I get to call this “work!?”

Missions are really hard to define.

Everyone’s read a mission statement written ala-boardroom:

“To create a shopping experience that pleases our customers; a workplace that creates opportunities and a great working environment for our associates; and a business that achieves financial success.”

They read like the baseline requirements for a retail business… but it’s an actual mission statement.

And I get it. They’re realllly hard to write.

It’s so easy to poke fun at something like that, and the number of people that (probably) were involved in crafting, amending, thesaurusing and tweaking every painstaking word through every colour of emotion, only to end up at beige.

Working solo this is a smidge easier, at least we can dodge the claustrophobic boardroom… but sometimes your mission finds you rather than you finding it.

When you experience that lights-you-up moment; that flow-state; that I-want-more-of-that-feeling feeling, you’ve got to figure out what’s making that happen.

Then go find more of it.

Make it your mission to go find more of it.

I had a moment a few weeks back: my wife asked how a particularly great coaching session went, and my response was “if that’s what I get to call work, that’s pretty cool” 👈 find more.

More recently, I was speaking with a prospect about an upcoming project which I realised was going to not just make this happy guy even happier at work, but contribute to making the workplace for his staff an even better one. Like, genuinely – in a way that showed his company was investing in fostering lovely humans, not just efficient workers 👈 find more.

I work with self-employed parents who are spinning plates and struggle to find time for everything – as do I. But if they’re going to be away from their families for work, they want their work to be really worth that time.

I’m not going to pain over the wording right now, but I feel that my mission is to get more self-employed folks saying some version of “I get to call this work!?”.

Unfortunately a lot of people don’t like their work; fortunate people like their work; very lucky people love their work… maybe they’d even say their work doesn’t always feel like work.

So the mission is lofty – I don’t intend on making people leave jobs or abandon businesses to pursue something fun.

I’m hoping to help them find the purpose, enjoyment, and fulfilment in what they already do, by making their work:

• more playful
• bragworthy (in a I’m-helping-the-planet kinda way)
• easier (to show up for every day)
• and simpler (to sustain them and their families)
• (…btw, easy and simple are not the same)

If you know someone who’s self-employed and could use a break, I’d love if you forwarded them this email, or invite them to join the free Digital Asset Bootcamp email course here.

What makes work feel like work?