You want to work from home. That you know more clearly than anything you’ve ever known before. The only problem – what kind of work do you want to do? You’ve explored and quickly ruled out all the semi-legit “work-from-home-opportunities” that cover the internets like kudzu. Your neighbor’s kitchen gadgets franchise seems interesting (you love to cook) but everything you bought from one of her parties is broken in a drawer somewhere. You know your talents, your unique genius, and your values, but can’t seem to think of how to turn those into a business. One excellent way to help get to the answer is to stop thinking of what will make you happy, and start thinking of what you can do for others. To borrow from Kennedy’s well known speech, “ask not what you can do for you, but ask what you can do for others.”
Ask yourself this question several times a day:
“How can I best use my unique talents and gifts to be of service to others?” Then, listen for the answer. Once you let your ego know that this isn’t just about me, the unconscious part of you that wants to contribute something of value starts to speak up. Chances are, within a few day (if not a few hours) you’ll get some clear indications about the best path for you.
Dick Richards, the author of the fabulous book Is Your Genius At Work? (which I’ll be talking about more in an upcoming post) writes this in a recent post on Purpose:
…knowledge of purpose will arrive only after the demands of ego have been transcended enough to allow that knowledge to enter awareness.
By “ego” I mean that set of personal underlying programs that concern themselves only with their own survival and gain… Those programs drive out what is needed to seize and run with a purpose: courage, willingness, surrender, open-mindedness, and other-centeredness.
Turning the spotlight on how you can serve others allows the pressure of finding work that will make you happy to be released. Once you know how you can best provide value to others, using your gifts in a way that brings you fulfillment almost always follows.
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