A few years ago, I was working with a career coach to help me in my job search.
The first thing she had me do was look back at my previous jobs and rate them from -10 to +10 in terms of job satisfaction and then plot them on a timeline.
After doing this assignment, I noticed peaks and valleys in my past jobs.
Next, my coach gave me a list of words and asked me to pick 12 that represented what I value most in work and life.
Once I’d done this she invited me to look back at the peaks and valleys and notice how my levels of satisfaction were related to whether or not my values were being met.
A simple exercise, but I got great insight out of it – I could see why I was or wasn’t happy in the jobs I’d worked.
And I could also see the way forward – that if I was to live a fulfilling and healthy life, that I would do myself a great service by ensuring I had time and space in my life for all the things I value.
Because those valleys in my life – those were the times I ran myself into the ground, burned out and gave up.
Those were the low times when I didn’t have the motivation or energy to keep doing the work, and I kept taking myself out of the game.
So now I make an effort – no, more than that – now it is a definite part of my routine to ensure my days are scheduled in such a way that my values are met.
What does that look like?
I schedule time on my calendar for self care, to nurture relationships, to read, to write, to do marketing for my business. I make sure I have time to think, to connect with my friends and family, to monitor my investments, to do professional development.
I give myself time to work, to play and to rest.
For too long I’ve made time for what I “should” be doing instead of what I desire to do, and that is what led to all those valleys.
And it’s not like life doesn’t have its ups and downs, of course it does, but the better I protect my values and what’s meaningful to me, the better I can weather the dips.
“I don’t have time” is a very common excuse, but the truth is we do have time and we get to choose how we spend it.
If this is an excuse you find yourself using, and if you can look back and see a lot of those valleys behind you too, you might enjoy this short video about how to prioritize your values so the time you spend is more devoted to the things you desire to be spending it on.
And if you like that, you might like the whole series on building a wealth platform to give you more support in work and in life – more peaks and less valleys.
