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Do you ever wish you
had a few more options when trying to find the work you love?
Here are some ideas that might help expand your thinking.
-
Change your physical
space when thinking about what you want to do.
(Motion changes emotion and a new location helps you think about
things from a new vantage point.)
-
Think about your
problem (opportunity!) from the perspective of someone else. Imagine
someone you admire is giving you advice about what to do.
(This takes practice, but you’ll get different answers that may
be helpful.)
-
Draw a picture of what
you want. Imagine how it sounds, feels, smells, and tastes.
(We all make meaning through our five senses.)
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Find someone else who
is doing what you want to do and ask them for ideas.
(This is called “modeling”. If what they are doing works for
them, why not for you?)
-
Define what being
successful means to YOU.
(You may need to redefine the meaning of success as compared to
all the external meanings you have learned.)
-
Practice thinking about
how you can do what you love.
(Think about how you are going to think about it; break your
regular negative thought patterns)
-
Laugh!
(Humor helps break the negative patterns of thinking you may
find yourself in during this time of transition.)
-
Ask yourself, how would
an eight year-old deal with this?
(It’s amazing what questions kids can ask to break it all down.)
-
Post the challenge on
your wall for a few days.
(Your brain will get tired of not having an answer.)
-
Figure out what you
have at risk if you don’t do the work the love now.
(It’s hard to be creative when nothing is at stake.)
-
Define a
“moving-towards” strategy.
(Positive and Proactive strategies will always defeat negative
and reactive ones.)
-
Disassociate and watch
yourself doing what you love. What did you do?
(You will be amazed at the ideas you will come up with.)
-
Move ahead in time by
one year and write a letter to yourself telling you what you should
do.
(Part of the problem with planning in the present is that you
include the baggage of the past.)
-
Write down in 30
minutes all the ideas you can think of to find the work you love.
(When we break overwhelming tasks into small amounts of time,
our motivation and energy increases)
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Ask yourself, “What’s
the next step I should take?” Then spend 30 minutes doing physical
exercise. When you come back, write down the first answer that comes
to mind.
(Those endorphins you get from exercise are the best
mind-advancing drug there is.)
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Open the dictionary and
read the first word you see. Read the definition. Ask yourself, “How
could this apply in helping me do what I love now?”
(Divergent thinking can help you notice solutions from a different
angle.)
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If you took a big risk
right now, what are the worst and the best things that could happen?
(Sometimes all it takes is using that “risk taking muscle” a few
times.)
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Say to yourself, “I
INTEND to resolve this”.
(“I hope” isn’t good enough. Go ahead and try it. No one is
listening. Notice the difference?)
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Reward yourself as you
make some progress.
(Internal rewards such as a nap or an ice cream cone will always
last longer than external ones.)
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Allow yourself ten
minutes of quiet time daily to just sit and be aware. Take deep
breaths and be aware of your thoughts.
(This will become the most magical part of your day.)
Craig Nathanson is the author
of P Is For Perfect: Your Perfect Vocational Day and a coaching expert
who works with people over forty. Craig’s new E-book, Discover and live
your passion 365 days a year is a workshop in a box designed to help
busy adults go insane with their work. Craig’s systematic approach, the
trademark "Ten P" process,’’ helps people break free and move toward the
work they love. Visit Craig’s online community at
www.thevocationalcoach.com here you can take a class, get more
ideas through Craig Nathanson’s books and CD’s, get some private
coaching over the phone or read other stories of mid-life change and
renewal.
