Doing Your Lifes Work

Most people want to do their life's work. Some people are able to separate work completely from life and be happy doing anything, but this is not the norm. I once knew a man who managed things for a living. He'd managed a restaurant for several years, seen an ad in the paper, and become manager of a print shop. He didn't particularly like the job, but he didn't hate it.

And I will never forget what he said, when trying to convince me I could do a better job with my attitude. "It's just a job. It's not your life. You have a job so you can afford to have a life when you go home. You come in here, you act like you're having a good time, you do the work, then you go home and play."

Well, that may have been fine for him, and I know other people who have their fulfillment outside their jobs-for instance, an apartment complex manager whose real passions are cooking and gardening. She likes her job fine, she's been there 20 years, but it's just a job.

I can't work at "just a job" for more than about six months before my head explodes. I don't know about you, but I have to have a job that means something to me. I've gone through several businesses doing work that was important to me, and I've finally found my life's work in life coaching.

The first meaningful work you find may not be your life work, but I guarantee you that if you're doing work you don't find fulfilling, you're not getting closer to your life's work. You get there only by trying on things that might be it and finding out they're not. And working at the Post Office, while it pays well and has good security, is probably not on the track to the work you were born to do.

Take some chances. Take some jobs that feel right, even if there's a "better" job available. Start the journey to your life's work and don't stop until you can say, "This is the work I was born for."

About The Author

Angie Dixon helps small business owners get their acts together. She is a personal development coach specializing in helping people integrate their home and work lives so they feel less stretched and more balanced. Get her FREE EBOOK on balance at http://www.discoveringtruenorth.com. For questions or to discover how coaching can change your life, contact Angie at mailto:angie@discoveringtruenorth.com.

You are free to use this article in ezines, web sites and print publications. If you do use it, please send a quick email to mailto:angie@discoveringtruenorth.com. Thank you.

