3 tips for focusing on what you really care about

“Nowadays I am doing something I really believe in,” said one marketer, “but it hasn’t always been the case. During my 30s I got stuck in a job that was pointless. I stopped caring and it showed. Fortunately I got out sooner rather than later. Nowadays it’s good to go to work with a spring in my step.” Let’s explore how you can take similar steps in your own way.

1) You can clarify what you really care about.

Try tackling the exercise on this theme called The caring dimension. Start by brainstorming the things that you really care about. You may feel strongly about supporting your family, encouraging people, creating beauty, caring for nature, passing-on knowledge, fighting for justice or whatever. After completing your list, return to each activity and rate the extent to which you care about it. Do this on a scale 0—10.


The things I really care about – and the extent
to which I care about them on a scale 0 - 10 - are:

*

The extent to which I care about this is __ /10

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The extent to which I care about this is __ /10

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The extent to which I care about this is __ /10

2) You can focus on one thing that you really care about and translate it into a specific ‘project’.

“Taking this step acted as a wake-up call,” said the marketer. “I returned to the activities that made my heart sing. My marketing career had been successful, including winning several industry awards, but something was missing. During the early years I generated false ‘excitement’ about branding a soft drink, car or travel company. But success caused me to reflect. Did I really want to tell my daughter that my legacy was: ‘I got more people to buy fizzy drinks’? The answer was obvious - I must focus on useful products. This led to me going freelance and running marketing campaigns that I considered worthwhile.”

Looking at your list, focus on one thing you really care about. How could you translate this into a specific ‘project’? Try completing the following sentences.

The thing I really care about that I want to focus on is:

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The way I can translate this into a specific project is:

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3) You can do what you care about, perform creative work and deliver concrete results.

Caring can be a tremendous motivating force behind doing memorable work. Dame Cicely Saunders set-up St. Christopher’s Hospice, Bob Geldof launched Live Aid, Nick Park created Wallace & Gromit. You can always tell when somebody has put their heart into cooking a meal, designing a garden or painting a picture. Caring feeds your craft and can be translated into fulfilling work. Reflect on the activity you want to concentrate on - then make an action plan. Bearing in mind your chosen project, try completing the following sentence.

The steps I can take to set a clear goal, perform
creative work and deliver concrete results are:

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