In my work around healthy balance, I teach a process that helps you figure out which areas of your life that you spend a lot of time in AND discover aspects that are getting a little less attention. One of these steps in this seven step process asks you to examine which areas you are feeling pulled to, drawn to.
This brings us to “energy” and how it relates to your career. Think about your favorite hobby. Maybe it is horse-back riding, kayaking, hiking, or biking. Bring whatever it is that you really, really enjoy into mind right now. Use your senses to recreate that mental picture. Can you feel the wind in your hair? Do you smell the scents that you associate with that activity? What sounds, sights, and tastes are bubbling to the surface?
For me, it’s walking onto a beach in the morning. Even as I pack my car for my beach day, I can feel the gentle breezes on my skin. As I get closer and closer to the shore, I start to really smell the salt, fish, and sand. Walking across the hot pavement to the stairs that lead up to my favorite spot, I can notice the sweat beads forming as I softly glisten in the sunlight. I climb the stairs and come up over the dunes. I just see it. The sand, surf, gulls, and reeds. It all comes at me at once. I am in that space… my favorite place.
Ok, so for you… what is an activity that you can call to mind that uses all of your senses? What hobby do you enjoy so much that you can feel yourself doing it right now?
What I want you to notice from this exercise is that when you are involved in your favorite activities- you become entranced. Calling this enjoyment to mind sends you so deep into thought that close to nothing can break your concentration. You lose yourself in the “sweet breeze of peace of mind” (as my Beach Yoga instructor Karen, likes to say).
Now- you have the activity in mind that really enthralls you, right?
All I suggest you do now is apply this to the space of your life that involves your career. Whether you are satisfied, happy, and pleased with where you are at or if you are looking to make a change; follow your enjoyment to receive energy. Do what you are drawn to. Work in the capacity and ways that lift you up. Energize yourself through your work.
“Gosh, she makes it sound so easy? But how the heck can I do this in my own life? Doesn’t she know that the world is not a perfect place…? I can’t always do what I want!”
And here I come to be a bit in your face about this: yes you can! The only person getting in the way of doing what you want… is you! "Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine." Ralph Waldo Emerson.
So with respect to your work- to really jazz your career up, enhance your health and well-being, and spend time doing what you love- follow where your energy leads you. When you are drawn to something; go after it. When you feel pulled in a direction; take that trail. When you are “called” to an idea, role, and/or task; pursue it.
Leave the second-guessing, safe-playing behind. Forget about what “other people” think of you. And sure, you have to work where you work to keep your job and pay your bills. But how can use these principles to enhance your experience? How can you create more passion for your role by following your energy for a change?
Elizabeth “Coach” Scala, MSN/MBA, RN is passionate about helping healthcare professionals, nurses in particular, to embody holistic living and embrace self-care. Through her business, Living Sublime Wellness, she writes regularly on the topic of self-care, conducts wellness workshops, and offers both in-person and online seminars for busy nurses.
Elizabeth is a Certified Health and Wellness Coach and holds Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and Master’s degrees in both Business and Nursing. Originally from Carmel, NY, she now lives in Baltimore, MD with her husband and two dogs. Visit www.livingsublimewellness.com for more information.