Your workplace Is one of the critical areas in your life to establish balance. For no other reason, other than the fact that you spend at least 1/3 of your life there.Aligning Your Career to Your Core Values can only bring you peace and fulfillment.
When we have balance in all areas of our lives, we have a spring in our step and a sense of vitality. Unfortunately, as human beings, we make the common mistake of improving on areas where we already have abundance. For instance, if you have an excellent relationship with your family and friends. You may well put more time into those relationships. Your health may not be as balanced. You may not eat the most nutritious foods for your health.
By concentrating on one area, it is very possible that you can create the conditions to make your life even more on balance. You’re making your life out of whack. It’s only by bringing in every aspect of your life into balance you will be able to manifest everything that you need.
How Does Your Career Define You?
You are never defined by your career choices even though you spend an awful lot of time at work. Society demands we achieve a certain level of professional attainment, but it doesn’t make us the people we are.
Because our whole cultural background, at home and at school centers on the importance of having a career, we don’t always look at the aspect correctly. Your job is not a broader reflection of the person you are. It doesn’t reflect your capabilities as a human being. In short, it is a circumstance that is changeable.
Other People Want Your Career to Define You?
Whenever you are socializing with someone you have not met before quite often the second question after your name is
“What do you do?”
In a lot of cases, that question actually means – how much money do you earn? Very often the person asking these questions is merely finding a point of reference to stereotype you.
Ditch The Stereotypes.
To be happy in the workplace, you need challenges. I’m not talking about the problems that stress you out and make you ill. I am talking about the challenges that make you think and overcome obstacles and give you a sense of satisfaction. This sense of fulfillment tends to overspill to other areas of your life. You go home energized to enjoy your relaxation to be able to go to enjoy the next day.
If you bounce out of bed in the morning and can’t wait to get started then this level of energy will affect other aspects of your life. You will more likely eat a healthy breakfast. This is because you will want to give your body the best chance to do its best all day.
On the other hand, if you fall out of bed dreading another monotonous, dreary unfulfilling day, then you have little energy to spare. You are tired and drained and exhausted before you begin the day.
Our Careers Provide Us with Security and Certainty.
Our careers or rather our salary gives us a level of comfort and security because we know how much money we have to spend on bills. This influence is far more than a material effect. If we do not follow our passions will never be sure about our place in the world. Going through day after day with a predictable routine and no option to change it is tedious.
What is your Perspective?
Some people thrive on the challenge of adventure and thinking on their feet very rapidly. Other people are totally overwhelmed with this. You may be creative and feel bound by systems and logic. Understanding this will go some way to achieving balance in your career. You can read the previous articles on how to align your core values so that they work with your job.
A fulfilling career can give us higher status and more prestige and of course more money. It is possible to have all those and not have a fulfilling career. It’s what’s known as ramming a square peg into a round hole.
Power versus Force
Power always comes from within. When you are aligning yourself with your core values, you begin to shine. Other people notice this and are drawn to you automatically.
Force, on the other hand, is when people backstab their way to the top. During your working career, you will have seen people who attack everyone in the workforce. They waste time engaging in toxic gossip. They think this makes them more powerful! In fact, it makes them appear more pathetic.
They have no real power to force other people to do things apart from fear.
Force doesn’t make connections.
One of the advantages of having a fulfilling career is the connections that you make. I’m not talking about the relationships that allow you to have promotions or the links that give you the possibility of a new partial golf course. The connections which are essential involve relationships. Such as sharing a walk in the park at lunchtime. Inviting friends from work to share a drink in the pub on the way home to celebrate small successes or large ones. Or just to laugh.
Your work colleagues will not necessarily become your family, but you should have an opportunity to make profound connections. These deep connections will allow a balance to flow in many areas of your life.
When people are frustrated and angry at work, this pressure often spills out of the work environment. You take out your anger and frustration on your family because those are close to you. You may well stuff your face with sugar at the end of the day just to get an illusion of comfort
The result of this is more negativity and this, in turn, leads to more disconnection. Sometimes we actively partake in this disconnection by pushing away family and friends who are trying to help us. Sometimes we turn to outside elements such as alcohol to fulfill what we are not getting from our personal relationships.
Having a sustainable career is like any other lasting relationship in life. It requires personal growth. It demands we step outside of our comfort zone and have the courage to try things. Even if we fail, it shouldn’t send us into spiraling depression.
Failure is a part of life and an essential part of growth. We cannot grow without trying things and failing and picking ourselves up and starting again.
Plan B
Sometimes that starting again means looking once again at your personal core values and deciding are they right for now. Your core values are designed to last for life but as we move through life our perspective changes.
For instance, in my 20s my main concern was both money and traveling. Although I did travel for two years, my primary objective was money. I started with nothing. Once I was 30 I had enough money to buy a house with cash! I didn’t actually buy a house. The money itself satisfied my need for security. I could change my core values because I learned I was secure enough to make more money always.
I desired to be of service or give something back. This sense of gratitude has never left me. The desire to be of assistance has been fulfilled in many ways and is still a core value 30 years later.
From this point on I spent my life in the service industries. I would not have been happy as a banker. Being a banker may well fulfil a lot of people but it would not of fulfilled me. It was not aligned with my core values of service.
This is why you should define your own core values so you can live by them and find peace.
