Joywork Part1: Make Work a Productive Pleasure

If you've ever held a dead-end job, you know how painful it feels and how much energy it takes, just to rise every morning. If you've held a career, that brings you nothing but money, there's an emptiness within you, your paycheck can't fill. Make your work a productive pleasure, by planting yourself in the richest soil possible.

Measure the Richness of Your Soil
Plants thrive on the richness of their soil, the combination of their nutrients, and you thrive on the richness of yours. In the right soil, your roots spread, your leaves shine, and every now and then, you need to transplant yourself to a larger and richer environment. Just as you do for the plants in your home. Three ways to increase the richness of your soil is through meaningful work, meaningful relationships, and meaningful results.

Meaningful Work
Meaningful work does more than bring home the bacon. It feeds your mind, heart, and soul. Joywork challenges your thinking with new ideas or a new perspective on an old one. You get out of bed on a mission, you've got a problem to solve. The richness lies in your ability to create solutions. Solutions which help or heal everyday people, in one way or another. Not glamorous, but meaningful, deeply meaningful work.

Freedom of self-expression, through issues that move and matter to you, make work a productive pleasure. It connects you to a social consciousness, locally and globally. Moving you towards people who think and care the way you do. It connects you with opportunities that grow you through books, classes, workshops and more. Not glamorous, but rich, meaningful work.

Meaningful Relationships
Always hang out with the builders. Those who cross your path and lift you up. A kind word, a smile, or a good idea. These are your nutrients. Be positive and attract positive. Be honest and attract honesty. Be kind and attract kindness. It's your equivalent to add water and sunshine. Plants don't grow in the dark. The same is true for you. Make your work a productive pleasure.

Meaningful Results
What do I mean by meaningful results? I want you to measure what matters. Growing stronger by feeding your mind, heart, and soul. That matters. Dropping the word "impossible" from your life. . . forever. Always being open to what is possible.That matters. Measure your growth in inches, not miles. Little things matter.

Feel good, really good, about who you are and what you offer. Kindness, compassion, and creative problem solving, all rolled into you. Feel valued, without thought to title, place, or position held out in the world. Feel it for the existence of your space. A space on earth which you alone occupy.

Feel a deep sense of gratitude, as new opportunities come your way, and maybe a few old ones which have crossed your path. . . again. Believe in the certainty that the only doors closed to you, are the ones you close.

Always plant yourself in the richest soil possible. Whether at work or in mind, heart, and soul. Wishing you more opportunities to make work a productive pleasure!

Copyright 2011. Asia Sharif-Clark. All rights reserved.