There are many way to pursue your labour of love. One approach is to do work you love, do the necessary labour and, when appropriate, loosen up to do superb work.
The loosening up part is vital. It involves continuing to do the required basics. You can then loosen up – rather than tighten up – and go into a state of flow. This can enable you to add the brilliance.
This is an approach followed by some athletes, artists and others who channel their strengths. They do all the preparation work. When appropriate, they then loosen up and aim to deliver peak performances.
Imagine that you want to follow this approach in your own way. This can involve focusing on the following themes.
Love
What are the kinds of work you love doing? You may enjoy helping people, solving technical problems, leading teams or doing other activities. Here are some of the things that people say when answering this question.
The kinds of work that I love to do are:
Helping children who have dyslexia … Making custom furniture … Working as a vet … Working in a hospice … Helping young footballers who have been released by their clubs … Mentoring motivated people.
Imagine that you want to focus on doing one of the things you love. What is a piece of work you would like to do when pursuing this activity? What may be the reasons why you would like to do this piece of work?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
Labour
Imagine that you want to do a specific piece of work. The next step will be to put in the required labour to achieve the aims. One approach may be to focus on the following themes.
Specific Goals – This involves clarifying the real results you want achieve. It then involves translating these into a clear picture of success.
Strategies – This involves following the strategies most likely to achieve the goals. It also involves finding solutions to challenges along the way.
Sweat – This involves the equivalent of sweat. It involves following the strategies and doing superb work on the way towards achieving the aims.
Imagine that you want to put in the required labour. How can you do this in your own way? How can you keep doing the basics that will help you to achieve your aims? Here is an exercise on this theme.
Loosen Up
Imagine that you are doing a piece of work you love. You are following certain strategies and finding solutions to challenges. You keep doing the basics but then maybe sometimes need to add the brilliance.
How to take this step? One approach is to loosen up – rather than tighten up – and go into a state of flow. It is to relax, rehearse what you are going to do and rise to the occasion.
Great golfers, for example, aim to be fully present and then rehearse the next thing they are going to do. One golfer explained this when asked what it would mean for them to win the trophy the next day. They said:
“My aim is to hit the first fairway. It is then to do my best hitting one shot at a time.”
You will have your own approach to loosening up and aiming do superb work. If you wish, try tackling the final exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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