So far so good… You are finding 15 minutes a day to be at peace and in silence. You are now ready to incorporate the next step towards regaining your joie de vivre and find the fun in your work!
Read on to find all 8 tips and for the ‘how to’ and ‘why to’ for tip number 2. We will give you more information on each tip over the coming weeks and if you follow the advice, you will be well on your way to regaining your joie de vivre and finding the fun in your work.
Life just got more interesting – Here we go!
Daily checklist:
- Be at peace and in silence for 15 minutes
- Clarify your purpose (for information on ‘how to’ and ‘why to’, read on)
- Find something or someone to inspire you
- Do something today better than you did yesterday
- Any time you feel tense, breathe deeply and be still – it will pass
- Take responsibility for your wellbeing
- Avoid blaming others
- Write down one thing you’ve learnt about yourself today
Clarify Your Purpose
This is worth taking a little time to think about at first. So it might be a good idea to take yourself off to a quiet corner with a cup of tea and a notebook. It might take you 30 minutes. Once you have clarified your purpose though, it will be easy to create a daily reminder.
Why do you come to work? What are you there for? Have a think and write down what comes to mind. Then, read it back and ask yourself is this my purpose, or is it what I do? For example:
“Credit Control” – Is this my purpose, or what I do?
Credit Control is more of a job title than a purpose. It describes the function, or what one does, but it is not the purpose. Let’s take this example as a starting point, and find out how to find this person’s purpose (their why).
Q: Why?
A: So that customers pay on time
Q: If they paid on time, what would that mean to you?
A: We’d have a healthy cash flow
Q: If you had a healthy cash flow, what would that mean to you?
A: I would be doing a good job and would have a good review with my manager
Q:If you were doing a good job and this was reflected in your performance review, what would that mean to you?
A: I wouldn’t resent working as hard as I do
Q: If you didn’t resent working as hard as you do, what would that mean to you?
A: I would enjoy coming to work more.
Q: If you enjoyed coming to work more, what would that mean to you?
A: I would have more energy.
Q: If you had more energy, what would that mean to you?
A: I would enjoy speaking with my customers!
Q: If you enjoyed speaking with your customers, what would that mean to you?
A: I would want to help them.
Q: If you wanted to help them, what would that mean to you?
A: I’d feel really happy that I’d made a difference to their day!
So, in this example the Credit Controller’s true purpose for coming to work, might be better described as:
I help my customers pay on time, because it makes them feel good and that makes me feel happy!
There’s a big difference, isn’t there, between coming to work to control credit, and helping my customers pay on time, because it makes them feel good and me feel happy? Can you imagine the different conversations that you would have with your customer with that as your purpose and how much more enjoyable it would be to do your job?
Now, using the example to guide you, take yourself through these steps to help you find your purpose at work and feel the difference.
We all have lapses at times and forget our purpose. We get bogged down into the daily grind, we become task focused. That is why a daily reminder to focus on our purpose is so important. It lifts us up and we can ride on its coat tails for the day.
Lucy Windsor is the Author of People Aren’t Widgets, Communication Specialist and Executive Coach. Call us on 01932 888 885 or email lucy@theperformance.biz to discuss how we can help you and your organisation.