M is for Money, Meaning And Magic

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People often want three things from work: money, meaning and magic. Money feeds the stomach. But meaning and magic feed the spirit and the soul.

Imagine you want to get the right balance in your work. Let’s consider some ideas for making it happen.

Money

“I’m not sure I will ever have enough money,” said one person. “I seem to spend whatever I get.”

Different people have different relationships with money. Researchers tell us that, once people go beyond a certain financial threshold, then increased money does not mean increased happiness.

How a person spends their money – and whether they can do so more wisely – is a separate issue. Many excellent books have been written on this subject. The Seven Laws of Money, by Michael Phillips, remains one of the best.

Published almost 40 years ago, it shows how people can enjoy a better relationship with money.  You can find these Seven Laws at the link below.

http://bit.ly/bGnh4T

Providing you have enough money to live, the issue then becomes one of lifestyle. As Gandhi said:

“The world has enough resources for everybody’s need, but not for everybody’s greed.”

If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to do the following things.

Describe the extent to which you feel you have enough money in your work. Rate this on a scale 0 – 10.

Describe the specific things you can do to maintain or improve the rating.

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Meaning

“I love my job,” said one person.

“I provide solutions that help people to take more charge of their lives. Like many people in the service business, I aim to help customers to succeed. And that gives me an enormous buzz.”

“I like to see positive results in my work,” said another person.

“It’s important for me to get the right balance between innovation, implementation and impact.

“My last job was frustrating, because I spent all my time implementing other people’s tactics. There was little scope for innovation or impact.

“So I found a new role where I can innovate, implement and see the results. This is what I find fulfilling.”

If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to do the following things.

Describe the extent to which you enjoy a sense of meaning in your work. Rate this on a scale 0 – 10.

Describe the specific things you can do to maintain or improve the rating.

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Magic

What are the magical times in your work? How often do they occur? How can you create more of these times?

“I started by focusing on what gave me positive energy,” said one Sales Director.

“So I began visiting more of my favourite customers. This was far more rewarding than sitting in boring internal meetings.”

“Slowly I pieced together these visits like a string of pearls. Eventually 80% of my week was spent with customers.

“The orders rolled-in and, because our team beat our targets, I was given extra heads. So I took steps to do three things.

To hire a co-ordinator to manage the team.

To get everybody to write down their strengths and how they could use these to achieve the team’s goals.

To give the co-ordinator power to harness these strengths and fill the gaps.

“This released everybody to do what they do best and we beat our increased targets. Now I love my work and also have a superb team.

People need bread stay alive but, we are told, people do not live by bread alone. They also need to feed the spirit and soul.

If you wish, try tackling the final exercise on this theme. This invites you to do the following things.

Describe the extent to which you feel you enjoy a sense of magic in your work. Rate this on a scale 0 – 10.

Describe the specific things you can do to maintain or improve the rating.

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