25-09-2020 09:00

Bring out the best in yourself

If you do what you are meant to do, you will experience the most happiness and success in your work. Sounds nice. But how?

One of my favorite books is Khalil Gibran's The Prophet. He says in his book: Work is love made visible. Beautiful right? Painters, dancers, poets and top athletes: all people who have built a life for themselves around a passion. Their love made visible in the work they do. I can hear you think: Yes, but that is not for everyone. Right! But sketching extremes makes the picture clear. It gives you a sense of what this is about.

Most people can get more satisfaction from their work. The first step is to identify your strengths. Then choose work where you can use your strengths every day. This does not have to be the case all the time, but preferably several times during the day. Sometimes it is in very subtle things. You can express kindness, emotional intelligence and love in the way you interact with colleagues. In your job as a manager you can express honesty, integrity and modesty. It can also be more explicit. Someone with creativity as a strength of character who opts for retraining to web design. A manager with a character strength of seeing different perspectives opts for retraining to become a business coach. If you can use your strengths, you will find more job satisfaction. There is even a chance that you will experience your job as a calling.

Work is love made visible

If you pay attention to what you love, it increases your sense of well-being. And when you do what it is you intended to do, you are doing what you love. This completes the circle. Of course, it is not the only way to explore what your next step might be. It is a starting point that, in addition to finding work that suits you, also increases your sense of well-being. And ultimately that's what we all do it for.

Back to Gibran. Work is love made visible. What are you enthusiastic about? When have you been successful in the past? There is a good chance that you have used your character strengths there. When were you doing something that absorbed you so much that you forgot time? There is a good chance that you have used your character strengths. When did you have a sense of purpose and fulfillment in your work? There is a good chance that you have used your character strengths there ...

Bring out the best in yourself. Start at the beginning. Get to know your character strengths. We are happy to help you with that.