This week I left home one day at 1pm for a truly intense day and a half of client work, yet when I got home late the next evening I felt great at all levels.
The secret? Yes, I make sure I look after myself physically (sleep, exercise, nutrition etc), I am a passionate and high energy person anyway, but the true inner rocket fuel that powered me through and always does? Purpose. I am clear on my purpose and choose purpose-led leaders and teams as clients that see me live that purpose through my work.
Passion, energy and drive ultimately can only be sustained and grown where Purpose is the inner rocket fuel.
Last month I spent a day in Brighton at the annual Meaning Conference.
One theme I picked up was around individuals finding Meaning in their work, and that Purpose is more for the businesses they work for.
This sound reasonable, yet what if we find and have both individual Meaning in our work and Purpose in what we choose to do, who we choose to do it with, the impact our work can have? The more aligned we are, the more powerful everything is!
This takes me back to the rocket fuel and my recent trip.
The whole month of November was highly active for me, as I outlined in “Slow Motion Multitasking“. The grand finalé of this came with the following:
- 1pm – train to Reading, arriving 2:30.
- Pot of tea in a hotel lobby then 3-4pm client coaching call overseas.
- An hour or so, then a slight change of venue, walked to meet another client from 5pm, through dinner, to 9:30pm.
- Walk to train station, train into central London.
- 11pm on board Sleeper train to Glasgow, disembark around 7:30am, shower and to a coffee shop
- 8:30 met client at a coffee shop, then walked across to a hotel for two half-day team meetings, finishing around 4pm
- Home from a flight around 11pm.
- So, in 36 hours, over 12 hours on four different trains, a flight, 14 hours with three different clients. Oh, and a good sleep on the train.
When I got home, though, I felt great when I could have felt exhausted.
This reminds me of a TV Ad famous and well remembered by anybody growing up in the UK in the 70s and 80s:
The famous “Ready Brek” “glow”, the rocket fuel warming and powering you for the day from the inside out.
That is how I feel when I am doing work aligned with my Purpose, work that has Meaning to me. I am never too tired for this, always have the rocket fuel!
I wonder what that looks like for you? If you don’t often feel that way, perhaps particularly if you are in the UK on a wet, cold winter day like in that TV ad, I encourage you to work with a coach to support you on seeking this. Once I found this for myself (with a brilliant coach and mentor), it has powered me always.
A final story. I was on the phone with a dear friend the other day. They coach junior Rugby in their evenings and weekends. I’ve been on the sidelines many times over the years as their son both trained and then played for various age group team. What I notice about my friend when they are coaching, often in freezing temperature, wind, rain is that they have that inner “glow”, that rocket fuel.
In talking to them about where they shine most in their work, this came to me. They love to coach people to their full potential. They are therefore happiest and find most meaning in their work when they are doing work aligned to that core purpose.
Find your own rocket fuel. Once you have found it, you will have an inexhaustible supply.