Work: It is how we spend most of our days. Our careers are made up of the hours which turn into weeks and then years. Life goes by. We're in the middle of it. Yet have you ever stopped to think, what am I actually working for?
Modern society is so fast-paced. Technology has ramped up the speed of everything. We can get more done in less time, and we are. But what is the price we are paying?
In the pursuit of efficiency and achievement I believe the majority of us are actually losing ourselves. We're getting lost in the chaos of modern life. We go on with the daily grind because that is the way it is. We work long hours because that is what is expected of us. We keep climbing the ladder of success because we've unconsciously bought into the notion that life is about getting to the top.
But to the top of what? What is the proverbial mountain that you want to climb? And why do you want to climb it?
Most of us are just going through the motions, never stopping to question the "why". We do what we do because that is the way it is. That is the path we have committed to, so we keep going.
The majority of us don't ever stop long enough to get to the heart of the matter. We aren't assessing whether the path that we are on is actually filling us up and giving us the life we truly want. We aren't stopping to consider whether we are living in alignment with our deepest desires and fulfilling the needs that will secure our true happiness. Most of us are either too busy for that, or the thought of living anything other than what we already know is simply too scary to consider.
Yet the truth is, we do have the power to do things differently, and that is the bit we are forgetting. We don't have to buy into the model of success and striving that we have been born into. We don't have to live our lives stuck on a treadmill, and I for one don't believe we were created to do so.
We have forgotten that if we give ourselves the space and moments of peace, we are all infinitely wise. We know the answers to the big questions deep in our hearts if we allow ourselves to truly connect. But in our quest to keep up with the pace of modern life, we have become caught in the incessant stream of chatter in our minds, and are forgetting to step back to contemplate. We are forgetting to dream, to consider and to question. We are stuck in the doing, and many of us are going around and around like a rat on a wheel with no end in sight. We have forgotten that we are the creative agents in our lives and we have a say in how it goes.
Just for a moment, I encourage you to contemplate the end of your life. It is a sobering exercise, but it works. If all of a sudden you woke up tomorrow knowing there were no more days left, would you be proud of the life you've been living? Or would you want to give yourself a little slap and say "you had the power to do it differently you know." Would you consider your life to be one well lived? Would you feel there had been enough living in your days?
Don't put off asking yourself these big questions. These are the questions of real power that make a life meaningful. These are the questions that will help you know just what you are actually working for. These will be the questions that you will be relieved your asked yourself when you finally do get to the end of your life. It is these questions that will help you live a truly full life in alignment with yourself.
Kate is an Executive & Life Coach at www.thrive.how. She helps people who want the good stuff out of life, get it. Through her individual coaching programs, she enables her clients to clarify their thinking, grow into their potential and re-gain balance. You can learn more about Kate by following her on Facebook or Instagram, or can sign up to her mailing list to get a copy of her free guide 8 Steps Towards a Thriving Life.