“Always remember you matter, you’re important and you are loved, and you bring to this world things no one else can.”
-Charlie Mackesy
This quote sums up what it feels like to find the joy in your work, something every business owner or creative professional needs to connect with as they grow in their craft and as a leader. Can you feel the truth of it for yourself? Or do you feel it’s true for others but not you?
To know that you matter is to know that if you don’t show up, you’ll be missed. That someone will notice your absence, and their day will not flow as smoothly because you aren’t in it.
To know that you’re important means someone is counting on you to help them. It may be something simple like holding a door open, allowing someone to merge in front of you, or helping someone finish a project. These simple acts of kindness are easy for you to discount but meaningful to someone else.
To be accepted and acknowledged for who you are is to be loved – with the recognition that you’re doing the best you can at the moment with the information you have. And that you, along with everyone else, are evolving. Your mindset and behaviors may be different tomorrow because you’ll have experienced more life.
No matter how ordinary a task might seem, when you use your unique combination of skills, you create a better world for someone else.
When you dare to bring the best of you to the table, amazing things happen. This is to have a deep and abiding joy for the work you do.
When are the moments when you know this depth of joy?
Find them. Write them down so they become embedded in your thoughts. Return to them when fear and doubt start creeping in. Seek opportunities to create more of them.
Joy is not something someone else can give you or make you feel. It isn’t something you can write down directions for and then suddenly feel once you achieve it.
Joy is not the destination. It’s the journey; something that comes from within.
However you are choosing to spend your time and energy, how can you connect to the joy? The world needs what only you can bring to it.
And if you’re a small business owner who loves the work you do but struggles with the leadership side (building a team, setting a vision, and creating structure), you don’t have to figure it out alone. As an executive coach and business consultant in Omaha, I help small business owners step into leadership with clarity and confidence.
If you’re ready to bring more joy (and less chaos) into your work, let’s connect.