Category: Work and Vocation

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Wealth and Work: Are you Burned Out?

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Wealth & Work - Are You Burned Out?

Are you Burned Out?

We all experience burnout at some point.  I left a 17 year career because I sensed it creeping up on me.

At the time I left I had well over 15 years left before I could qualify for early retirement and I knew I could not last that long just for the full retirement benefits.  So I left, and even though my income has been substantially less, I am less stressed, much happier in general, and able to actually encounter the world in a way I would not have been able to if I had stayed.

I am not recommending you all go out and quit your jobs by any means, but I do have some recommendations from what I observed in looking back at my career that might have helped me avoid the impending burnout:  take vacations, observe a Sabbath day, and delegate more (read: do less).

Vacation

First things first, take a vacation!  Vacations (from the Latin vacare – “to be unoccupied”) are necessary to rejuvenate our mind, body and spirit.  We weren’t meant to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

And take an “unoccupied” vacation – don’t plan out an itinerary that rivals your pace at work!  Take a vacation where you unplug, spend time just reading, spend time outdoors just observing and soaking in the the fresh air and, hopefully, some natural sunlight.

Unplug from your phone, your TV and the internet, at least for the majority of the time.

If you are married, with or without children, enjoy the time with your family and spouse, allow yourselves all the flexibility in the world for that time. Linger longer somewhere that is enjoyable and leave the next destination for another time.

Be present for your spouse and family – don’t spend your vacation worrying about work.  It will still be there when you get back.

Taste the food.  I’m serious.  When was the last time you can remember tasting your food?

Try something you have never tried before.

When you return from vacation and before the relaxed calm wears off, take a look at your schedule and set some clear work boundaries.  Block out times for future vacations, family outings, time to read, time to spend outdoors, and set a specific time to end your work day, every day.

Sabbath

The Sabbath in the Judeo-Christian tradition has long been made out to be a day of restrictions, but it was meant to be a day of rest each week – a gift to us – a day that we did not have to toil under the curse but could trust that God would provide.

In New England sports vernacular, you might consider the Sabbath day as a “reverse the curse” day.

A Sabbath day is essential whether you are religious or not.  It is also difficult for many of us to observe properly.  Relaxation is an elusive concept for me, but as I continue to get older, I recognize its importance for my health more and more.

Think of your Sabbath day as the day you get to enjoy the fruits of your labors, spend time with family and friends, and experience the wonders of nature.  It should be a day to recharge your emotional and spiritual batteries, and give your brain and body a rest.

Treat it like a weekly vacation – unplug, be present with those around you, take a break from technology, enjoy some nature or even yard work (yes work of this sort is fine, as long as it rejuvenates you)!

Delegate More

We can all find things to delegate.  These are things that other people can do as well or even better than we can, and distract us from doing the one or two things that only we can do.

This is a lesson I didn’t learn until after I exited my previous career.  I took on way too much and got stuck in the self destructive mode of continuing to do things myself because it was faster and easier than training someone else to do it.

The fallacy in this is that I was killing myself to get all these things done, while the things only I could do were not getting the full attention they deserved.  One of these things was developing and leading my team.  I didn’t know how to draw the line between being productive and helping others be productive.

The first thing to do is set limits on your work hours and prioritize your work schedule to get your work done in that time.  This might mean clarifying with your boss whether the project you are working on takes priority over some status meeting, especially if you arrange for someone to brief you on anything important to your project.

Then take a hard look at the tasks you are still trying to cram into your schedule and ask yourself two questions.  Can someone else do it?   Is this task taking up time that could be better spent on those things that only I can do?

If you answered yes to both questions it is time to delegate.

Wrapping Up

Unplug.

Taste your food.

Be present in the moment with the people in your life.

Do less.

Do nothing, on purpose, at least once a week.

…and just plain smile more.

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Wealth and Work: In it for the Money?

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Work and Wealth: In it for the Money?

Are you doing your job just for the money?

Our jobs can easily become a simple means to an end.  We work to get paid so we can pay for shelter, clothing, food, transportation and a bunch of other things we may or may not need.

