efforts?
- Are you able to identify the impact you have in the world or does it all seem meaningless?
I get it! I’m a person who thrives on being directly connected with people in a way that allows me to be up close and personal with the impact I am having in the world, better known as my purpose.
In the past, I have been in roles where I was in a cubicle creating materials that would eventually have an impact on individuals once the materials reached them, however, that could be months or years and I would never hear their story. This delivery process put too much distance between my purpose and the result of my work creating a perfect incubator for feelings of being unfulfilled and empty.
It took me a few years to figure this out and now I know fulfillment for me comes from being with people and directly helping them. It can mean stopping to lend a hand to a homeless person on the street to supporting my clients as they reach their goals.
How close do you need to be to the results generated by your work to feel your work is meaningful and have it ignite a sense of purpose within you
Are you creating the level of impact that you would like to have? Here’s what many people say, “No, I feel I am meant to do more, but I don’t know what.” Taking the next step to do a deeper discover takes courage and can feel very scary because it may lead to making a change in your job or career or perhaps a shift in your perspective.
The size of the change is unique to everyone. It could mean expanding your level of engagement with others at work to create a stronger human connection and discovering ways you can be of service to them. This is a way to demonstrate impact and feel a sense of fulfillment. It may also open opportunities to you that you never would have considered before.
On the other hand, the change may mean honoring something you’ve known for a while, yet you’ve been denying yourself the experience of creating a deeper sense of joy in your life for a multitude of reasons. Those reasons could be hiding behind a wall of procrastination, self-doubt and all of the self-sabotaging “what-if” possibilities never once considering the one that reads, what-if this works out and I can really do this!
Humor me for just a minute and try this on for size; imagine being able to create the change you want and this change would provide you with wares of purpose and opportunity. You would be able to have the level of impact along with the results you most desire. Imagine it actually working out. Yes, it is working! How would your life be different? What does it feel like?
As you imagine, engage all of you senses. Notice if and when a smile starts to form on your face or you feel a warm sensation in your heart. What sparked those sensations?
What’s one small step you could take today to move you closer to a sense of fulfillment and joy in your job? Hit reply and let me know what you decide.
If you would like to chat about what your inventory of wares revealed to you and what next steps could look like for you, click here to sign up for a complimentary discovery call with me today.