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In today’s episode, Kathy talks with Dr. Arlene Pace Green. This conversation will help entrepreneurs think about "purpose" and how to find it. You will leave this episode with tips and inspiration on how to find your purpose and be able to claim it.
Fork in the Road Podcast shares the stories of women who have faced the choice between leaning into an invested career in Corporate America or daring to venture onto an unknown path. So many women in Corporate America today are facing a Fork in the Road: the choice between staying with what you know and working to transform it into what you want - or risking it all for the unknown and manifesting something better. Because not every road is right for every one, listen to these stories to inspire you to choose yours.
1 (3s):
Almost 10 years ago, I left a corporate career that just wasn't giving me the professional or personal life that I wanted. I was burnt out, disengaged, and feeling sick and tired of having no control over my schedule and feeling like there were always limits on what I could accomplish. So I started a consulting business. I had no idea what was in store for me, but by taking that leap, I created a new path to professional success. Significantly more income and a personal life with so much flexibility, family time, and lots of travel. And I don't think I'll ever look back. So many of you have heard my story and asked me if you should jump into consulting.
1 (45s):
It's not a simple yes or no. So I've created a short quiz to help you figure out if consulting is right for you. If you are wondering if consulting might be the next right step for you, go ahead and take two minutes to take the quiz@theclaritywizard.com slash quiz and discover if now is the right time to move from employee to entrepreneur.
2 (1m 28s):
Hello and welcome to the Fork in the Road Podcast. I am your host, Kathy Guzman Galloway. And on this season two, we're talking to experts who help us move past this Fork in the road and into the next phase of our journey. On this episode, I spent some time with Arlene Pace Green, talking about purpose, a super important topic that should be at the top of the list for anyone moving through a Fork in the road. We have such a good conversation talking about why we stay where we are, the reason we find it so hard to work on purpose and how to kick off the process right away. She talks about how our mindset can really be what keeps us in the same place, and how powerful it can be to start to live in your purpose.
2 (2m 7s):
Whether that means changing your career completely or finding joy in what you do today. I hope you are motivated to start working on purpose right after you finish this episode. Enjoy. Hi Arlene. I am so thankful and grateful to have you here talking to us about a topic that is very near and dear to my heart. It's something I work with with my clients on the business side, and excited to jump in and talk to you about purpose on a personal side, and I'm sure we're gonna have a great conversation about that. Before we get started, we'd love for you to tell our audience a little bit about yourself, kind of your background and how'd you even get into the topic of purpose.
2 (2m 47s):
Yeah, well thank you for having me. I'm really looking forward to this conversation. I appreciate being on the podcast. Yeah, so Arlene Green, I live in the Dallas, Texas area. I'm married. I have a daughter who's in college, so figuring that out. And professionally, I'm an executive coach, so my background is industrial organizational psychology. So I studied psychology and then organizational psychology and then spent about 20 years in different corporate roles in human resources, talent management, those types of roles in organizations. And then about six years ago, I was doing coaching in those corporate roles, but I loved it so much, so I decided I was gonna do it more often. So I left my corporate role, started a business about six years ago, and since then have really spent that time doing a lot of coaching and consulting, executive coaching around leadership development and then consulting on some diversity inclusion and just organizational health type topics.
2 (3m 40s):
So yeah, and then as a part of that, a few years ago I decided to write a book The Pandemic was on. I was really starting to think about what are the challenges a lot of my clients have had over the years. And a lot of those challenges were around finding their purpose, being able to live and work in their purpose and define real joy and fulfillment in their work and life. And so I used that time during the pandemic when business was a little slow to really work on that, published a book on it. And so now, you know, spend my time really as an executive coach primarily, and then also as a podcast host, author, just kind of talking about this topic around purpose. Yeah. And such an important topic. I'd love for us to start by just talking about like what is purpose?
