Creating Meaningful Work
"You are given a life to grow a soul." This was the marquee
screensaver that I had on my laptop in 1998 to help me stay
positive and relaxed when I got discouraged or frustrated. One
day, while employed by MarketBridge, a strategy consulting firm,
I found myself in a client meeting onsite at IBM with Tim Furey,
CEO of MarketBridge.
I was creating a financial model during a meeting and my laptop
was being projected onto the conference room wall. We took a
break and my screensaver marquee "You are given a life to grow a
soul" started moving across the wall. Tim said, "Hey, I like
that!" which surprised me because he wasn't comfortable with the
word "spiritual" and I thought this would be too woo-woo for
him.
I soon learned that all of us are seeking a deeper meaning for
our lives. Many of us look to the Corporate Cubeworld for that
meaning and come up feeling empty, depressed, and powerless.
Here are my top 3 reasons for being: 1. Evolve into a
spiritually enlightened being who is mindful of the present
moment and speaks and acts from a space of love and peace. 2.
Experience joy. 3. Create something that makes the world a
better place.
I believe that I am here to grow a soul and evolve spiritually.
I evaluate my experiences and opportunities based upon whether
they are in alignment with this quest.
I believe that I am here to learn to live from a space of love.
Ron Rathbun, my meditation teacher, defines love as "complete
self-acceptance". Once you completely accept yourself, you will
be able to accept others just as they are and this is the love
we are all seeking. One of my desires in this physical life is
to completely accept myself which allows me to completely accept
others and situations just as they are.
I also believe that I am here in this physical life to
experience joy. Plain and simple. If something that I am doing
doesn't lead to joy, I must ask myself "Why am I doing this?".
And then I try to align my thinking and actions with joy. I
believe that when we are in joy, we are aligned with our inner
self (some call it higher self, soul, or spirit). I believe that
when we are not experiencing joy, then our inner self is guiding
us to change our thinking or actions.
I want to leave the world a better place. And I think there are
infinite ways to do this. Does it really matter what job you
have? Yes and No. If you experience joy and are able to
contribute to the world then that is all that matters. You can
do this styling hair, cleaning cars, landscaping, designing
websites, doing motivational speaking. You can do this any way
you choose. There is no right or wrong. There is only what works
for you.
Many of us search outside of ourselves to find the "Meaning of
Life". Or we look to our jobs to give our lives meaning. This is
a futile exercise.
Each of us creates our own meaning. It is based upon what we
value. Each of us values different things. To live a meaningful
life, you need to be clear on what YOU value. I do believe it is
extremely important to align our work with what is meaningful to
us.