Since we’re in the middle of social distancing and staying home, lots of you are either working from home or you’re off work. This means lots of time to think about either how you’d rather NOT be working your job or wishing you didn’t have to go back.
Let’s use this time to figure out what it is you want to do, a passion that would light you up and how to find fulfilling work that doesn’t involve a boring job assessment test.
Why this is important
If you’re flip-flopping between trying to decide if you want to take action and move past, “I should just be grateful to have a job right now” or “Some parts of life just suck, that’s the American Dream” and “If I don’t make a change, I don’t know how I’m going to keep going” do this exercise.
Imagine if you lived until 80. Figure out how many days you have left.
Take 80 minus your current age and multiply by 365.
How many of those days do you want to keep living the way you currently are?
If this question makes you upset, either at me or yourself or the world, then it’s an indication to start taking action. You’re probably wondering, “That sounds great, but how do I actually do this? I feel so lost”.
First, take a deep breath. Your past isn’t an indication of your possible future. If that were the case, you’d never learn how to walk, how to drive or pump gas, or even get a job in the first place.
Make yourself a promise.
Keep an open mind. If you hear yourself saying, “That’s not an option for me” get into the habit of asking open-ended questions and making your brain come up with a solution.
You’ve spent decades believing thoughts that are holding you back. There’s a lot we’ve got to uncover and bust. Some of these feel just as real to say as “gravity exists” or reporting the news. They just feel like facts. But these are just thoughts. We’ll get more into that later.
Your beliefs are the most important
Your ability to find fulfilling work isn’t based on how much education you have, your experience, background, or your connections. It’s totally based on the beliefs you have about yourself and the world around you.
Your actions come from your emotions and your beliefs.
Think about it, when you have the feeling of determination, and the belief that you can do almost anything if you put your mind to it, then you get the result you want.
But at the same time, when you have the belief that you CAN’T do something, it creates a very different emotion, like disappointment, or sadness. What types of actions do you take when you feel like that? Not very many, right?
Think about how you need to feel to change your life and find what you’re passionate about (even if you don’t know what that is).
It’s easy to start thinking about the “how” right away. When there’s something you really want, and it seems impossible or far away, your brain wants to figure out how right away.
Having the step by step makes it seem easier to do, right?
But even if you HAVE every step by step, if you don’t have the right mindset going into it, then it doesn’t matter if you know everything you need to do. You’ll give up at the first sign of a letdown.
That’s why it’s SO important to start with mindset. If you’re not in a place or feeling resilient and ready to fall down and get back up again then you’re not going to stick with this until the end.
So, think about the types of feelings and emotions that would help you keep taking action and keep the self-discovery process going (even when you’re not seeing results).
What thoughts would make it easier for you to have these emotions? Remember, our feelings are caused by our thoughts.
What thought would you need to have to lead to you feeling determined, inspired, motivated, or whatever feeling you know will be what you need to build resiliency.
Step 1: Identify beliefs you have that is stopping you from finding your passion and fulfilling work.
Some of the thoughts stopping me when I was in the corporate world were:
- “I didn’t finish my college degree, so that means my options are limited.”
- “I don’t have passions (or even hobbies).
- “I don’t have any talents or skills”.
No matter how “true” any of these thoughts seem they aren’t helping you find your passions and fulfilling work
These thoughts aren’t serving you. You can always tell if a thought serves you or not by asking yourself, “Will this thought help me achieve what I want?” or “Is this thought making me *feel* the way I need to go out and explore myself?”
If the answer is no, then practice letting the thought go. Recognize it for what it is. Just a thought, that you’ve repeated to yourself a lot. It may sound silly, but imagine the thought floating away like a balloon.
While it’s impossible to control every thought that pops into your head, you DO get to decide which thoughts you give value to and which ones you don’t.
Let’s be real, your desire for a better career won’t go away regardless of the thoughts you have, right? So may as well pay attention to the types of thoughts that will actually HELP you get there, right?
Once you’ve recognized some of these thoughts that have turned into beliefs. Start to challenge them. This is the way that you can take away these limiting
Ask them open-ended questions. Like if you have the belief that You don’t have any passions.
Ask, “What would my life be like IF I did? How would I be spending my time? What would I be thinking? Or feeling?”
You don’t have to force yourself to believe in a thought that doesn’t feel true yet.
If the thought, “I have TONS of passions and hobbies” doesn’t feel real, then don’t force it.
It won’t do any good. Fake it until you make it isn’t what I’m talking about.
One of my mentors, Brooke Castillo, talks about the idea of “ladder thoughts” or the thoughts in between the ones not serving you, and the ones that will help you get to where you want to go.
So, if “I have TONS of passions or hobbies” sounds too far fetched. Then try the ladder thought “It’s possible that I have passions and hobbies I haven’t discovered yet.”
You can feel the energy around that ladder thought versus, “I have no passions or hobbies.” right? This ladder thought sounds hopeful.
When I think ladder thoughts when I’m trying to shift my beliefs about myself, I feel possibilities.
The more and more you practice this, the more and more real it starts to become.
When you *FEEL* possibilities, you become more open to seeing them in your life.
What now?
If you want to become not only aware of your thoughts and emotions, but you want to learn how to truly handle them and get the RESULTS you want in your life, then set up a 1-on-1 consult with me.
This virtual video call is free and crazy valuable if I do say so myself.
We’ll go over:
- What you want (not just what you think you SHOULD want)
- What’s stopping you from getting what you want
- What the steps are to be able to move the obstacle in your way.
No matter if it’s your partner, your job, your emotions, self-doubt, you name it.
Schedule your free consultation and get started working on what’s really important.
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