2 (4m 22s):
How do we even define what purpose is so we can wrap our head around why do I need it and how do I articulate it? Let's start with what in the heck is it even? Okay, let's start there. I think that's a great place to start. I think in its simplest form, most people think of purpose as their why. You know, it's why they're doing something, it's why they're choosing to do it in a certain way. So it's kind of the fuel behind the actions that they're taking. So it's their why in their simplest form. In a work context, what we know is purpose. People describe working in a area of purpose and feeling like they're living in purpose. When three things come together in a work context, one, they're able to do something they enjoy. So it's something I like, it's something I enjoy.
2 (5m 4s):
Two, I'm able to do something I'm good at. So I feel like I have some skill and some strength in that area. And then third, it's something that other people find valuable. And some people would say that as I'm able to get paid for it, you know? So when those three things come together, I like it. I feel like it's something I'm good at. And other people find it valuable, whether it's in a paid or non-paid context. A lot of times people describe that as feeling like they are working and living in purpose. Hmm. What you defined is a concept I know as the zone of genius. Yeah. If you're familiar with that. I was introduced to the idea and the book behind it by a friend and used it in my own life to think about how I want to work and how I define my purpose.
2 (5m 50s):
Which my purpose is really about helping people find clarity in what they're doing, which is really what this podcast is about. How do I make sense of what I'm thinking about when I'm in this Fork in the road in order to get through it? And this idea of a zone of genius I love, I had never thought of connecting that to what purpose is. But actually it's, that's exactly how I talk about purpose. It is what I discovered as my zone of genius. And it's so powerful. And you know what I wonder about that I struggled with as I was thinking about what my zone of genius was that led me to my purpose. I think what I struggled about was really how to articulate that convergence of those things, right?
2 (6m 33s):
That it felt hard to reflect on everything I do in all of the ways that I do it. And there's so many things that I hate and I don't wanna do, even though I'm good at, but there's a lot of things that I like and that I enjoy, that I do wanna do. And so it took me a long time with obviously without having Arlene to help me through the process. Yeah, it took me a long time to get to that place to be able to say clarity and helping people get to clarity is my purpose. How do I think about all of the things that I do in order to kind of synthesize that? Yeah. Well I think, you know, part of what you're saying is that it took a while to get there.
2 (7m 12s):
It's a little bit a part of the process. So, you know, figuring out your purpose can be challenging. It can take thought, it can take talking with other people. So there's a bit of a being willing to like, it sounds like you are willing to just move through that process to kind of drive clarity in some of the activities that you do. For sure. But my favorite thing to do is to just start with writing it down. You know, I think if you were to literally just create a, and I'll give you a sentence you can use as well. But you know, create a pie chart with those three wedges in it around what do I really love to do? What am I good at? And what are other people looking for? What do people find valuable? If you could just start by writing those things down in that way, that's kind of a framework to use to start to focus and to bring clarity to it.
2 (7m 56s):
That alone can sometimes help you see one or two things that maybe you hadn't seen before. I love journaling. I love writing things down because it gives you a chance to look at it, step away from it. It gives you a chance to share it with other people in a clear way so they can help guide you as well. Starting with those three wedges and literally just writing down what comes to you from that as a good starting point. Also, I think if I was thinking about purpose in a sentence, I would say, you know, I want to serve X, like, you know, fill in the blank. And that could be a group of people or it could be a belief, you know, it could be, I wanna serve veterans, or it could be I wanna serve women. Or it could be I want to serve the environment, you know what I mean? So it doesn't have to be a person, but I wanna serve whatever this group is by doing what, fill in the blank.
2 (8m 42s):
What is it you see yourself doing, you know, for that particular group of people in service. You know, what do you see yourself doing? And then by using what skills, what gifts, what unique qualities about you really contribute to that. And so that's kind of a simple sentence, but it starts to bring those three things together, which is what do you like? You know, what are you good at? And then where do you think that would be valuable? What population, what belief, what you know, could be a social justice cause Like what is it that could benefit from who you are and what you like? It's kind of a way to start filling in the blank. So those two things together can start to bring some clarity around what it is, you know, you really think you're called to do.
