In light of the great resignation, last year we all witnessed people (and this may even have been you) many people leaving their jobs. Matter of fact, according to a Forbes article titled Costs Of The “Great Resignation” Starting To Add Up, “the quit rate is at 2.7% (peaked it 3.2%) and the turnover rate at 3.8% (peaked at 4.2%), we’re in an unusually fluid market. The civilian labor force in December climbed to 165 million, a record. Multiply that by the quits and turnover rates, and you see large amounts of people moving around.” However the article goes on to share that, “many of the inordinately high number of job switchers realized they had made a mistake or, at least, a less than optimal decision.” This is mainly because they did not stop long enough to get in alignment with the work that will give them meaning they greatly desire. It’s bigger than going after more money, what if instead you could find work that makes you excited to wake up every morning plus fulfills you in every way?
“Do What You Love, and You’ll Never Work a Day in Your Life”. Have you ever heard or read that saying and wondered how loving what you do can produce a paycheck? Well, in order to really apply that saying into your life and you career, it’s not just what you love that will allow you to wake up exhilarated and excited to go to work but, it really is the intersection of where meaning & fulfillment meet which is where your purpose lives.
In order to find the work that will make your heart soar, you must start with identifying 2 things:
What do you love? Your Passion
What are you great at? Your Proficiency
Once you identify these answers and understand where they intersect, you have taken the first 2 steps to find meaning & fulfillment. Why is this so important?
In a survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), it found that over half of employees say that they're not satisfied with their jobs. Even further, an article in the New York Times called, “Why You Hate Work” focused on a survey from the Energy Project, an engagement and performance firm that focuses on workplace fulfillment, which found people lack a level of meaning and significance at work. In summary, research has found that over 50% of people are not doing work they love.
Imagine what that means, if you are doing work that you’re good at, but you hate it. Matter of fact you hate it so much, you don’t even want to get up in the morning. Even when you get to work, that same disdain for your work affects your attitude and how you interact with others in your workplace. And if you work 5 out of 7 days a week, basically, you live 80% of your life unhappy in dread and regret. That is NO WAY TO LIVE and that is why I believe we have witnessed this moment with the great resignation.
You should be doing what you love and are absolutely phenomenal at. This allows you to add value not just to your life, but to the role you play at work and THIS is what fosters meaning in the work you do. And what we know is that when you are happy you excel at work which will have a ripple effect on your career. It also allows others who are around you, at work and at home, to experience a happy more fulfilled YOU.
What is really preventing us from living in this bliss? Living in the “land of perception” – doing what other people think you should do and being who other people think you should be. When you stop looking for an outside indication to an inside answer, you would find that your strengths, skills and expertise = the things you are naturally great at and you love doing it, well those things are in alignment with the exact work God created you to do. They define your purpose. The problem is that many do not stop to define what their purpose is in order to find work that aligns! I have to tell you once you align your purpose with your paycheck it can and WILL add meaning to your life.
How do I know this? Of course I can give you countless examples of clients I have worked over the last 20+ years to to align meaning & fulfillment with their paycheck but the first work I did around this was with me. I came to the realization that I lacked fulfillment in my work back in 1993 at a time in my life that from what everyone else could see, I was VERY successful. Matter of fact, some two years out of college, I had successfully matriculated into the Entertainment industry and landed the job I had always dreamed of since I was a little girl! Plus, I was going to all the hot Hollywood parties, I was bumping elbows with people that you’ve looked at on TV and have seen on films. I had the dream life! But I felt like something was missing. Now don’t get me wrong, working in Hollywood was GREAT! But I realized I had carved out a path professionally based on what other people told me I should be or do. Realizing this was confusing. What should I do? Stay in a job that is not giving me the meaning I desire and live into a career others would deem successful. Or should I go after the fulfillment my heart desired?
In the middle of me answering these questions for myself one of my good girlfriend asked me to volunteer at a program at our church. That night, as a volunteer working with young women, something in my belly jumped and I knew in that moment this is EXACTLY what I was meant to do. That night I found what my heart was yearning for and I began to shift my career to do this full time and what I know is that I found my purpose that night. Activating and living out your purpose is when you live in the complete power of your gifts and talents and no longer live focused on public perception or opinion.
I realized that the highest and best use of my gifts made me feel alive and fulfilled and actually I could not believe I could actually get a pay check for doing what I love. I can tell you from first hand experience that I get paid every day to do what sets my soul on fire and that is why I am committed to help every person I am blessed to coach and teach to align their purpose with their paycheck.
Deciding to align what you love with your greatest gifts and talents allows you to focus on what matters most to you and that is what gives your life meaning. Plus can I tell you it is an act of workshop to God. Romans 12: 1 says “ I ask you from my heart to give your bodies to God because of His loving-kindness to us. Let your bodies be a living and holy gift given to God. He is pleased with this kind of gift. This is the true worship that you should give Him."
Now, I talked about this in more detail on my FPP Live titled “The Foundation Makes The Difference” you can listen to that episode on my YouTube Channel at www.NRJNetwork.com but let me just share this note which is in my spirit filled bible under this bible verse which says, "rational response to God’s mercies is to commit ourselves in an act of worship” and how I believe we commit ourselves is doing the work we were created to do and serve all the people that reap the rewards from our work. After all every business was created as an answer and the role you play whether that is a CEO of your own business or running the part you play in a corporation, you are part of serving people’s wants, desires or needs just God intended for us all to do.
By shifting to focus on living out the DNA (distinct, natural ability) God placed in you, you profoundly shift the trajectory of your life both personally & professional. No matter what you do, you draw greater meaning & fulfillment when you focus on aligning your purpose with your paycheck.
"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman
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By the way, if you are ready to find meaning and fulfillment in your career or as you start or grow your own business join me on April 1st for the High Calling High Tea. Learn more & register at www.HighCallingHighTea.com
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