Why would you even want to redefine your relationship with work?

Well, I can think of a few reasons...

Perhaps your heart sinks when your alarm goes off each morning.  And you’d like that feeling to be more joyful.

Maybe your current relationship with work means missing out on other parts of life.  And you’d like to re-address the balance.

Or perhaps work takes up a lot of your headspace and you’d like to tone this down a notch.

Whatever the reason, if you can change your perspective, attitude or approach towards work, things might become a little bit lighter.

So how to change your mindset?

Let’s take client entertainment as an example.

I had colleagues who loved spending their evenings and weekends entertaining clients at Nobu or the 6 Nations or Aintree.  They saw it as a way to build relationships and bask in new experiences.  To these people, client entertaining was a perk and a privilege.

I also knew colleagues who hated it.  They’d rather be spending their time off the clock relaxing with their friends and family. They hated the inconvenience of these events and had no interest in the events themselves.  To these people, client entertaining was a burden and a chore.

Goes to show…

Two people can be in the same situation but have a completely different experience of that situation.

And more to the point, the people who enjoyed entertaining clients once tended to enjoy it again and again. And the people who found it a chore once tended to always find it a chore.

So it all comes down to perspective.  A constant, pre-defined perspective.

And here’s the real point I want to make:

Once you define something, you fix it.  It becomes unchangeable.

That’s how definitions work. 

And that’s why it’s usually the same people who enjoy entertaining clients, and usually the same people who don’t.

So if you want to redefine an element of your relationship with work – or anything else, for that matter – my suggestion is this:

Don’t redefine it.

Redefining is really just falling into the same trap.  It’s still defining.  It's still deciding how something is going to be before that thing even happens.

Instead, don’t define it in the first place.  Stay open-minded about whatever it is you've defined or were about to define.

Sound difficult?

I used to think so too.  But what I’ve realised is that clinging to a definition is a difficult thing.

After all, it takes effort to grip something you want to hold on to.

But relaxing your grip is much easier.

You just need to let it go.

And if you'd like to explore this some more, and have something you’d like to change your perspective on, coaching might help.

I’m not taking on new coaching clients at the moment. 

But if you’re interested in coaching and you’d like to be notified when some slots open up, you can join the waiting list here:

https://waitinglist.followingfulfilment.com

This link has a few more details on the sort of coaching I offer.

And once you’re on the waiting list, you’ll be the first to know when new slots become available.

That’s all for today.

 - Tom