Did you always know you would be doing this kind of work? This is the question a young reader just asked me. My simple answer is no/yes.
On the surface, no, I did not know I would be doing this work. I remember finishing my undergraduate degree in canadian studies, and public policy and planning, feeling like it wasn’t specific enough. I could read and write, but in a family of teachers, engineers, pharmacists and business owners I couldn’t say what ‘I’ was. So I kept looking.
I have one of those personalities that likes a wide variety of things, so career counselling based on interest was always expanded the options, not narrowing them. Somehow, in that wide mix, city planning appeared. Frankly, I had no idea what it really was, but it was intriguing. I moved to a new city to do a masters degree in city planning, and on my first day of school I knew I was in the right place. It felt good.
Choose work that feels good.
As I look back on my years working, I see that the spirit of that first day of school is still alive. When jobs started to feel less energizing, I actively found ways to make the work more exciting. Sometimes that meant having a chat with my boss and/or co-workers recreate the work on the job, or finding a new job. I have the privilege, in my part of the world and in the life I have, to choose my work.
I see now that as I choose work that feels good, I am not surprised by the work I am doing, because I realize that it was always in me to do. Choosing what I like to do all along means that what I like to do grows. Its a natural progression. Its a natural extension of me.
Work is a natural expansion of You.
As I follow the work that makes me feel good, I become a more full Me. Not the ego ‘me’, but the larger, fullest possible potential of Me. And as I do so, I expand the contribution I make to the world around me. Deep down inside, I always did know I would be doing this work. Years ago, ‘i’ couldn’t see it yet.
Your work is in You.
What is the work that energizes you?
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This post is part of Chapter 9 – Be the Best Citizen You Can Be. Here are some plot helpers of Nest City: The Human Drive to Thrive in Cities, the book I am sharing here while I search for a publisher:
- My decision to share the book while I am working on it
- The overall structure of Nest City’s three parts
- A summary of Part 1 – City Patterns, Concluding City Patterns
- A summary of Part 2 – Organizing for Emergence, Focus, learn and Emerge
- The plot for Part 3 – City Nestworks
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