What happens when you start doing work that you feel connected with
Hi! I'm Bec Sands, and I help professional women pivot to a career or business they love.
Today, I’m talking about what happens when you start doing work that you feel connected with.
When I say ‘connected with’, what I mean is work that you feel aligned with, that brings you a sense of joy, fulfilment and purpose. Work that plays to your strengths and gets you out of bed every day with excitement about what you could achieve. If this is you already, that is amazing, and you will know how great it feels and how much feeling connected to your work spills into every single aspect of your life in a positive way.
If you haven’t felt this, or you have but you’re not feeling it right now, this video is for you. The fact is that whatever we do in the world, when it is done in exchange for money or value, there’s likely to be aspects that still feel like hard work.
For example, I absolutely love writing, but do I enjoy every second of the process of writing? Not at all.
Sometimes, the hardest part is actually sitting down at my computer to write and if I give myself half the chance, I can procrastinate for hours.
Sometimes, the words flow easily and at other times, I’ll sit staring at a blinking cursor or write and throw away multiple drafts in frustration before feeling satisfied. It’s all part of the process of creating. It’s really, really hard work. But I love it, I feel connected with it, it brings me so much joy, purpose and fulfilment. It helps me to make sense of the world and helps me to communicate with, and support, others.
When I don’t give myself the time and space to write and create, I start to feel:
Rushed – like I’m trying to speed through all of my tasks to get to something but I’m not quite sure what that is
Dissatisfied – as though there’s something I’m missing out on
Busy but frustrated – like I’m not working on the right tasks
When I DO prioritise writing and creating and force myself to start with these slower, more meaningful tasks rather than focusing on ‘busy’ work like emails, admin, meetings or social media, I feel:
Like life is slower and more relaxed because I’ve prioritised rather than trying to chase two rabbits at once and catching none
Satisfied that I’ve focused on what I really needed to achieve
Fulfilled in the way that I’ve challenged myself and brought something to life
This is how it can be when you start to do work that you feel connected with. Your career or business, the work that you do in the world, does not exist in isolation. It is intricately interwoven with every single element of your life. When you feel connected with the work that you do in the world, this will have a positive impact on your health, relationships, finances, and more.
Here’s three things you can do right now to start making a shift towards doing work that you feel connected with.
Take out a piece of paper, or your journal. If you could do anything with your days regardless of money, what would that be? Don’t hold back here – write down as many responses as you can. Let yourself dream freely and fully, and don’t worry about the logistics right now.
What’s one thing on your list that you can start to integrate into your days or weeks? For example, if you wrote down ‘paint’ or ‘write’, schedule an hour a week to do this activity. The amount of joy one hour a week can bring you is mind-boggling. It’s all about taking small steps – in the right direction.
Surround yourself with people that are doing the thing you want to do. This will help to elevate your mindset to know it’s possible. If you can’t surround yourself physically with people doing what you want to do, then surround yourself virtually with them! Follow them on social media. Listen to their podcasts. Read books written by them and about them. Subscribe to their blogs. Immerse yourself. Then when you’re ready to take action, reach out for support.
Ask yourself: how can you get started on one of these steps TODAY? Even if it’s five minutes, don’t put this off. The only day better than today to get started was yesterday.