Inner Peace
Your workplace Is one of the critical areas in your life to establish balance. For no other reason, other than the fact that you spend at least 1/3 of your life there.
When we have balance in all areas of our lives, we have a spring in our step and a sense of vitality. Unfortunately, as human beings, we make the common mistake of improving on areas where we already have abundance. For instance, if you have an excellent relationship with your family and friends. You may well put more time into those relationships. Your health may not be as balanced. You may not eat the most nutritious foods for your health.
By concentrating on one area, it is very possible that you can create the conditions to make your life even more on balance. You’re making your life out of whack. It’s only by bringing in every aspect of your life into balance you will be able to manifest everything that you need.
How Does Your Career Define You?
You are never defined by your career choices even though you spend an awful lot of time at work. Society demands we achieve a certain level of professional attainment, but it doesn’t make us the people we are.
Because our whole cultural background, at home and at school centers on the importance of having a career, we don’t always look at the aspect correctly. Your job is not a broader reflection of the person you are. It doesn’t reflect your capabilities as a human being. In short, it is a circumstance that is changeable.
Other People Want Your Career to Define You?
Whenever you are socializing with someone you have not met before quite often the second question after your name is
“What you do?”
In a lot of cases, that question actually means – how much money do you earn? Very often the person asking these questions is merely finding a point of reference to stereotype you.
Ditch The Stereotypes.
To be happy in the workplace, you need challenges. I’m not talking about the problems that stress you out and make you ill. I am talking about the challenges that make you think and overcome obstacles and give you a sense of satisfaction. This sense of fulfillment tends to overspill to other areas of your life. You go home energized to enjoy your relaxation to be able to go to enjoy the next day.
If you bounce out of bed in the morning and can’t wait to get started then this level of energy will affect other aspects of your life. You will more likely eat a healthy breakfast. This is because you will want to give your body the best chance to do its best all day.
On the other hand, if you fall out of bed dreading another monotonous, dreary unfulfilling day, then you have little energy to spare. You are tired and drained and exhausted before you begin the day.
Our Careers Provide Us with Security and Certainty.
Our careers or rather our salary gives us a level of comfort and security because we know how much money we have to spend on bills. This influence is far more than a material effect. If we do not follow our passions will never be sure about our place in the world. Going through day after day with a predictable routine and no option to change it is tedious.
What is your Perspective?
Some people thrive on the challenge of adventure and thinking on their feet very rapidly. Other people are totally overwhelmed with this. You may be creative and feel bound by systems and logic. Understanding this will go some way to achieving balance in your career. You can read the previous articles on how to align your core values so that they work with your job.
A fulfilling career can give us higher status and more prestige and of course more money. It is possible to have all those and not have a fulfilling career. It’s what’s known as ramming a square peg into a round hole.
Power versus Force
Power always comes from within. When you are aligning yourself with your core values, you begin to shine. Other people notice this and are drawn to you automatically.
Force, on the other hand, is when people backstab their way to the top. During your working career, you will have seen people who attack everyone in the workforce. They waste time engaging in toxic gossip. They think this makes them more powerful! In fact, it makes them appear more pathetic.
They have no real power to force other people to do things apart from fear.
Force doesn’t make Connections.
One of the advantages of having a fulfilling career is the connections that you make. I’m not talking about the relationships that allow you to have promotions or the links that give you the possibility of a new partial golf course. The connections which are essential involve relationships. Such as sharing a walk in the park at lunchtime. Inviting friends from work to share a drink in the pub on the way home to celebrate small successes or large ones. Or just to laugh.
Your work colleagues will not necessarily become your family, but you should have an opportunity to make profound connections. These deep connections will allow a balance to flow in many areas of your life.
Career Frustrations Spill Out Onto Other Areas Of Your Life
When people are frustrated and angry at work, this pressure often spills out of the work environment. You take out your anger and frustration on your family because those are close to you. You may well stuff your face with sugar at the end of the day just to get an illusion of comfort
The result of this is more negativity and this, in turn, leads to more disconnection. Sometimes we actively partake in this disconnection by pushing away family and friends who are trying to help us. Sometimes we turn to outside elements such as alcohol to fulfill what we are not getting from our personal relationships.
Having a sustainable career is like any other lasting relationship in life. It requires personal growth. It demands we step outside of our comfort zone and have the courage to try things. Even if we fail, it shouldn’t send us into spiraling depression.
Bring On The Failing
Failure is a part of life and an essential part of growth. We cannot grow without trying things and failing and picking ourselves up and starting again.Sometimes that’s starting again means looking once again at your personal core values and deciding are they right for now. Your core values are designed to last for life but as we move through life our perspective changes.
For instance, in my 20s my main concern was both money and traveling. Although I did travel for two years, my primary objective was money. I started with nothing. Once I was 30 I had enough money to buy a house with cash! I didn’t actually buy a house. The money itself satisfied my need for security. I could change my core values because I learned I was secure enough to make more money always.
I desired to be of service or give something back. This sense of gratitude has never left me. The desire to be of assistance has been fulfilled in many ways and is still a core value 30 years later.
From this point on I spent my life in the service industries. I would not have been happy as a banker. Being a banker may well fulfil a lot of people but it would not of fulfilled me. It was not aligned with my core values of service.
This is why you should define your own core values so you can live by them and find peace.
