The why of work: limitations, desires, actions

I’d like you to imagine getting out of bed with no constraints or limitations whatsoever.

What would you do?

How would you spend your day?

Who would you spend it with?

Where in the world would you be?

How would you feel?

I’ve asked you on IG stories these questions and 56% of you would do whatever you wanted while 44% of you said you have never thought about what your perfect day looks like.

Surprisingly, 50% of you said you’d choose to sleep in over starting a project.

The truth is, without realizing it, we are torn between our desires and our actions.

You want something.

So you make a plan to get it.

To-do lists. The bucket list. Objectives. Goals.

Somewhere along the way, a lot of us stop chasing what we really want. We conform ourselves to societal norms and forget to ask ourselves what we truly want in life.

We go after the stuff we want to have and accomplish and we hope and pray that we’ll feel great when we get there.

We’re actually doing it backwards.

There was a study about job satisfaction from janitors.

Cleaners gave their job a 5 on a scale from 1 to 10. Except in one place.

Cleaners in a hospital gave an 8.

When the researchers asked them "What are you guys doing here?" not one person said "We're just cleaning the hospital."

Instead they all said, "we're saving lives."

Weeks before my one year trip around the world, in Rouyn-Noranda, Abitibi-Temiscamingue.

A year ago I was at a crossroads— evident choices and decisions needed to be made in my life.

I was no longer happy.

I got stuck in a routine dragging myself out of bed to get to work… and that’s it.

I barely had time to make myself a coffee… I was just trying to get out the door.

I was working full-time with colleagues I genuinely had a great time with, but there was always something deep down in my heart missing.

It could’ve been the fact that I had moved 8 hours away, for this job I loved, from my family and friends.

But the more I started to question my feelings, I came to realize that, like many millennials, I truly wanted to feel fulfilled and wanted a job that had a real purpose.

I was spiritually drained.

This doesn't mean our work should change the entire world.

As Steve Jobs said, "Things don't have to change the world to be important."

Which essentially means that the work we do is good for something.

We all have constraints and limitations that prevent us from reaching fulfillment.

Here are some of the constraints you confessed to me:

I overthink everything I do.

I was always a badass, but now had a baby and lost myself.

I fear what people would think.

I fear not knowing.

I don’t have money.

I don’t know where to start.

I don’t have time.

Something has to die for your goals to come alive.

I’ve been there.

I get it.

I found myself in this place too, where I’d given away my freedom.

The 9-5 grind we all believe to be what we want in order to feel fulfilled, isn't it.

Freedom is knowing you don’t need that job, that promotion, that boyfriend, that engagement ring to be happy.

And I wanted my freedom back.

Of course I went travelling for a year.

I always wanted to travel. There was something about getting on a plane and visiting a new country that excited me.

However, everyone told me it would be expensive.

That I had to wait for retirement. That I should focus on my career. That my priorities weren’t at the right place.

I quit my job and left anyways.

I recently spent the last 12 months living out of my backpack, traveling the world to 11 countries.

I did this because I wanted to explore the world and experiment with living outside of my comfort zone. I even got my hands dirty and worked on farms.

Raking leaves for mulch in Braidwood, Canberra, Australia

It wasn’t an easy decision to leave everything behind to travel. It wasn’t glamorous, but I don’t regret a minute of it.

I remember telling everybody around me and was shocked by the response.

There will always be people who will try to bring you down because they fear your dream is too big.

Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do something.

I know that pursuing your dream will require hard work and sacrifice.

That life will get messy. That things won’t always go as planned. But do it anyways.

Take a chance on you.

You should do it.

That job offer.

That promotion.

That project.

That vacation.

That spa date with your friends.

Turn off the alarm and sleep in.

DO IT ALL!

I want to know... what you would do if you had no constraints?

#consciousness #moderndayslave #motivationalwrites #dontbeaffraidtomakeadifference #knowyourstrengths #createopportunitiesforyourself