I love getting together with other heart-centered business owners. There are usually several moments in our chats which are uplifting and inspiring, but this one particular conversation really shifted my perspective on how I can bring my gifts to others and why easy work may just be the path forward.
There we were in our little zoom room, just catching up on how our businesses were going, what challenges and opportunities we were dealing with and how. I mentioned a recent personal development book I’d been reading and how it was improving my approach to some common challenges she and I shared.
Then she mentioned how she wished she had the drive to read like I did. That she feels like she should be reading the top, trendy business and personal development books but never does. She even buys them but they just collect dust.
I off-handedly offered to share my takeaways from the books and give her the highlights. And then I could feel something shift in my brain.
A Shift In Value
It’s a moment frozen in time that will live in my mental and emotional library ‘til the last brainy light bulb burns out. I will never forget it. I can probably tell you what her blouse looked like even.
What my brain latched on to was that she finds value in something I take for granted. That thing I can do so easily is something she would like more of – or at the results of it. Learning and reading for me is like breathing air. In fact, I absolutely CRAVE learning. If a day goes by without me reading a new concept or watching an interesting documentary or taking an online course, I feel a bit unsettled. When I say reading comes easily to me… I mean it’s like my security blanket. When I’m sick, when I’m well, when I’m alone, I’m reading. And when I’m with other people, I’m crafting a plan in my head for when I can get to a book at the next earliest possible moment.
So while I can’t share the drive to read & learn, I CAN share the results of that reading & learning. If this person would love to hear my take on these books, then surely there are others out there too! Could I turn this into something I can share to more people?
I faced my fears and the very next week started sharing my top takeaways for non-fiction books on LinkedIn. And still do! And I do it via video, something that DOESN’T come naturally to me! But I look into the camera and imagine my friend is right there and I’m just chatting away to her about this particular book. Then it feels so easy!
It’s been a joy to do these and I absolutely love hearing when a video inspires someone to dig deeper into that topic.
The thing is when we are in that sweet spot of using our strengths to better the world it doesn’t feel like work. It feels easy. It often feels so easy we can miss how important this talent is to those who don’t have it. We can miss the positive impact we can create.
Gifts Are Valuable
This is also the paradigm which showed me coaching is my calling. I’ve put in lots of effort, time and money into coaching. Some might say I’m working hard at it. But it feels so easy to me.
The coaching process itself is based on listening well then asking the right questions at the right moment. It also involves helping clients make connections they may not see as they’re often too close to the situation. These three aspects are tied to talents deeply embedded in my character.
My friends and former marketing clients often told me how they felt so seen and heard when we would have conversations. That I highlighted insights they could sense, but not yet name until our conversation.
Being that present in conversations comes so naturally to me – it feels so easy I used to not give it a second thought. And yet it is so valued by others. People yearn to be truly seen and heard. I’m honored to be able to use this gift, as it were, to help others grow in their own journey. I will continue to put in lots of effort, to hone this craft, to work towards mastery, but it will not be hard work, it will be a joy!
A Shift In Success
Your work should be easy. You should feel joyful in the purpose. The effort required should feel like you are honing a craft, polishing a pearl, breathing crisp clean mountain air.
And as the evidence from Aristotle, Maslow, Gallup and others shows us, mastering our strengths, being the best version of ourselves, leads to happiness & fulfillment.
So instead of putting value in hard work, maybe, just maybe, we can now find the value of easy work.
