If we choose to keep our eyes open at work, we will notice that every day personal resistances come up. Every time someone asks you to deal with a new process or embrace a new change, you have a choice: you can pay attention to your resistance or you can blame and point the finger. When you make the former choice, you are using work as a chance to grow as a human being.
Great leaders are constantly confronting their resistances. In doing so they use work as a platform to become their best self. Imagine that? Seeing your work as a magnificent opportunity to "bump up against" the things that are limiting you in your life and to do the inner work required to rise above them.
Work should be fun. The job of a leader is to create a workplace where it’s safe to be human. High performing individuals are those who take every apparent problem at work and use it as fuel for their forward success. When a client gets angry at them, rather than pointing the finger at the client and making it all about them, they look within themselves and pay attention to any irritation that may be surfacing within them. They then go deeper and evaluate the beliefs that are creating this emotional response.
Just as shadows dissolve when placed in the sunlight, your personal shadows and your limiting beliefs begin to dissipate once you put them into the light of your conscious awareness. In terms of practical tools to do this, journaling is still one of the most powerful ways to personal transformation and self-leadership. The more you can journal about your behaviors at work and the things that you are resisting, the more you will take those limiting practices and bring them into the light of your mental awareness. The more you can become aware of the things that are keeping you small, the more you can make higher choices during the moments of your days.
Here are four daily practices that you can engage in to use work as a platform for personal greatness:
1. Remember that the things that frustrate you also represent huge opportunities for personal evolution . Every time you get irritated, you are presented with a chance to become more aware of a personal weakness that can be transformed into a personal strength.
2. Find 10 minutes at the end of your workday to write in a journal . Writing in your journal allows you to become precisely aware of your motives, behaviors, as well as your fears. The more you can write about the things that are limiting you, the more you will be able to create a richer experience on the job.
3. See yourself as an evangelist . The word evangelist literally means "a person who spreads good news." While you are at work, keep reminding the people on your team that their work matters. Keep reminding the people on your team that they must treat each other with respect and dignity. Keep having conversations around the fact that every day at work is an opportunity to stretch, grow and evolve into our best selves.
4. Articulate a one paragraph legacy statement . The more you can connect with "a Higher Cause" the more you will be able to make authentic choices as you go through your work days. The deepest need of every human being is the need for self-transcendence. We all have a deep human hunger to know that our work matters and that the products and services we offer make a difference in people’s lives. The more you can focus on this legacy, the more you will be able to rise above any adversities that you encounter at work. And the more your work engages your personal talents, the more you will indeed be using your work as a platform for personal greatness.