The good news is we have the power and the capacity to change our attitude toward our work, without needing to change the work itself.  Of course if you have an opportunity to change jobs to better align your work with your calling, by all means seize it.  In reality, those opportunities rarely present themselves if we haven’t already adjusted our attitude in our current situation.

We have the power and the capacity to change our attitude toward our work.  [Tweet]

A Simple Attitude Adjustment Exercise

For starters, try beginning your work day writing down different ways you can best serve your customers, clients, colleagues, supervisors, and anyone else you might interact with that day.  If thoughts come up like, “I’m not getting paid enough to do that,” or “that isn’t part of my job,” write those thoughts down on a separate column or page.

Review your lists and ask yourself

  • Which person would I rather work with?
  • Which person is more likely to be given more responsibility?
  • Which person is more likely to be promoted?

Make sure you follow through on at least one of the ideas for serving others during the day.

At the end of the day take 5 minutes to write down then names of those you served, and how you served them.  Reflect back on their responses.  How did it make you feel after serving someone well?  As you do this day after day you will find your passion for your work will slowly increase, and your concern about money decrease.

You may find that your change in attitude toward your work and your increased passion to serve others well will present new opportunities or promotions, and money will no longer be something you worry about.

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Wealth and Work

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Wealth and Work

Vocation: A Calling

Our work, our vocation (from the Latin vocare – “to call”), is meant to be a source of wealth for us.  While financial compensation is one way for our vocation to be a source of wealth, it is not the sole source, and our pursuit of financial gain over and above every other aspect of our work may make us rich, but seldom wealthy.

The pursuit of financial gain at the expense of one’s calling may make one rich, but never wealthy.  [Tweet]

 

Finding meaning in our work and ways to positively impact the lives of others through our work is the true measure of wealth in our work.

When we continue in a job we hate, regardless of the money it pays, there is little wealth in or produced by that job or ourselves. We go through the motions, miserable and creating misery in everyone around us. This is the opposite of wealth – it is poverty.

When we do not give our all to the work set before us we are stealing from those we are meant to be helping, and robbing ourselves of the wealth gained by a job well done.

There are several reasons why we might find ourselves in such a state of vocational poverty:

The good news is we can counteract each of these with discipline and some help from friends, counselors, or coaches.

We’ll examine each of these in greater detail in upcoming posts, exposing the poverty in each, and in doing so discover the way to wealth.

 

 

 

 

 

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A Brief Reflection on Clarity, Purpose and Passion

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In the midst of dusting off my resume and moving toward the next phase of my career, I have been thinking a lot about purpose, and just how hard it has been to figure out.  A long time ago I read Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life, and have been searching for my purpose ever since.  I still don’t know my what it is.  I’ve read at least 5-10 other books about purpose since then and they’re all great, but…

Then not too long ago I was either listening to a Tim Ferriss podcast, reading one of his blog posts, or perhaps it was reading his most recent book, Tools of Titans, when I came across this great quote:

Forget purpose.  It’s okay to be happy without one.  The quest for a single purpose has ruined many lives.
-James Altucher

 

Thanks James, I mean Mr. Altucher.  That statement kind of freed me a little bit.

I also read a lot of other books about business, building a client list, how to be successful, yada, yada, yada…and they all talk about following your passion.  If you look up passion in the dictionary you’ll see a picture of me listed as an antonym (that means the opposite for those of you who were snoozing through english class).  Seriously.  A friend and client of mine even nicknamed me “Flatline.”  So following my passion never quite made sense to me – I didn’t really see my self as passionate about anything.

Then I was listening to another podcast and heard this gem:

Never follow your passion, but always bring it with you.
-Mike Rowe

 

Cool.  I can definitely move forward without following a passion, but I know I come across things occasionally that get me fired up, and it’s good to know passion will be there when I need it.  It’s in my car, but it’s not driving.

