Work as play - Is this even possible?
How do you view your work? What is the energy you feel in your body when you think of work? How do you feel at the beginning, middle and end of your workday?
As I venture into the world of an entrepreneur I have been paying attention to how I use the words work and working and noticing what belief’s and meanings I attach to them. I am also paying attention and noticing how I feel in my body when I am working and what I am discovering is so interesting.
our words create our reality
As I allow the energy of Three Worlds to grow and expand, I have been noticing that my beliefs about the work needed too build a new business is creating a sense of overwhelm, intensity, and sometimes even fear. This allows procrastination, avoidance and even discouragement to start to creep in.
The words we use and the beliefs we have around them impact what we manifest in our lives. If I am approaching my workday with words like procrastination, avoidance, and discouragement I will for sure experience more of the same. The amazing thing is that the opposite is just as true. If I am approaching my workday with words like create, inspire, experiment, and play I immediately feel an energetic shift and experience more excitement, joy and curiosity.
Habitual Belief Patterns
I notice within my own thinking and responses to life and work I often use words out of habit and routine without really considering their true meaning. The word WORK is one of these words.
So I have gotten into the habit of looking up a word that has an emotional charge to explore its true definition. I decided to Google the word WORK and here is one definition I found:
An activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.
A task or tasks to be undertaken; something a person has to do.
Even more interesting were the other words that were considered similar to the word work.
Labour, toil, exertion, effort, slog, drudgery
WOW! No wonder the energetic frequency of the word WORK feels so heavy!
The Facts
We are blessed with 168 living hours in each week and we spend approximately 52.5 of these hours sleeping (if you sleep 7.5 hours). That leaves 115.5 hours left for living.
On average Canadians work 40 hours per week which means that approximately 35% of our awake time is spent at work. This percentage is greatly increased for Leaders of an organization. A Harvard study reported that leaders work an average of 62.5 hours per week and this includes time spent working on weekends and during holidays. This equates to over 54% of our awake hours spent at work every week. If you are in business for yourself these hours will likely be much higher.
According to the findings of a survey by recruitment firm Hays Canada, almost half (47 per cent) of Canadian professionals are unhappy in their current job.
So between our belief system, the current definition of work, and these facts we don’t really stand much of a chance - or do we?
Making a shift
As a Coach and Yogi I know that I always have choice and I know that my current reality can change if I am willing to change my perspective. So, I decided to make some shifts in my perspective about WORK, and began exploring more positive and uplifting phrases for how I define and refer to my workday.
Here are a few that I came up with.
Today I am going to my office to explore and share my passion.
Today I am blocking time in my schedule to create, explore and innovate.
Today I am focusing all my efforts on playful experimentation.
I also typed the words "work as play" into my search engine and found this video.
After this exercise, I now have a new definition for WORK:
an action or activity that is purposeful, fills my soul, incorporates playful creation, inspired exploration and transformational design.
This is a game changer for me!
Inquiry
How do you currently define work?
In what ways is your current definition serving or hindering you?
What needs to shift to invite more play, creativity, and exploration into your workday?
INVITATION
Pull out your journal and with an open mind begin your own exploration and see what happens!
Until next time, I am wishing you days filled with self discovery, elevated perspectives, personal transformations, and inspired experiences.
Sharon
