We want love, we want to be loved, we want to give love, we want to be in love. Does any of this determine who we become? I didn’t say what we become but who we become. Does who we want to be determine what we become?
In college, I started with a few different majors. I tried economics, I tried accounting, I even went to law school. In each of these, I pictured myself in a room working with facts that I would then present to someone in some form. I didn’t see much personal interaction in these three disciplines to arrive at change in a person’s life. I was solving a problem they had but not really changing their life.
As it turns out, coaching has been the theme of my life. I love interacting with people to arrive at change together. The rewards are tremendous. I get a personal reward of appreciation in seeing the change even if people don’t say thank you outright. In most cases, people have been very appreciative and I felt the love for what I was doing and that became who I am.
Coaching is something I love. Helping people through interacting is something I love. Their appreciation is the fuel that makes earning the money sustainable. I have worked for the money in the past and it was not sustainable. I need to feel the strong appreciation for what I do in how it changes someone’s life. I do like the direct feedback.
What is it that really turns you on? Do you like creating a piece of art that someone will buy? Do you like helping an organization become more competitive so you get praised and compensated? Do you need to see a direct link between what you do and the effect it has on others?
Maybe you have a job you don’t care for in order to earn money to support those you love. Would you think 70% of the world population is in this category? It is the difficult aspect of corporate management in that it involves getting people engaged in activities that help the Mission but don’t necessarily mean much to the people personally. They live on “atta boy”, pay, and perks.
What makes you happy is doing things you love, having people love you for what you do, feeling love in return for what you are giving, and loving yourself because of who you are and what you do. Few things are more rewarding than getting love for who you are and what you do.
I love Taylor Swift because she gives everything she is to her music. In her interviews, I am always amazed at what she worries about. The things she worries about is what drives her to create alignment with her audience. Her concerts are a love fest. In her YouTube videos, with billions of views, I have never seen a thumbs down. She likes to tell you about her pain. Is the fact we resonate with her what makes her loved?
How many of us are that invested in our lives? Most people go day to day in their routines hoping for a miracle of salvation. They want change that will make them ecstatic about what they do and how they live. Why do so many people buy lottery tickets? They need a miracle to make their dreams come true.
I might say if you don’t feel the love for what you do and from the people you help, maybe you are not in alignment with your purpose. People who have made a fortune often self-destruct because they didn’t have a continuing goal of purpose, they just had one goal and when they reached it, they were done. Many people who win big lotteries are broke in 5 years. Money is rarely the answer.
We really need the love of what we do and from whom we help to sustain us. I am in my 14th year of surf coaching and it is the longest I have been in a so called job. It is the least pay I have ever received. In the past, even for a lot of money, I lost my incentive because I felt the circumstances of the work were killing me.
You can laugh, but I feel I am the Taylor Swift of surf coaching. I give everything to help my students become successful. I need a lot of patience. I am not a patient person, but my students always thank me for my patience. They know they struggled and were happy I didn’t say you suck. My goal is to have it be a good experience regardless of whether they were successful.
Can you make every day a creation of loving what you do? I need growth and goals in my day. I work on my nutrition, my fitness, learning, creativity, caring, and contribution. I am always becoming and don’t consider myself in static terms. I love the process. My friends say I have a lot of energy, but it is the ambition of becoming better with bigger contributions that give me the energy. It is my goal of being better that energizes me.
Think about how much love is in your day and how you could get more love into it.
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As a Thriving Worker Consultant, I can engage in conversations with employers on how to begin the process of helping workers thrive and reach peak performance. It begins with a conversation to see how far an organization is willing to go to change the culture for workers.
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