How would you describe your activities at work? Would you say you are flourishing? I mean, you are doing what you love and you are good at it.
Often in my coaching, I hear the complaint that people are frustrated because they are doing things they either don't want to do or are not good at. Rather than focusing on the things they do well and enjoy doing they get stuck with tasks that do not bring any sense of joy, or are just outside of their abilities.
Below I am going to walk you through four categories about how our work makes us feel.
It all revolves around two crucial ingredients: Desire and Ability. When these two are not in alignment, there will be friction with us and our work.
The four ways we can feel about our work are: futility; frantic; frustrated and flourishing.
Frantic - ability but no desire
The person who feels frantic is consumed with tasks that they are able to do, and maybe even well, but have no real desire to do them. Often they end up with these tasks because they have shown a proficiency in a certain area, but it is not the stuff that gets them out of bed and excited to do.
This could be bookkeeping, calendaring, or any other thing. The point is that, although you do it and are good at it, given the option you would really rather not do it.
In one sense, these sorts of tasks might be unavoidable. What I mean is we might not be able to eliminate them completely. But there is a way to decrease them, and the key to that is delegation.
When you find yourself consumed with such tasks, ask yourself how you can delegate them to other people. How can you move them off your plate to free you up to do the things you want to do?
So the feeling is frantic.
The problem is there is the ability but no desire.
The soluton is to delegate.
Futility - no ability and no desire
The next feeling is futility. I hate this one. I bet you do too. This is the stuff that I don't like doing and am no good at. There is hardly a worse feeling than the feeling of inadequacy. Add to that the despair that comes with doing things we don't like doing... it is horrible.
These are the things we do that are a pure waste of time.
These are the things we need to cut out of our task list. The key way to deal with them is to Eliminate them. Stop doing them, stop scheduling them and purge them from your planner. They leave us unfulfilled and unproductive.
The feeling is futility.
The reason is there is no desire nor ability.
The solution is to eliminate.
Frustration - desire but no ability
The next feeling we might experience is frustration. These are the tasks we want to do, but are not good at. These are frustrating because our desires are hindered by our competence. We feel like failures when we cant achieve the things we want to achieve.
We find ourselves spinning our wheels and making no progress. This can be extremely disheartening.
The feeling of frustration reminds me of watching a child trying to push their play car on the grass. The car gets stuck on a rock and they cant push it any more. They want to but cant. So what happens? In their hindered desire they act out in frustration and cry.
So what do we do as adults with these tasks? I guess we can cry, but that won't get much done.
Here is the point where you need to make a choice. Either eliminate, delegate or innovate .
Either don't bother at all and eliminate. Or delegate it to someone who can do it, or innovate and find a way to get it done.
By Innovate I mean tap into your creative side. Maybe you need to learn a new skill. Maybe take a course. Or find a way to collaborate with others to do it. The point is, if you really want to do it but cant, and are not willing to cut it, you need to find a solution so you quit feeling stuck.
The feeling is frustration.
The reason is there is desire but no ability.
The solution is to either eliminate, delegate or innovate.
Flourishing - desire and ability
Ah.... finally! Flourishing. This is what we all want. This how we all want to feel with our work. This happens when ability and desire align. We do what we do well and enjoy doing.
These are the things we want to do more of, and if possible exclusively.
This is our sweet spot, and this is where we want to spend our time and energy.
The key action here is to concentrate.
These are the tasks we want to make our priority because not only can we do them, but we get a sense of satisfaction from them.
When we feel we are flourishing, our work is so much more enjoyable and our lives more fulfilled.
The feeling is flourishing.
The reason is there is an alignment of ability and desire.
The action is to concentrate on doing these things.
So... what about you? Which one fits your feelings with your work? Are you flourishing?
Did you know that I coach people who feel overwhelmed with work and life. I help those who are overwhelmed and frustrated become overcomes and flourishing.
I also help people in career transition smoothly move from one line of work or job to another.
I can help you get to that feeling of flourishing.... would you like that..?
Let me know in the comments if you would like a free Complimentary Coaching Session and we can set it up.
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