Then the other day I was simply going through some past journals and notebooks gathering quotes to type into Evernote for future blog posts, and I came across this last gem, that pretty much inspired this post:

Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of…I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust.
– Mother Theresa

 

I have never had clarity either, and I always thought something was wrong with me.  It’s nice to know I’m in good company, now all I need to do is work on trust…something I have had to do a lot of in the past five years.

 

 

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One Thing is Necessary

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One Thing is Necessary Lk 10:42

I have read in several books and blogs about the myth of multitasking.  While we can multitask at times, such as talk and walk, it is only when one of the things being done is automatic or takes no conscious thought to do.

Our brains, like computers, can only think through one thing at a time.  What we think of as multitasking is more like task switching.  We switch between many different things in a short period of time, giving us the sense we are accomplishing more.

It is becoming more apparent through research that type of task switching is counter productive.  It makes us look and feel busy, but is inefficient and wastes valuable time.

When Jesus comes to the house of Mary and Martha on his way to Jerusalem, Mary sits with Jesus listening to his teaching, while Martha is busy serving the disciples and others who have come to see him.

Martha, flustered, complains to Jesus and asks him to send Mary to help her.  Jesus responds, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.” (Emphasis mine).

One thing is necessary.

He then says, “Mary has chosen the good portion which will not be taken away from her.”

One thing is necessary, and it will not be taken away.

This can be scaled from the big things, like saying “I do” to your spouse and “no” to everyone else for life, all the way down to “I’m working on Project X for the next 2 hours” and “no” to any other distraction for that 2 hours.  After that you move on to the next one thing.

One final thing:

No project is completed until its objective has been achieved.
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Further Reading

Two excellent books come to mind as I write this that explore this concept in much more detail.  I have encountered this idea in many other books, but these two are a good place to start.

 “The key is over time. Success is built sequentially. It’s one thing at a time.”
The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan

 

 

 

 “If it isn’t a clear yes, then it’s a clear no.”

Essentialism by Greg McKeown

 

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How Does Newton’s First Law of Motion Relate to Personal Finances?

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blog-image-couch-potatoNewton’s First Law of Motion essentially says this:  An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion, unless some outside force is applied.  For example

  • If you don’t exercise, you won’t lose weight or gain muscle.
  • If you don’t ask someone out, you won’t go on a date
  • If you don’t talk with your spouse, you won’t have a relationship (whether or not you stay together)
  • If you don’t show up for work, you won’t get paid

Not all of these are perfect comparisons, but hopefully they illustrate the point.  If you want to save more money, get out of debt, build wealth and give more, you’ve got to get in motion.

Get intense.

Get angry.

Debt, laziness, and apathy are stealing your hard earned resources from you and your family. (Click to Tweet!)

“That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more…”  Popeye

This Will Take Olympic Style Intensity

Couch potatoes need not apply here.  We need an Olympic sized work ethic to make this work!  It takes:

  • intense focus
  • drive
  • clear objectives
  • a finite timeline
  • practice, practice, practice (or work, work, work)
  • time
  • someone to keep you fired up (a trainer or coach)

Don’t get me wrong, you need to have down time for rest and restoration, but you can forgo the week-long vacation in the Bahamas until after you have reached your goal.

Keep the Pace Steady and Your Eye on the Prize

In the well known fable of The Tortoise and the Hare, the tortoise wins the race because he keeps moving steadily in the direction of the finish line. The hare loses because, even though faster than the tortoise, he decides to take a nap instead of continuing toward the finish line because he assumes the tortoise is too slow to ever win.

The couch potato loses the race. (Click to Tweet)

The Wise Words of King Solomon

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
    if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
you have been trapped by what you said,
    ensnared by the words of your mouth.
So do this, my son, to free yourself,
    since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—
    and give your neighbor no rest!
Allow no sleep to your eyes,
    no slumber to your eyelids.
Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
    like a bird from the snare of the fowler.  Proverbs 6:1-5 (NIV, BibleGateway.com)

 

[Cue theme from the film Rocky….]

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Work. Think of it as your own personal super power.

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“The greatest asset you have is your ability to earn” – Dave Ramsey (paraphrased)

 

Somehow we have come to see work as a necessary evil instead of the gift that it is.