2 (9m 22s):
Yeah, I love that. I, I wish I had had you years ago to help me through that process and I, yeah, I can see how that kind of, thinking back to how I got to it, I can see how this would've really helped me to start to funnel through that in a faster way. I wonder what you think, what is it that is so difficult about finding, thinking, articulating a purpose in principle? Like we should be able to just say, look, this is what I'm here to do, but it's not that simple. Why is it so hard? Well, I mean, I think part of it is because of the way we think about it. So I think a lot of us think about purpose like the Newton apple story. Like we expect to have this one moment of clarity where the apple falls on our head.
2 (10m 4s):
It's an aha moment. And all of a sudden we say, oh my gosh, I was born to be a firefighter and now I'm gonna go be a firefighter and that's gonna be my life's work for the next, you know, 50 years. And for some people it does happen like that, right? So Steve Jobs says he was consumed by the idea of Apple as a teenager, and that informed his entire life. But research tells us that's actually pretty uncommon. It doesn't happen like that. So one reason I think we find it challenging is some of us are waiting for the moment when that's not really the way it happens. The way it really happens is people are constantly pushing towards it. They're trying new things, they're talking to people, they're trying a new role, they're investing in strengths.
2 (10m 46s):
They have, it's more of a process and a journey than I think we think it is. So we expect it to come in a moment and it actually comes over time. So I think that's one reason people find it challenging. Another reason is because we like to get there and we don't like to enjoy the process. We wanna, like, if I decide today, I wanna know my purpose, you know, and I'm endeavoring on it and it's Thursday, I'm really hoping by Sunday we have this thing. I'm really hoping by Sunday we have this thing nailed down, same way we do about working out. You know, it's like I've worked out twice and I'm really hoping by Friday, you know, we have some results. Like we all like the, you know, I heard my nutritionist actually tells it like the Christmas morning story.
2 (11m 25s):
Like we all wanna wake up on Christmas morning and it's like everything we've hoped for is here. And that's just not how life actually works. So you have to be willing to enjoy the process. And if you can enjoy the process, it takes some of that frustration, some of that challenge out of it because you're enjoying it along the way. Every time I learn about a new strength, every time I, you know, invest some time talking to someone about something I like, I'm gonna enjoy that moment knowing it's leading somewhere, but not only focusing on that eventual moment when I get there per se. So I think if we can look at it as a process, realize we have to do work to get there and then try to enjoy that process. It doesn't have to feel as challenging or as frustrating as sometimes people say it is.
2 (12m 11s):
Hmm. So that makes me wonder, is it appropriate for me to think about it as this weekend I'm gonna sit down, I'm gonna start thinking about this, I'm gonna journal it, I'm gonna get to something, I'm gonna say my purpose is, you know, working for veterans who need to reintegrate into society. This is my purpose. And do that over the course of a weekend. Think I landed somewhere, and then over the course of the next however long months, years start to try to live into that and discover that that actually needs to change a little based on what I learned. Or am I not gonna settle on something, I'm just gonna start thinking about it and just continue doing things to learn about myself until I'm ready to claim what the purpose is.
2 (12m 57s):
Right? So is it I work on it and optimize it or I'm just learning, learning, learning until I'm ready to claim it? What, what's the right way? I think the right way is to work on it until you optimize it. You know? Because a lot of times you can learn a lot, but until you start doing some things, kind of putting some things in place, starting to put yourself into that situation, it's hard to know if that's right or not for you. And it's hard to know how you optimize it. I think a lot of us like to learn because sometimes is the easier thing to do. It doesn't require what sometimes people might feel like is a risk taking aspect of it to actually go and volunteer with veterans to, you know, actually go spend some time with a veteran volunteer organization.