More Resources

Releasing Your Potential
In life, few people ever step up to live their lives at a higher level. They spend their lives wallowing in the circumstances that surround them.
Theres No Glory In Being The Richest Man In The Graveyard!
What was your energy level like today? Did you wake up this morning like Tony the Tiger feeling Grrr---ate?.? Did you jump into all your activities today with enthusiasm? Were you rarin' to go at the first chance? Did your "get-up-and-go" rare up and roar, or, did it get up and went?Down For The Count!Well, if your get-up-and-go got up and went, let's see if we can do something about it.
Limiting Perceptions and Broadening Horizons
If you live in modern society I'm sure at some point in your life you've sat in a window seat of an airplane looking down at the fluffy blanket of clouds and thought to yourself, 'Wow, it's so big and flat, fluffy and soft, I wonder what it would feel like to lay down on that super-soft mattress.' Well, think about what Socrates, Lao Tsu, Confucius, Da Vinci, Van Gogh, Moses or Mohammed would have thought if they saw the same sight that we pretty much take for granted as 'normality'.
Where Are The Punctuation Points In Your Life?
We live in a very busy age with many pressures and demands on our time. Often in workplaces there is a culture of busyness, where it's important to be seen to be busy and stressed.
The Art of Manifestation
There are times in life when we wish to create something. Perhaps it is a new relationship, car, house, or a special holiday.
Make A Superb First Impression
It is extremely important that people have a good first impression of you. Either you make a good impression or you will suffer for it! It is going to affect how your contact views you for the rest of that conversation.
Do You Choose to Believe in Choice? (Not for the Faint of Heart)
What role if any, does 'choice' play in the shape and direction our lives take? Is there a choice in what can and will happen in our lives?The predetermined 'body/mind'First of all, what possibly can happen to an individual (i.e.
How to Take Control of Your Self Confidence
If you think success, happiness and love are going to happenwithout learning through mistakes along the way you are mistaken.Our brains are wired to learn from our own experiences as well asthose of others.
4 Steps To Having the Life You REALLY Want!
Over time, the TIP's Letters that receive the most response have dealt with creating and living the life you really want. Many of us are incredibly frustrated at not being able to reach our dreams and have the life we want.
Change Your Association
Do you know any people who seem to attract bad luck?I had a friend years ago that just could not seem to get it together. He was in and out of jobs, had poor relationships, had no money, and had a bad attitude.
The Mind - What An Amazing Universe
You are what you think;The experts say we barely use 10% of our minds. I wouldn't be so sure about that or very proud of it either.
The Competition Fallacy
So many people falsely think that if they help another, they are helping the competition. This scarcity perspective breeds greed and insecurity; ultimately, people who hold it will realize that had they not been helped at certain times, they would not have had the opportunity to be where they are today.
How To Create The Life You Really Want
Australians are losing their laidback, carefree reputation, as we continue to work longer hours, exercise less and neglect our leisure and family time. Recent research indicates that 67 per cent of Australian professionals spend at least 20 hours a week thinking about their job when they should be relaxing, and less than half take their entitled annual leave.
The Art of Loving & Living
The joy of living is in loving. No doubt, only lovers enjoy life!Live every moment of your life as a love-live affair and create a win-win situation for yourself.
Your Gut Instincts & Ability to Get Along Quiz
How well do you understand how gut instincts - yours and others - influence likeability, decision making and even attention span? Want to find out? Here are nine questions. Some answers may surprise you.
Letting Go Of Wanting Your Own Approval
Ever had a time in your life when those closest to youdisapproved of your behavior? It is very uncomfortable is it not?In a moment, peace of mind can vanish in a puff of smoke and youcrave approval more than anything else. This time in thewilderness seems to last forever and when it is finally over thenewly earned approval of your peers feels just great.
Achieving Your Highest Potential: The Journey Begins With Self Awareness
We live in a world filled with beliefs, values, and negative paradigms. We all grew up with defined set of family and cultural values; where we were raised to believe that what our parents and relatives said about us and our capabilities was "truth".
10 Common Money And Success Myths - Part 1
For the longest time, people believed that the earth was flat and that if you traveled all the way to the end, you would fall off! People were trapped; they were stuck in a world that reached out only as far as they could see - a world much, much smaller than the actual size of earth. They were stuck not because that was all that they had available to them, but because that's all they "believed" they had.
Discover the Magical Power of Pulling Heartstrings ...Its Mindblowing!
I wish you never have to go through that kind of pain!Last week, I was on the breath-taking island of Puerto Rico at a resort on the beach enjoying the crashing waves of the ocean and the cool breeze. If you don't know by now, I am an observer.
Is Effortless Prosperity Really Possible?
Dear friends,Whenever I read the words "effortless prosperity" a chain reaction of thoughts immediately starts in my mind. I ask myself these questions.

More Attraction Information:

