Remember, as a kid, being told that we can be anything we want? It seemed as though our teachers, parents, grandparents, television show hosts, uncles, and aunts couldn’t get enough of telling us this. Then, at some point, they stopped. Maybe they thought we should know it by now. Or maybe they thought we stopped dreaming when […]
When we are in our SweetSpot, work ceases to be a stress or struggle. Where there is stress or struggle, we are out of our SweetSpot. That means we are misaligned in one or more of these four ways: We are not using enough of our talents, We are not engaging enough with and seeing enough […]
Deficiency, or rather the elimination of it, is our source for meaningful work. We tend to see life, work, the world, and (secretly) ourselves as deficient in one or more of only these six ways. There is too much ignorance. Life, work, and the world would be better when we pause to understand before acting. We are […]
Many of us fear networking. We often think people will feel put upon or even angry if we ask them for help. And that may be true for perhaps 20% of the people out there. For various reasons, they just don’t want to be bothered. That means that about 80% of the people out there […]
Should we go for strategy A or B? Career This or That? Project X or Y? When we are not in our SweetSpot, the best we can do to make such choices is to build a list of pros and cons. Or maybe we can flip a coin. When we know our SweetSpot, we can […]
Why are you doing what you are doing in your work and life? If we scratch just beneath the surface of our answers to this question, we see something remarkable if not a bit unnerving. Many of our reasons for why we do what we do are imported. We have adopted our answers to the question, “Why?” […]
The criteria: Our work is successful and meaningful to the extent that it uses our talents, engages our passions, meets our needs/wants/desires, and helps others (individuals and/or organizations) solve problems that we find compelling or interesting. With these criteria in mind, let’s do a career checkup. Explore the following questions. Write down your answers. How would you rank your […]
A high-tech sales and marketing executive joining a law firm. An English major starting a mobile apps company. A teacher running an international shipping company. Contrary to what many believe, we don’t have to be experts in a field to start or join a business in that field. We can contribute our talents to build […]
Work that doesn’t use your talents is work you should have others do. Work that doesn’t engage your passions is a dead end. Work that doesn’t meet your needs, wants, and/or desires is martyrdom. Work that doesn’t solve compelling problems for other people or organizations is a hobby. Work that engages all four of these factors–talents, passions, needs/wants/desires, and compelling problems–is […]
Pause a moment. What physical sensations do you notice in response to this question: “If you could live the life and career of your dreams, what would it feel like?” Common feelings people report here include a buzz, tingling, warmth, lightness, or sensations of relief, release, or calm. They notice these sensations in their chest, […]