I love my work! (I never would have guessed that!)

My intention this week: Show up with love and at every invitation dance. 

The other day a client told me that they loved their job. I was surprised…actually, gobsmacked would be a better reaction to how I reacted because I would not have guessed they felt this way by how they acted.

In the past, I would just have nodded to this statement of fact and said nothing but something has overtaken me this year and so before I could even stop myself I said to them “Really? You do? I never would have guessed that from your actions. Why do you think that is?”

We ended up having an incredibly revelatory conversation about this and it summed up to: They didn’t think they should act like they loved their job. All the models in front of them acted put-off, annoyed, frustrated, overwhelmed and over-burdened by their work and so that’s what they emulated.

So we dug into this question:

How can you act in alignment with your love for your work? 

Amazing actionable, small micro-shifts, gigantic outlook pivots emerged and like every great coaching session, I think there’s something here for everyone. The question it has me asking myself at each turn is: am I acting in alignment with how I really feel?

I found myself shocked by how frequently my actions weren’t in alignment with how I really felt.

I really love going to a task force meeting once a month – the people that show up are passionate and care deeply about their neighborhood and sometimes they take it way too seriously and the entire experience is something I enjoy being a part of. But it happens very early in the morning and so many other people grumble about it so I had taken on their bad energy around it.

I really like tucking Lexi in at night. We’ve been reading Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls and I know the days of her wanting me to read to her and remind her of great things to dream about are fleeting. I tend to be tired and ready for my own bed when this time comes around and so sometimes my actions are more: “this again” than: “deeply glad I get to do this” and in thinking about it a shift can happen here too.

We were slogging through a puzzle last week and at one point I remember thinking “this was supposed to be fun” and I was surprised that we just kept slogging and pushing through. The lesson here was a great one: either let it be fun or let it be done. In the end, I think we let it be fun.

Have you caught yourself unnecessarily slogging through things you actually enjoy?

*Each week I’ll share my intention for the week – if you’re curious about what intention setting can do for you check out WISP our Weekly Intention Setting Partnership here.