2 (13m 38s):
Like it doesn't require the commitment sometimes that, you know, sitting on my couch looking at Google does and learning more information. So I think sometimes learning is valuable. It's like I'm gonna learn something and then I'm gonna do something with it. But I'd say we have to challenge ourself. If we're learning, learning, learning, learning, and haven't taken a step based on what we learned in day one or day two or that first week, then it could be what I like to call procrast planning, which is like, it's procrastinating by planning. And I love this, you trick yourself, and I do this all the time. It's like, you know what, let make a list of what I need to get done and you know, in six months I'm going to do this. Or you know, I really wanna do something different in my workouts.
2 (14m 19s):
Let me find a new gym. You know, so it's all this activity, but at the end of the day, am I really driving towards the outcome? No. So we have to challenge ourself, I could say, is learning good? Absolutely, yes. We should all do it. If I'm learning, learning, learning and not starting to do some things, it's gonna be really hard for me to get the really the input, the feedback, the even the encouragement I need to actually go start putting some of those things into work. So I'd say learn, do, learn, do. And in that way you can really optimize and kind of inch yourself towards your purpose in a real way. And feel like in a year, you know, I've really made some progress. Cuz what a lot of people have told me is that if you start to just do some of it, that sum of it can really add a lot of joy to your life.
2 (15m 4s):
It's like it only shows up when you get there. Just adding little bits of what's really who you are and what you enjoy starts to add joy to your life. So in that process you can really start to benefit a lot from it. Yeah, just the act of spending the time on it. And so what I'm hearing you say is, if you're done listening to this episode, pull out a notebook and start with the exercises you've given us to start to journal through that and get to something. You may not get to a statement you like. Yeah. But you've at least started to think about what you're good at, what other people would value, et cetera, and get to a place of something and then go out and test and learn around that concept and that idea and that process alone will give me some powerful movement and some feeling of joy that I'm at least making some progress towards that ultimate goal.
2 (15m 58s):
Yeah, because you know, inertia's powerful, one of the sections in the book, I talk about why we stay where we are and sometimes those are really good reasons. It's because we've decided, you know what, just focusing on what I have is all I have time for today is what I have energy for. I don't have the ability to go figure out something different. But sometimes those reasons are not positive. It's because of, you know, simple inertia or fear or whatever it might be. So yeah, getting those initial easy steps can give you the motivation you need to take bigger and bigger steps. Cause I was at a conference one time and I remember asking the group how many people know one thing that they feel like they should or could be doing in service to their purpose. Or at that time we were talking about your dream job, so what's one thing you could be doing?
2 (16m 40s):
And I would say most of the people raised their hand, they knew at least one thing. And I said, well how many people are doing it? And very few people raised their hand. So to your point about doing the exercise, get to that one thing and then take that one step. Because when I asked people, well why aren't you doing it? It was a variety of answers, but one was, I'm just not sure how it's gonna work out. Like, mm, I'm kind of interested in it, but am I actually gonna be able to do that? Is that gonna turn into a business for me? That wanting to have certainty about it is another thing that can keep you in place. And so yeah, I love the idea of what you just shared, like kind of do the activities and then pick that one thing and go do the one thing. Just go do that one thing. And that alone can give you the motivation, the encouragement, the insight you need to go do the next thing.
2 (17m 26s):
Do something you know,
1 (17m 30s):
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1 (18m 10s):
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1 (18m 50s):
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2 (19m 31s):
What are the things I hear related to women wanting to make a change, whether they're in a Fork in the road or even more broadly in life? I know I need a change and I suffer from this myself, is that I just can't make time for this, right? Like my schedule's so busy, I just can't make time for this. And one of the ways I talk to women about this is to say that at the end of the day, only you are in charge of your schedule. Yes, you feel like it's your work and your kids and your family and your, you know, extracurricular commitments are all demanding of your time. But at the end of the day, the time is yours and you can decide how to use that.
2 (20m 13s):
How do you talk and think about prioritizing the work of identifying your purpose and the value of doing that? Yeah, well I guess two things. One, I think there's a mindset component cuz what I find is one, you have to decide it's important to you. So it has to actually be a priority on on your list. And when I think about, especially if I think about purpose tied to work, which is where I primarily focus, but you'll spend more time working than in any other activity in your life. And we know that people that enjoy their work are twice as likely to enjoy their life. So I think first thing you have to decide is this actually is a priority for me. Figuring out my purpose, figuring out how to love what I'm doing is a priority.
