How I Discovered A New System For Creating Value In My Work
It all sounds like sunshine, rainbows, and lake life, doesn’t it?
Taking the “summer off work” is a dream come true, isn’t it?
Last week I shared how I created an opportunity to step away from my full-time job for the summer.
I wanted to create space to slow down and go inward in order to step forward in my personal and professional growth.
In the process leading up to and ultimately asking for a summer sabbatical, I felt confident and clear in why I wanted the break. I went into the conversation open to hearing “Yes, No, Maybe, but…” As tough as it would have been to hear “No”, it would have been the easiest response. One where I didn’t have to make any difficult decisions but continue with life as I knew it. What I had to do the most work in preparing for, was if I heard “Yes”.
After all, for the last 12 years, my life has been planned, organized, and created around work. Around my career. The line between my professional life and personal life has always been blurred, as much of my social life is driven by work events, activities, etc. Not to mention the friendships I have collected along the way.
Stepping away from what is known and into the unknown can be terrifying. But the dance in between is where the magic happens, where transformation begins.
My ego was screaming trying to keep me safe:
“What will you do if you don’t work?”
“What is your value without work?”
“Who are you without your job?”
The ego often functions as a saboteur and exists to take us down. It creates most of our resistance when there’s something new, or something we’re expanding into. It can cause us to start to create stories and thoughts that we start to believe, causing us to retreat instead of stepping forward towards what we truly want.
I had to take a pause and ask myself the most difficult question:
What is the worst thing that could happen?
As I went deeper to find the answer, I discovered that the resistance I was feeling was rooted in my fear of not making a contribution, of not creating value or receiving value. By stepping away from my full-time job to take a break, I would be stepping away from the system I knew. A system of externally driven metrics that I had become accustomed to and found predictable, comfortable even.
In that work, I realized that I had to create a new system. One in which I would still provide and receive value from my contribution. One where I focused less on metrics and measurement, and more on being in the flow where all things worked out all the time. It was time to make the ultimate shift from doing, hustling, and producing, and giving myself over to being.
As a result, I’m stepping into a new system in which I will contribute and receive value.
Rather than being focused on what I am doing, I am focused on who I am being.
“Who you’re being is felt before any action has an impact… Who you are being is the foundation to all action.” - Erin Anderson
By focusing on who you are being, you move into the flow of doing. The doing happens with ease, contentment, and clarity. When we focus on the doing we are seeking fulfillment externally - from things far out of our control, let alone out of alignment with ourselves. As Steven Chandler says, you begin by understanding “who you are being that is having the doing be effective”.
In other words, work backwards:
Who would you need to be in order to have the outcome you’re seeking occur?
I look forward to having more time to be curious about the world around me and the endless possibilities surrounding me. While this break has uncovered questions around my worth, my value, and my contribution, I know the work in understanding who I want to be will extend beyond this season and into many more, supporting and energizing my work.
Kirsten Schmidtke is a professional coach, creator, and lover of lake life. She works with leaders, creators, and entrepreneurs to help them up-level their careers, businesses, and lives. Are you ready to explore what’s possible for you? Contact Kirsten to start the conversation!
