3 May 2007
Successful Intentions Newsletter
Hi ,
Work your life - Live your work!
Balance in life is finding your life's work - the unique contribution of your talents to making the world a better place.
| "It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction". Pablo Picasso, Spanish Cubist painter (1881 - 1973) |
We demand balance between work and life, but that's rather like looking behind the mirror to see your own reflection. Work is life, and life is work. One is a reflection of the other.
You might say that you occupy different roles, but this is merely a social construct. In fact, how you define yourself in different contexts is simply a matter of choice. And that choice is driven by intention (whether consciously held or not).
At the quantum level, who you are is only an expression of your intention, moment-by-moment. So, the notion of work/life balance is really a question of knowing your intention at the deepest level and expressing it in healthful, ethical, and creative ways. How do you work your life and live your work?
| "You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what you're doing is work or play." Warren Beatty US movie actor, director, & producer (1937 - ) |
The Work-Life Balance Model
Perhaps it's not about balance but rather awareness. The more aware you are of yourself, your surroundings and what you want, the more likely it is that you will choose your life's work - assuming you have the cognitive capacity and happen to be in the right economic circumstances at the right time in history!
- Know yourself.
- Know the roles, relationships, and systems that surround you.
- Know, and express your intention through those roles, relationships, and systems.
- Know life!
The Intrinsic-Extrinsic Model
But it's also a developmental thing. What drives us at age 20 is not the same as what drives us at 50.
- Extrinsic motivation comes from outside us - the drive for money, possessions, recognition, even happiness. The classic phrase is, "I'll be happy when…."
- Intrinsic motivation comes from inside. This is what interests us, what inspires us, what deeply moves us, when we are caught up in doing just for the joy of doing, without any expectation of reward. The key phrase is, "I am…."
| "It does not seem to be true that work necessarily needs to be unpleasant. It may always have to be hard, or at least harder than doing nothing at all. But there is ample evidence that work can be enjoyable, and that indeed, it is often the most enjoyable part of life." Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience", 1990 |
Over the course of life we start out being strongly motivated to achieve and acquire (Extrinsic motivation). Later in life we realize that happiness is short-lived and conditional, so we seek deeper levels of being (Intrinsic motivation). There is a point where the things that used to drive us don't seem to hold the same appeal. This is the "Yearning Gap" - the "mid-life crisis" - when men traditionally get a red sports car and a blonde, and women spend a year in Provence!
, the more you give yourself permission to live in the moment and enjoy it without feeling guilty or judgmental about any other time, the better you will feel about the quality of your work, and about the work of your life.
| "If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work". Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese artist & poet in US (1883 - 1931) |
You can download the Work-Life Balance Model here, and the Intrinsic-Extrinsic Model here.
Keep your intentions clear,
Peter Webb
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