2 (20m 54s):
Cuz I think for a lot of people it's not necessarily a priority. We often think of work as drudgery. And so when we show up to work and it's drudgery, we're like, yep, that's that's what it's supposed to be. And so we don't necessarily think it can change. And so we never make it a priority because we think, you know, yeah, that's how work is, you know? So one is you have to believe that this is important to you, it's important to your life. You have to make it a priority. You have to believe it's possible. We do some research on my own business and just looking at other research, about 40% of people are living in their purpose. So that tells me it's not common. Everyone's not doing it. Of course everyone's not, because it takes some work and it's hard to do, it's hard to get there.
2 (21m 35s):
But it is absolutely possible. And I remember telling a group one time, if I told 40% of us we were gonna win the lottery this week, I bet we'd all be playing. And loving your work and being able to enjoy your life is like winning the lottery. It is the way it changes your life is worth it. So you have to believe that it's important and that it can be done. And once you believe that it's important and that it can be done and there's a process to get there, I'm not just walking around waiting on the Newton apple to fall. Aha. Then I think people then have the motivation to then look at their calendar and say, you know what? How am I gonna make time for this? Because you, no one has time for anything. I mean we're all busy, you make time for what you care about.
2 (22m 15s):
But a lot of us aren't making time for this because either we don't think it's possible, we don't think it's important or we just don't believe it. We don't know. There's a process you can use to actually get there. But I think once your mindset changes about it and you decide, no, I want that, and you realize how valuable it can be, then you'll go take those steps to go look at your calendar and say, okay, yeah, I can spend two hours on a Saturday. Yeah, if then that's easier to do because now you're gonna make time for it cuz it's a priority of yours, you know? And lots of other time management tips. But until you decide you really want it, you'll constantly find reason. I mean, there's never time. It's not like time shows up on your calendar, you're like, oh my gosh, I got four hours.
2 (22m 55s):
I think I'm just gonna focus on my purpose today. You know, the four hours is not gonna show up on your calendar. It's just not. I mean every blue moon, but usually when you do, you're so tired, it's like, I'm gonna take a nap. So you have to be willing to make time for it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I love that. I love this idea of that 40% are living on their purpose. And if you told me 40% of us would win the lottery, we absolutely would put all of our savings into the lottery. I love that perspective to say that in many ways, as you've said, this is about winning the lottery, the lottery of life, right? And having that happiness and that fulfillment that we're all looking for, especially post covid.
2 (23m 35s):
What is the role of other people in me getting to my purpose? And I ask that because in the work I do with brands and businesses, bringing in your core team, your stakeholders, whether that's investors or key agency partners, into the process of articulating a brand or an organization's purpose is really important because you want buy-in, right? They're all working towards this purpose with you together. The dynamics are a little different when it's you personally. So how do I think about bringing people into that process and helping me? Yeah. You know, I like to think about it as you are the author and other people are really great editors.
2 (24m 17s):
You know, in the book I talk about a model of look in, look out, look forward. And it starts with look in. Because at the end of the day I'm gonna talk about your purpose and how you're gonna spend your life in your time. You are the author of that. And you have to be first in creating what that looks like and giving your best to it to figure out what that is. And then like everything else wise advisors will make it better. You can have great editors that you share that with and they can say, really, are you sure you wanna do this? Or have you thought about that? Or you know, maybe you should connect with this person. Like wise advisors are everything and they can really help you edit and iterate it to a point where it's right for you because they know you and they may see other aspects of you that you don't even see in yourself.
