How do you feel when I say the word “work,” or the word ”job”?
I’d assume that it has an immediate negative connotation. You probably imagine lots of physical labor, or the misery you associate with going to your workplace every day. Maybe you associate the word “work” with the dread you feel every Sunday night thinking about starting the week. You associate it with feeling exhausted and drained at the end of the day.
I often hear people say things like “it’s not a job if you enjoy it.” We think that if something is enjoyable, then it’s just a hobby, not a “real job.”
Hating your job has become normal, but it was never meant to be normal. You are meant to be doing work you love. It’s not only possible for you to love what you do for a living, it’s how it was always meant to be. What if you’re supposed to be earning money by doing work you love?
If you’re listening to this, I’m guessing that you believe you have a purpose that you’re not fulfilling right now.
Do you really believe your purpose is to drudge through the week doing something that drains you, just to get by & have financial security?
What’s the thing that lights you up the most? What energizes you? What comes easy to you? What do you find yourself doing when you realize it’s been hours & time is flying by? What if that’s the thing that you’re meant to be doing?
Think about it – it doesn’t make any sense that the thing that comes most naturally to you shouldn’t be the thing that makes you money. Why not? When did we decide that that’s just a hobby, not a job? The only reason why the thing you love doing most doesn’t feel like a real job is because we’ve normalized hating our work.
It is of the highest good for the world that you do work you love, and make money through that work. When you’re in your element, doing your best work, feeling energized, it creates a ripple effect through everyone who interacts with your work.
As a life coach, I feel most energized when I’m guiding my clients through the process of creating a business that aligns with their passions and supports the lifestyle they want to create. I feel most energized when I am doing training & teaching on topics like quitting your job, navigating your quarter life crisis and starting an online business. My work energizes me, rather than exhausting me.
And through my work, I’m able to help my clients move into a career path or build a business that aligns with their own passions. And they go on to work with their own clients, and it creates a ripple effect.
But that doesn’t just apply to coaches. If you are passionate about art, your artwork is going to lift someone’s spirits. When they see it hanging in their living room, they’ll feel relaxed, or inspired, or whatever emotions your art creates for them.
If you’re passionate about music, your music evokes certain emotions from those who listen to it. And that creates its own ripple effect throughout the world. The same is true for entertainers, actors, podcasters, YouTubers, etc.
If you love interior design or construction, you are helping somebody create their dream home!
If you want to live a happier, more fulfilling life – and if you want to make a meaningful impact on the world – it’s time to normalize doing work you love. As long as you’re available to do work you hate in order to make a living, you won’t feel safe to make a change. We have to make love our careers the new normal.
For your homework, answer these journal prompts:
- Where did you learn the story that work means doing something you don’t enjoy? Or that in order to make money you have to do something you don’t want to do? Think back to your childhood, any experiences you’ve had and the people you’ve had as examples throughout your life.
- How can we reframe these experiences? Just because your mom held these beliefs or spent her entire life working in jobs she hated doesn’t mean that has to be your reality.
- What new core beliefs about work can you start integrating into your life? I like to turn these into affirmations and repeat them to myself daily. For example:
- I am meant to be doing work I love.
- The work that energizes me is the work I’m meant to be doing.
- Earning money through the work I love deeply supports me & everyone around me.
In the next lesson, we’re gonna talk about why you should stop asking other people for career advice.
