3 tips for following your life-themes
Every person has certain themes they follow in their life. They may aim to encourage other people, build beautiful things, fix problems, create prototypes, fight for justice, pass-on knowledge, work to build a better world or whatever. Sometimes they find and follow these themes – sometimes they don’t. “During my twenties I was idealistic,” said one person. “But I have lost my way a bit during the past ten years. Certainly I want to care for my family, but I am uneasy in my work. I am wondering if there is something more – something that might provide a greater sense of purpose in my working life.” Here are three steps to consider when exploring your life-themes.
* You can find your life-themes.
There are many approaches to finding your life-themes. One is to tackle the exercise called My guaranteed income. If you had a guaranteed income for the rest of your life, what would you do? You might travel around the world, enjoy holidays and give money to other people. But then what would you do? How would you spend your time? Can you see any themes?
“My theme was growing things,” said one person. “I would devote more time to tending my garden, directing plays at the local youth theatre and teaching courses in creative writing. Throughout my life I have been fascinated by helping people - and things - to fulfill their potential. I have tried to play that role as a parent, as a partner and in my work as the leader of an arts centre. There was a period when I got seduced into sitting in meetings doing ‘strategic work’, but I quickly returned to the grass roots. My best work has always been around demonstrating how art can benefit the community. The common theme, however, has been helping things to grow.”
How would spend your time if you didn’t have to work? Describe the things you would do – then see if you can find any themes. Try completing the following sentences.
My guaranteed income
The things I would do if I had a guaranteed income for the rest of my life would be:
*
*
*
The themes that emerge from these things I would do if I had a guaranteed income are:
*
*
*
What themes emerge when people do this exercise? Many focus on the eternal human activities. These include, for example: exploring, learning, creating, designing, building, caring, healing, encouraging, educating, enabling, simplifying, communicating, orchestrating, leading, shaping, trading, ‘selling’, implementing, coaching, facilitating, problem-solving, measuring, entertaining and performing. Different people then put together different combinations of these themes.
* You can follow your life-themes.
Consider how you can follow your themes the future. One person who made her living running a communications business said:
“My theme is ‘expressing people’s essence’. Ever since I was young I have been interested in finding people’s ‘story’. I love to explore and then tell the real story behind who people are, what they do and how they do it. Nowadays I practice it in several ways. One vehicle is writing people’s CV’s – but I produce something very different from the conventional format. I also help organizations to communicate their success stories. This goes beyond the normal kind of ‘good news’ story. I try to get to the heart of the matter, meet the people involved and show the real value of their work. Frequently I meet people who have a great story to tell. But they don’t know how to share it or reach a wider audience. That is my role. I am a communicator who expresses people’s essence.”
Looking at your themes, describe how you can follow and express these in your life and work. Try completing the following sentence.
The things that I can do to follow and express my life-themes are:
*
*
*
* You can fulfil your life-themes.
Following your life themes will be rewarding, but sometimes you may need a greater sense of fulfillment. How to make this happen? There are several ways. First, you can learn to ‘enjoy the journey’ as much as reaching the goal. Sounds zen-like, but it is more likely if you are pursuing a theme that gives positive energy. Second, you can develop the art of finishing. You may want to express your theme by creating a delicious meal, renovating a house, writing a book, fixing a problem or whatever. Seeing a ‘finished product’ gives a sense of satisfaction. Third, you can pass-on the fruits of your learning to other people. You can share it with students, apprentices, readers, listeners, mentees or whatever. Passing-on knowledge to willing learners can be extremely fulfilling.
“Enjoy the process as much as the prize,” we are told. Certainly this is more likely if we are following our key life-themes. Try completing the following sentence.
The specific things I can do to fulfill my life-themes are:
*
*
*
There are many approaches to finding your life-themes. One is to tackle the exercise called My guaranteed income. If you had a guaranteed income for the rest of your life, what would you do? You might travel around the world, enjoy holidays and give money to other people. But then what would you do? How would you spend your time? Can you see any themes?
“My theme was growing things,” said one person. “I would devote more time to tending my garden, directing plays at the local youth theatre and teaching courses in creative writing. Throughout my life I have been fascinated by helping people - and things - to fulfill their potential. I have tried to play that role as a parent, as a partner and in my work as the leader of an arts centre. There was a period when I got seduced into sitting in meetings doing ‘strategic work’, but I quickly returned to the grass roots. My best work has always been around demonstrating how art can benefit the community. The common theme, however, has been helping things to grow.”
How would spend your time if you didn’t have to work? Describe the things you would do – then see if you can find any themes. Try completing the following sentences.
My guaranteed income
The things I would do if I had a guaranteed income for the rest of my life would be:
*
*
*
The themes that emerge from these things I would do if I had a guaranteed income are:
*
*
*
What themes emerge when people do this exercise? Many focus on the eternal human activities. These include, for example: exploring, learning, creating, designing, building, caring, healing, encouraging, educating, enabling, simplifying, communicating, orchestrating, leading, shaping, trading, ‘selling’, implementing, coaching, facilitating, problem-solving, measuring, entertaining and performing. Different people then put together different combinations of these themes.
* You can follow your life-themes.
Consider how you can follow your themes the future. One person who made her living running a communications business said:
“My theme is ‘expressing people’s essence’. Ever since I was young I have been interested in finding people’s ‘story’. I love to explore and then tell the real story behind who people are, what they do and how they do it. Nowadays I practice it in several ways. One vehicle is writing people’s CV’s – but I produce something very different from the conventional format. I also help organizations to communicate their success stories. This goes beyond the normal kind of ‘good news’ story. I try to get to the heart of the matter, meet the people involved and show the real value of their work. Frequently I meet people who have a great story to tell. But they don’t know how to share it or reach a wider audience. That is my role. I am a communicator who expresses people’s essence.”
Looking at your themes, describe how you can follow and express these in your life and work. Try completing the following sentence.
The things that I can do to follow and express my life-themes are:
*
*
*
* You can fulfil your life-themes.
Following your life themes will be rewarding, but sometimes you may need a greater sense of fulfillment. How to make this happen? There are several ways. First, you can learn to ‘enjoy the journey’ as much as reaching the goal. Sounds zen-like, but it is more likely if you are pursuing a theme that gives positive energy. Second, you can develop the art of finishing. You may want to express your theme by creating a delicious meal, renovating a house, writing a book, fixing a problem or whatever. Seeing a ‘finished product’ gives a sense of satisfaction. Third, you can pass-on the fruits of your learning to other people. You can share it with students, apprentices, readers, listeners, mentees or whatever. Passing-on knowledge to willing learners can be extremely fulfilling.
“Enjoy the process as much as the prize,” we are told. Certainly this is more likely if we are following our key life-themes. Try completing the following sentence.
The specific things I can do to fulfill my life-themes are:
*
*
*
posted by Mike Pegg at
11:09
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