What are your beliefs about work and why it matters
Today I have a small question to ask, and it is this:
What are your beliefs about work?
Every time I ask myself a simple question like this, when I take a few minutes to journal about it the answers are kind of mind boggling. Like wait - what?! - I really believe that?! The answers we write are the automatic thought patterns that we are showing up with and are driving us every day. These underlying beliefs affect the energy and reality that we live in (yes, it is not fixed!).
It’s easy and natural to stay in auto-pilot and not even realize how these sorts of beliefs are affecting your happiness and quality of life. To settle for a ‘tolerable’ situation without even realizing you are doing it. To not question if the reality you are living in might not in fact be, THE reality.
Sometimes, just by journaling on open ended questions, I can discover things that I didn’t know I believed and get really fired up to change, because I am always wanting more joy and happiness! It’s a gratifying ‘a-ha!’ type moment for me. And sometimes, the awareness itself is enough of a catalyst to make it start to happen.
For inspiration, I’ll give you a few of my own examples.
When I asked myself this question two years ago, I wrote down things like:
I’ll never really enjoy work. Work is something I do to support the ‘fun’ parts of my life.
I’ll always be working more than I want to or think is ‘fair.’
The best path to success is to be an Individual Contributor because I’ll be able to have better work-life balance than if I go into leadership/management. Plus, my personality just isn’t cut out for that.
My only valuable skills are my technical ones. I am a great technical contributor.
Becoming a manager means you have no personal life - life is work.
Work is a necessary evil.
I’ll always be expected to sit in an office in a desk some of the time even though I really hate it and can’t get anything done. Maybe if I do it longer I will tolerate it better.
The work I do will never feel aligned with who I am, but that’s why it’s called a job.
Adults just deal with working, it’s a part of life.
It’s best not to be friends with coworkers and to keep things very professional.
Overall, a pretty grim outlook on an activity I spent ~8 hours a day doing! And I’m sure you can imagine the energy I showed up with when something wasn’t working or there was conflict at work - yuck. It didn’t happen overnight, but bringing awareness to all these beliefs activated me to see that I was REALLY uncomfortable with living in that energy for the next 30 or so years until retirement! I was certain I would be a crusty curmudgeon with all sorts of back and anger problems by then, and that my depression would definitely get worse.
With the help of a coach, I gradually went through each of these beliefs to understand why I believed that and how I could replace it with a story that was actually serving me. I created a new set of beliefs about work and took steps to align with living in them.
Now, when I ask myself this question, I write things like:
Work is a lifelong journey - something to be enjoyed rather than tolerated
I can work less and provide the same, or more, value
I get the most joy and fulfillment out of my work when I have meaningful relationships with my coworkers
I can set good boundaries and serve a leadership role without work taking over my life
I have the skills to be a good leader and others will enjoy working with me
If my job is not in alignment, it is safe to release it and find one that is, regardless of the economy
It’s easy to say that my relationship with work has become significantly healthier and more empowered, and that my relationship with myself has as well (everything is SO interconnected).
Beliefs are not facts, but we often accept them as such. I hope you feel like getting curious!
PS. If you want a follow up question:
Am I OK with living with these beliefs? If not, what will I do to change them?