Related Articles

Why Do We Lack Character
Our people have no character" is acknowledged universally, at home and abroad, in business and government circles, and in every sphere of administrative activity. Lack of character produces social imbalance and leads ultimately to national decline and disintegration.
How To Get Lucky
Would you like to get lucky? There are at least a dozen ways. The simplest one is to just start looking for good luck.
Lottery Winners Lose It All
You have heard it time and again. Lottery Winners lose it all and trust fund babies waste their parent's hard earned cash.
You're Right to an Abundant Life
We are all part of the universe. The universe is a living, breathing thing.
Use Your Vibrations of Energy to Communicate
In the past, I have touched on the connection of quantum physics and communication. One of my passions is to understand the connection that we create on a much higher level.
Change Thorns into Flowers
If you had to write an annual appraisal on yourself how would you describe yourself?? Are you a mental sprinter who sees things quickly and easily? Do you react to things in a flash? Are you capable of making quick decisions?? Do you find yourself watching others and saying to yourself, I could do that so much quicker?? Do you find yourself taking on more work because you felt it was easier and quicker for you to do it? Do you feel that you waste so much time waiting for others to complete work?? Do you feel irritable inside? Do you get frustrated because others don't seem to understand what you are saying and where you are going?? Do you find you always want to hurry things up? Do you feel more comfortable when things are concluded rather than left waiting?? Do you find yourself running out of patience with partner, children, colleagues because they seem to take more time or appear to lack concentration and go off on 'stupid' tangents which have little or no relevance to the project?? Are you the alert, quick acting person who is known as the achiever?? Are you that person who is good at developing ideas and keeping them on track?If you own up to a couple or more of these traits and feel really irritable and impatient with yourself and those around you. If you feel that you are always clock watching.
Dealing with Mr.Charisma
Do you ever find yourself in situations where you feel overwhelmed by the person who is speaking to you. It is as if their charisma and enthusiasm takes over and you just cannot seem to think for yourself.
Antagonists And Fear
It is important to have your own values, beliefs and understanding of the world around you and not let fear take hold of you.The quote, "My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened.
Why Do We Settle? You Have the POWER to Change the Outcome
Why do we settle for less and then make excuses for everyone? Perhaps it is a way to avoid confrontation, or it could be that we simply don't have time, or choose not to deal with poor customer service and the boss who promised a raise that never quite made its way to our paycheck. Those are some of the possibilities, but there is another option- we settle, or make excuses, for others because we have given away our power to the other person involved in the equation.
4 Important Conversation Tips for Your Personal and Professional Lives
If you are searching for a way to improve your communication skills at work and in your personal life, here are some conversation tips that will give you a good starting point.Your personal and business environments may be very different, but the skills needed to communicate effectively are basically the same.
Abundance is a Feeling
This question and answer interview was done by Kathy Smith, one of Michael's loyal Virtual Assistants. Visit her website.
The Centre of Creative Powers!
Evolution is nothing but seeking with clarity, demanding clarity at every moment. Every moment clarify to yourself the greater purpose of everything you do.
The Power of Desire - Part 1
What is Desire? Let us see! Webster tells us that it is:"The natural longing to possess any seeming good; eager wish to obtain or enjoy," or in its abnormal or degenerate sense:"excessive or morbid longing; lust; appetite. "Desire" is a much-abused term - the public mind has largely identified it with its abnormal or degenerate phase, just mentioned, ignoring its original and true sense.
How do I Know if Im Getting any of This Law of Attraction Stuff?
This is a popular question people ask me. How do you know if I am mastering the art of Deliberate Attraction? Is there an advanced course I can take? My answer is always the same, "The application of this material into your daily life IS the advanced course!" To help you gauge where you're at in the mastery of Law of Attraction, I've compiled a list of seven sure-fire ways to tell if YOU are joining the thousands of people who really are mastering this stuff.
Etch a Sketch or Oil Painting: Where Do You Need to Take a Stand?
Maybe can be a great place. It's full of possibility, it can feel like there's an escape hatch available at all times.
Manifesting Money
You are a money magnet. Money is flowing to you twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, even on holidays.
Your Default Settings
Buy a computer--any computer--and it comes loaded with software automatically set to certain default settings. For example, the default setting for Word is Times New Roman 12-point.
The Powerful Mastermind Team
Your Access to AchievementA few years ago I read the book, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I remember being very intrigued by the title and wondered "How could anyone grow rich just by thinking?When I first began to grasp a fragment of what the book was revealing about success, I was reading it again as a result of a business I was working with.
Your Life and Prosperity Are In Your Reputation!
"Your good name and your reputation are EVERYTHING! ? Protect them at all costs!" my father used to say to me when I was a lad.Even at a young age, I knew there was something important in what my dad was trying to tell me.
Universal Law Series - the Law of Cause & Effect
This is the third of seven articles in our continuing series on Universal Law. The focus of this article is the Law of Cause & Effect.