Some root causes for seeing work as a necessary evil:

  • Many of us are not doing the work that we are best suited for
  • Work is actually plentiful enough in our country that we take it somewhat for granted
  • We tend to think we deserve to be paid more, while believing we are actually worth less (or, sadly in some cases, worthless)
  • We view work as being all about our own well being, instead of working to help others
  • We have buried ourselves in so much debt that we trap ourselves in jobs we hate (or is it that we come to hate the jobs we have because we don’t have the freedom to leave?)
  • Some of us are just plain lazy

So what do I mean by work being a gift?

Think of your favorite super hero.  They all have some special power or ability that we identify with and wish we had.  But those of you who know your super hero’s story, know that their special power comes with a price, something they must struggle with, but are willing to because they have the ability to make an impact in the lives of others.

Your work, your ability to earn, is your own super power.  Yes, it comes with a price (you have to “work”), but the rewards far outweigh the price.

Consider the following rewards for doing your work well:

  • Working hard generally leads to being paid more
  • Working is the only way to earn enough to get out of debt
  • If nobody worked, you would starve to death, or die of some lame disease because no one worked to cure it
  • Doing your work well improves not only your life, but the lives of those around you
  • Work is a gift from God (Adam and Eve were charged with taking care of – “working” in – the garden of Eden).  It only became hard after they messed things up and were banished from the garden.
  • Working hard makes leisure and rest that much more refreshing and enjoyable
  • Being known as a hard worker will get you hired twice as fast as a fancy degree, high GPA, or even pedigree in most places
  • Doing your work, again, creates the opportunity for you to change lives (are you getting this?)

Brother Lawrence was known to sing and worship while doing the most menial of tasks – he viewed work as worship, something to be done well simply because it had been entrusted to him by God.

Work hard.  Get out of debt.  Find the work you were meant to do.  Do it well.

It might even be fun.

 

 

 

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Save more money, stop spending so much, get rid of debt, and build wealth

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So, how do I save more money, stop spending so much, get rid of debt, and build wealth?

First, you have to work.  Hard.

You can’t go anywhere if you’re not in motion in the first place.

Second, you’re going to need some help

  • If you’re married or otherwise in a committed relationship, make a plan with your spouse/significant other and work together to see your plan through.  Doing this the right way might even improve your overall relationship!
  • If you’re single like me, find someone who is willing to work with you and be honest with you.  This person is often called an accountability partner.

 Third, you need to have a plan (often called a budget).

Think of it as a fence with a gate – keeping your sheep from straying away, but allowing them to come and go as you allow them to.

 Fourth, you’ve got to rev up the intensity.

Rocky didn’t win because he sat around wishing himself into shape – he trained.  And he trained hard.  Get yourself a theme song if that helps 🙂

Fifth, allow some room in your plan to have some fun and blow off some steam.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.  Allowing yourself a little fun will also remind you why you are doing this in the first place…so you can do more fun things later.

 Sixth, consider giving more as a goal to inspire you along the way.

Giving more can really change people’s lives in some really cool ways.  Guess what?  Giving more will definitely change your life in some really cool ways as well!

I’ll cover each of these in more detail in future posts, so stay tuned!

For more really great information right now on saving money, paying off debt, and building wealth check out Ramsey Solutions and if you are really serious, consider taking a Financial Peace University class near you.

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The Fence and the Greener Grass

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The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.  Or so the saying goes.
But what happens when we actually get to the other side?  Most of the time, we discover that the only thing that has changed is the view, but many times we also discover that the way of return is blocked.  And the grass sure looks greener on the other side (if you’re still with me, that’s now the side we just came from).
Those in relationships, whether married, cohabitating, or long time couples, may consider the single life “greener” from time to time.
One of the ways being single seems greener is:
Not having to answer to someone when I come home every night.
But consider the view from the other side of the fence, the view of the single person:
I have no one to answer to when I come home every night.
Not looking so green now, is it?
The point is, before you actually jump the fence, try to imagine how the other side views your grass, and just maybe your grass will look a little greener.