Newsletter December '22
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Last night it snowed up here in Lake Almanor where my in-laws live - thick snowflakes falling quickly to the ground in the moonlight, building layer upon layer of a fluffy cozy snowy coat. After I write this newsletter I’ll put on my snowshoes and venture again into the snow covered woods with my husband Arran.
I’ve been looking forward to these last few days of the year for a while. Being away from home is a sure way to fully disconnect from work. I will dodge and delay most planning or worrying till I’m back in work mode in the second week of January.
I love this time of the year that encourages reflection and celebration.
Throughout much of last year, I regularly put on my researcher hat in between coaching sessions, genuinely curious about emerging themes.
I was drawn by this question - how can we do more work that is truly fulfilling?
The kind of work that is energy-giving rather than draining, work that taps into those unique skills, experiences, creative ideas that only you have.
Work that taps into your true interests, curiosity, and inner purpose. Stuff you can’t stop reading about, talking about.
In short - work that taps into your own, unique inner genius.
The more I tried to understand the nature of fulfilling work, the more I realized it is a complex, multi-layered puzzle.
No wonder I had struggled all those years trying to figure out what’s right for me.
If you are at that point of struggle in your own career, know this - you are at an inflection point of transition into something new. Being there feels frustrating and uncertain for everyone.
Also - you are not alone.
If you do feel alone, do reach out. I can pretty easily connect you with someone I coach who is in the same spot as you. Don’t stay isolated when you struggle, no matter what.
At the beginning of this year, I broke down the big question of how we can do more work that is fulfilling, into a couple of easier to digest pieces:
#1 - what stands in the way of doing fulfilling work, that truly lights us up?
#2 - what are the characteristics of fulfilling work?
These individual questions were easier to tackle, and after some reading and researching, here is what I found out.
#1 What’s in the way
When it comes to what what’s in the way of loving our work, I began to notice three big inner blocks emerging for most of my coaching clients (corporate or non-profit senior manager & director/VP level leaders).
Importantly, these are things we can manage with dedicated practice.
I fondly called these blocks the IPPs: the Imposter Syndrome, Perfectionism, and People Pleasing.
I noticed in coaching sessions that to a large extent it is the inner barriers that prevent us from doing the work we really want to do - the assumptions we make, the mindsets and beliefs we hold, the self doubt and disempowering inner dialogue that comes with it.
Say we make the assumption that we have more power than we realize to begin to enjoy our work more right now.
That opens all sorts of possibilities. It also puts the responsibility on us to take action.
If you feel stuck, I encourage you to genuinely ask yourself:
what part of my work drains me that I want to let go of?
where can I be more proactive and go after work I really want to do?
where am I making unconscious judgements about people I work with? When and why am I triggered?
what are some things I truly have no control over (e.g. culture of hustle or overwork) that I spend too much time being angry/worried about?
Listen to your own reactions. Write them down.
Look for insights. All answers lie within.
Remember…
“What's in the way is the way. Whatever you are experiencing is a doorway into a more spacious place. So rather than resisting discomfort, you can learn how to open to what you are experiencing and explore it, without any need to have it be any different than what is is.”
#2 The characteristics of fulfilling work
For a long time I believed that if only I could find a job that better fits me, that would be the answer to all my problems.
Spoiler - no particular new job will make you significantly happier unless you tackle #1 above.
There is overwhelming evidence that the more your interests and skills and values are in harmony with your work, the more satisfied and fulfilled you feel, the more creative and strategic you are.
We all can imagine it.
What an incredibly good feeling it is to do work you feel passionate about, that gives you that sense of flow.
Work that inspires you or you’re curious about, that you genuinely want to learn more about.
Work that is connected to your values, your purpose.
As I dug into research about this, I found a book that perfectly outlined the difference between work we’re good at and work we love doing. Guy Hendricks created a fantastic framework in his books The big leap and The genius zone.
Building on Guy Hendricks’ thinking, incorporating Mihaly Csikszentmihaly’s work on Flow and Martin Seligman’s PERMA model, and inspired by Joseph Campbell’s Hero's Journey, I created my own Genius Zone framework.
Here is the Genius Zone worksheet - consider it my present to you <3. Please share it with anyone you think might need it right now.
I was so excited to see these findings come together, that I decided to create a course that tackled each of the above pieces into detail.
From my old consulting day, a third question surfaced - now what? What do you do after you tackle your inner barriers and you begin to realize what your own Genius Zone is about?
The missing piece was taking action. A big part of that is learning how to effectively communicate and influence, so you can begin to do that work right now, right here.
And so, the Inside Out Leadership Accelerator (IOLA) was born in February.
Since then, I taught IOLA in April to some of my clients, and later in the year to women leaders at two different organizations.
I’ll teach it at a group of post-doc students UC Berkeley in Spring of 2023.
IOLA has taken a whole life of its own, and I’m truly blown away by how much it resonates with people. (Fun fact - my coaching business has grown close to 40% last year primarily due to IOLA.)
There is no need to wait till the job or conditions are perfect (remember perfectionism?). It’s all about small, incremental steps in the direction of what fulfills you.
This intentional exploration into your own personal growth and inner genius pays off.
Possibilities are endless.
There are two ways of spreading light:
to be the candle
or the mirror that reflects it.- Edith Wharton
As you reflect on the year that passed, take the time to acknowledge how far you’ve come.
The times you thought you just couldn’t go any further and you picked yourself up with more kindness and self compassion than before.
The goals you achieved that you worked so hard toward.
This time of the year is a great time to acknowledge that today is the future you’ve been working towards. That the you right now is the one you’ve been working to become.
As you reflect, you’ll see that more and more layers of YOU are opening up to your awareness.
YOU of now is the one you’ve been intuitively working all year to grow, develop.
Your inner genius is always at work.
Enjoy yourself, appreciate yourself. We all need you to truly own your inner genius.
You are marvelous.
I am wholeheartedly cheering you on.
May the magic of the holidays fill your heart with peace and happiness!
Big hugs,
Ramona
