When was the last time you left work on time?
With energy to go to the gym or out for a drink with friends?
Has it been that long?
Really?
Sounds like you’re stuck in an energy-zapping loop, my friend.
Like this…
4:00pm
In most workplaces, people go home at 5:00pm, so for them the work day would be nearly at an end. Not for you. So much for the idea of work-life balance. You remember when you were at college and thought those long workdays would soon be over.
Little did you know…
You’re going to have to work late tonight and then you know that there’s not much left in the fridge, so you’ll probably end up having take-out again. The house could do with being picked up, too.
Then you’ll also miss your class at the gym. You had so many good intentions for that when you signed up.
You wouldn’t mind staying a bit later if it was something you cared about, but the work that you do just feels boring. You feel completely off track with it and don’t know how to get back on track.
You fast forward to your end-of-the-day reward – maybe one of those craft beers in the fridge or perhaps a couple of episodes of that new Netflix show.
You know that you’ll have more than one drink or watch more than two episodes, but it’s easier just to kid yourself that you’re in control.
Your old friend asked if you wanted to meet up, but even if you weren’t working late, you just don’t have the energy for it. Who wants to speak to someone as unsatisfied with life as you are anyway? You aren’t especially fun to be around.
This is Stucksville and maybe there’s no way out.
Being responsible and handing your work in doesn’t get you out of there.
It’s not as though you’re NOT able to take any action. You can.
But if you don’t know where you’re going, how can you get there?
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”
– Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll (Chapter 6)
Wouldn’t you like to be headed somewhere better than just “somewhere”?
It can be hard to identify a path that lights you up because as soon as you feel a glimmer of hope about what might be possible for you, you squash that possibility rather than investigating it further.
And the many options leave you overwhelmed and fearful about making the wrong choice.
But what if…
4:00pm
It’s coming to the end of the work day and you can’t believe how fast the time has flown.
One of your work colleagues comes over and congratulates you for the completion of your latest project and you feel the inner glow and satisfaction of a job well done.
You’re going to head to the gym after work and take that Crossfit class that you’ve been enjoying. You can’t believe that changing your career has given you so much more energy.
How is that possible?
You know for sure it’s not all about the green juice that you’ve been having.
You’ve got a dinner planned that evening with some people that you love and some you’ve yet to get to know.
You smile, because you remember how hard events like that used to be for you. You feel more settled in who you are, more confident, stronger.
You think about the things that you’ve already accomplished that day and take a bit of planned time to go through some emails. There’s a couple of warm thank you’s for work that you have completed.
Your boss knocks on your door and asks if you have a moment. She sits down opposite you and with a warm smile tells you that you’ve been selected for a huge project that you’ve been crazy excited about.
You know that you’re growing and can see wonderful new opportunities opening up on the horizon.
How close are you to finding that energizing career path?
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