Work-Life Innovation |

“Hey Steve, want to go for a drink?” “Uh, no thanks. I’m tired and I have some work to do anyway. Sorry!”

“Hey, we are having a get together next week, you should come!” “Oh, sorry, I can’t, I’m er, …busy that day.” “But I haven’t told you which day its happening!”  “Well, I mean I’m busy all week, I don’t think I could make it, I’m really sorry”

“Steve, we are going to London on Saturday for a day out. You should come”
“Ahh, I think there’s something I have to do Saturday, I just can’t remember what it is right now. Can I let you know later in the week? Cheers”

Ever found yourself saying any of the above? Of course you have, everyone gets invited to things they don’t want to or can’t attend for one reason or another. What’s more troubling however are those times when you find yourself taking a rain check when you have no real good reason to.

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We all have moments when we get inspired. Moments when we feel we can turn things around; really makes a change in our lives. In those moments we discover new goals that inspire and motivate us. We start planning how we can satisfy those goals and our future seems deliciously ripe with promise. Unfortunately, over time we tend to drift away from those goals. Something happens so that they just don’t seem to be as compelling anymore. They lose their shine and slowly, day-by-day we get pulled back to our everyday life and before we know it, the goals have died and we are back to the status quo. Why is this the case?

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Ever thought you’d like to be doing something different? Ever dreamed about that high paid job with all the prestige, with the nice car and the big house? Ever contemplated going on a river boat ride down the Zambezi, or a hike through the Andean mountains? Ever wondered what it would feel like to swim with dolphins off the Florida Keys? Ever [insert personal dream here]? Are you doing anything about it? No? Then I suggest that what you’re doing instead is what you really want to do.

There’s a phrase that goes: you are what you do every day. What I am suggesting here is what you want to do is what you do every day. Sounds crazy I know but hear me out. Let’s be honest, for the most part we have all chosen to be where we are in our work and lives. Nobody held a gun to our heads, and even if they had, we could still have chosen the bullet! But no, we are where we are because of the choices we have made. If we are unhappy with our position in life no one is to blame but ourselves. What we do every day we have in a very real sense chosen to do. Even if that choice was the lesser of two evils, we have still freely chosen it. Luckily though, we are free to choose again.

You stack shelves for living or you clean the sewers or you’re doing a PhD or you work for a large corporation. You chose that, but you are free to choose something else at any time. If you do decide to change your situation then all you need is time and planning to make it happen. If you don’t do the planning, then ultimately you don’t really want it. And this brings us to the crucial point: what most of us don’t accept is that planning is part of the experience of what we want. Read the rest of this entry »

It might seem odd to write a post about photographing trees on a lifestyle innovation blog. But I want to share with you some thoughts I had today while out walking along the edge of the New Forest. While walking I was thinking about the nature of enjoyment and what it meant to be really able to be in the moment. Most of us spend our days at work and struggle with the tasks we have to perform. I know that when a new work item comes along, I often catch myself mentally groaning and complaining along the lines of “Oh, crap! more work” or”How the hell am I supposed to do this?” or “This is going to take ages” and so on and on.
In other words, my daily work activities are often accompanied by an internal monologue that winges and whines at all the stuff I am called to do. This depletes my energy and does not Read the rest of this entry »

How to live an extraordinary life?

Last year on a lovely late summers evening, I remember sitting outside in the warm glow of an early evening sun. I was sharing a few glasses of wine with some friends after another day at work and, despite the beautiful early evening weather, the subject turned to work. The question was asked how it was possible to remain fresh and alive in the face of the grueling grind of the 9-5 work-a-week circus. We discussed the topic for a while but eventually drifted off onto other, more amenable (less hopeless?) subjects. Since then, I’ve found myself asking the same question more and Read the rest of this entry »