2 (25m 1s):
So I love having great editors and then the information you get back, because it is at the end of the day, you have to decide it. Some of the information you'll get back will be like, oh my gosh, I'm so glad I heard that some of the information you'll get back is like, no, I don't agree with that. You know, because again, you're the author and I, I think about that. Even when I started my own business, there were some people who were like, oh Arlene, that's amazing. Go for it. Talk to this person, do this. Here's my insurance person, here's my, you know, that really pushed me forward. And then I talked to some people that were like, what leave your job? Like what are you, what are you doing? Like are you sure you wanna do that? And at the heart of their concern was like a concern for my security and making sure I was making the right decision.
2 (25m 43s):
So I didn't listen to 'em, but I still appreciated their advisement because it made me double click on it and say, okay, are you really serious? Like be clear about what you're walking away from. Be clear about what it's gonna take to start a business. You know? So I could confirm that's really what I wanted to do. So I think you're the author and that responsibility doesn't go away and other people can be really good editors and really good advisors and help you get it right, you know, and help you avoid some of the mistakes or pitfalls that you might have had. So I love great advisors, I appreciate people that give me their honest opinion, even if I don't agree with it, I appreciate it because it pushes me to even, even if I disagree, I've heard some people say this, that this is a stopper for some people, maybe they wanna start a business or do something and someone they love or care about is like, I dunno if you should do that.
2 (26m 32s):
You know, you can still appreciate them for that question and it should force you to answer it again to say, okay, someone I love is really concerned. Am I certain? And that actually actually can make you even more certain cuz you're like, you know what, yes, I am certain, I've thought about all these watch outs and I'm still committed to it. So I think just appreciating the advisors and editors in your life, letting them help you and letting them make you better is really important. But at the end of the day, it's yours to own. Yeah, I love this title of an editor is such a great way to think about those people that you bring in into the process. Okay, so I've done the work, I've spent two, three hours journaling thinking about this. I've come up with a starting point, I'm ready to go out into the world and start executing around it.
2 (27m 17s):
How do I start to think about aligning my work to my purpose and realizing that that may be one month process or a three year process, right? Yeah, it can take a while, but how do I start to think about finding the things that are aligned to my purpose and still help me pay the bills and right, send my kids to college and et cetera. Like how do I start to find the things are connected and how do I know when things are connected? What am I looking for? What are those cues that are gonna say this is right, this is wrong. Well, you know, if I go back to that model, look in, look out, look forward, look in is figuring out what you want and using those editors advisors to help you look out is starting to figure out, okay, what options do I have for making this happen?
2 (28m 4s):
So maybe I've figured out what I want and it's really different from what I'm doing now. What are some options? I have everything from, you know, we were talking about learning, taking a class to volunteering, to changing jobs, to changing companies, to, you know, maybe changing my whole career path. Like there are a lot of options you can take. So lookout is kind of figuring out what are the various options I can take and then look forward as picking the step that you actually want to take going forward. But I think what keeps people a lot of times stuck in this is this tendency to think in extremes. So we think either, you know what, I'm gonna be in this job for the next 40 years and I'm just gonna bang it out. You know what, I went to school for it. I've invested 10, 15 years in it.
2 (28m 44s):
Like this is it. I'm just gonna suck it up and this is what I'm doing, even if it's not what I enjoy. So one's to kind of stay where I am. The other extreme is I'm gonna go sell everything I have. I'm gonna go, I'm a goat hurter out in wherever. Like I'm just gonna totally live off the grid. I'm gonna go change up in everything in my life and totally do a new career. You know? And we tend to think of it in extremes. Like I'm either where I am or I have to go do all the things in the next two months to go fulfill my purpose. And for some people those might be the right answer. Staying where you are might be the right answer for you because if your family circumstances, what the other things that rule is giving you, or you might literally need to go be a goat hurter. I don't, no, you know, you might literally need to sell it all and start over in whatever it is.
2 (29m 28s):
But there are so many things in the middle between those two extremes that are actual steps you can take. And so that extreme thinking keeps us where we are because this feels too ridiculous and too far out there and this feels like drudgery. So we just are constantly like punishing ourselves with these thoughts about what we could do without actually doing it. So the real thing you have to do is to start to take a step. There are so many people and have helped. I could share a couple examples, but there are so many people who have done what I call some of these things in the middle that have brought a lot of purpose and joy to their life that doesn't sit on these extremes. I think you have to kind of put the extremes to the side and start to think about what's a step I can take?
