Love the work you do

Do the work you love.

When I work with clients, I want to help them find what they love to do and work. To help them figure this out, I asked them to share a story they love to do when they were children between the ages of 10 and 15. It is also a time when they were free with a little stress and cares in the world. As the clients tell the story, I listen and begin writing down the strengths, interests, desires, and potential opportunities are here and their story.

By telling your childhood story, your client may be unwittingly s are not worried about what they want to do, They are just telling a story and sharing clues to the work they potentially love. This exercise is one way to help clients find their passion. As adults think about what they want to do, they need to be given permission many times to dream and think about a career beyond what they are doing now. Many adults have been taught to find practical and common-sense work that will provide financial security. Most adults are not encouraged to dream from an early age because of the educational system that teaches us to be followers and not leaders.

By granting permission, you are people a chance to dream about a life and career that will help process and find their passion. Taking small steps to move past your comfort zone will allow you to start dreaming. You must be OK if you make a misstep or have a failure along this path. All the information you receive back will help lead you to what you want in life.

Here are three other ways that I help clients find the work they love:

Visioning/vision boards

I love helping clients create their visions in their life and work. I often like to run workshops or individual appointments with a client given a series of magazines, glue, scissors, and a blank board. The directions are simple. Look through the variety of magazines that I have provided and find words and images that you are attracted to and want to use to create your vision for the next year. As the client starts finding these different words, pictures, and sayings, the theme appears to help me, and the client see potential areas they love and may want to pursue. You can have a client do this at home and bring it in and explain it to you or do it and watch them and help them process the experience to understand better how they are making decisions and choosing the different images and words. Once the client is done with vision board, they need to put it someplace in their office or house where they will see it each day.  This way, it will give them a chance to think about what they want so they can take steps to achieve it.

Journaling

I love having my clients through journaling. I never give them too many prompts to write on.  I like to use a technique where they just free write for 2 to 3 pages each morning or night to get things out of their mind and onto the paper. I tell them you do not have to worry about what you write down, just put it on the paper. This process helps unclutter their brain so they can be clear in what they want. The second part is I have the clients go into their journals and re-read them the previous days to see what themes or topics may pop up regularly to give them clues of what may be a passion or something they love. I also ask my clients to share some journal entries with me to see what I may see between the lines that they may be missing. It is a great practice an opportunity for growth for your client to find what they love.

Risk-taking

My goal with my clients is to get them to step out of their comfort zone. To do this, I need to challenge them to think differently and look at the world differently. I must get them to take small steps each day, whether it’s to grow their network or set up a call for field research to connect with people who might be in an area of interest. The goal is to get consistent action and make sure that they follow through with the person and the commitment to determine what they want and love. Many activities fall under the risk-taking area, from field research and expanding your network to doing a weekly review and job check-up. Through these activities, clients will find what they love to do and what does not make them happy so they can focus on how to move forward.

In these four different activities you’ve learned about today, you can help your clients, or you start to find themes and passions that may lead to new careers. It is essential to listen to what you are saying and writing about to see what you love.  Put together a plan and start exploring to find a job and work you love.