2 (30m 10s):
Could I take a class, could I volunteer? You know, I always love marketing graphic design. I love that. So your space, I love thinking about purpose and how that relates to a brand. I love that space, have absolutely no skill in that per se, but I love it. My background is in human resources. I could take my human resource background and go support a marketing design artistic organization that gets me closer to what it is I enjoy while using the skills that I have. Like that's a way to get closer to what you love without feeling like I have to go up in my life and throw away everything I've already done. So there are a lot of ways and a lot of stories about how people have figured out this space in the middle. And what I find is that's probably, you know, a third of the people are kind of this space in the middle.
2 (30m 53s):
A third are like, no, I really need to stay and maybe a third are, you know, I'm upsetting the apple cart for whatever reason. But none of those are wrong also, none of those are right. You have to just figure out what's right for you and not allow yourself to be stuck in one or the other when that's not what is right for you. Yeah, I love that. I love the permission to be anywhere in that trajectory. Hmm. The permission to be close in, to be far out to be any of 15, 20 steps in between. Yeah, and I think what I take away from that is that wherever you land, do something, make some progress towards living in that purpose. And I know we just sort of touched on a few of your frameworks and approaches.
2 (31m 35s):
I'm sure your book is loaded with a lot more content. So tell us before we wrap up, how do we get more information from you? How can we learn more about your process and the way you do that and how might we work together? If I wanna reach out and work with you, how do I think about doing that? Yeah, well thank you for asking. The book is available on Amazon, so you can grab the book there. You can also look at the first chapter of the book. If you go to my website, which is Arlene Pace Green dot com. So if you go to that website, you can also look at the first chapter of the book. You can access the podcast, which is on the website and on YouTube as well. All of that is focused on just you deserve to love your job. Like how do you actually find your purpose so you can fully enjoy your life?
2 (32m 18s):
So it's all focused on tips, strategies, ideas, and my goal with all of it is to help you take the next step. Because I know, and this is my own experience and just clients I've worked with, I know once you start taking steps, the motivation, the joy, the encouragement you get from that will keep you taking other steps. But you have to decide it's important to you. You have to decide that it's possible and you have to decide, yes, there's an actual process I can take. I'm not waiting on that aha moment just to, you know, find me in the mall. Like I actually have to do some things to get there. So my goal in all of that is to help you take those steps so that you can fully enjoy your work.
2 (32m 58s):
Which is, you know, again, we spend more time on it than anything else. You can fully enjoy your work so then you can actually fully enjoy your life. And there's so many ways to get there, you know, just a little note, we didn't talk about it, but you know, there are a lot of people who maybe they're not working in their purpose, but they can still love their job. So your job doesn't even have to be tied to your purpose for you to enjoy your job because I can enjoy how I work, I can enjoy the people I'm with. So there are a lot of things you can do to really explore your purpose, love your work. And my main goal is to tell you it's possible. You don't have to work in drudgery. You can figure out something different. It's possible. And then to encourage people to take a step to get there so that they can fully enjoy their lives. Hmm, I love that.
2 (33m 38s):
And I love the title of your book, just the concept behind it. You deserve to love your job. It really feels so empowering to say that you don't need to sit in this misery for 40 years. Yeah. And I think it's a concept that's relatively new to us, right? Yeah. I mean if we think about our parents, the idea of purpose living and loving what you do, that was not a thing, right? We work cuz we gotta make money to take care of our families. Like this is what we do and we are living in a time of privilege to be able to say, no, it doesn't actually have to be that way. I can't have my cake and eat it too. And so that idea of that permission you're giving us to say you deserve this.
2 (34m 20s):
This is for you, you can take ownership of it, feel so empowering. So I love that concept and that notion and you've given us so much to think about today. So I really appreciate you talking to us and thank you. And thank you so much. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.