Earlier this week on my morning run, it was quite foggy and I could barely see 20 feet ahead of me.
As I finished the run, the fog started to lift giving me the ability to see further ahead.
Such is life, it has taken me over 40 years running down a foggy path full of hurdles and sprints to get to a point of better clarity on where I am going. This clarity gave me the confidence to jump out of my 9 to 5 to return to entrepreneurship.
Call this juncture wisdom.
Maybe burnout?
Or a mid-life crisis?
Maybe all the above? But ultimately, it took divine intervention to get me to a point to stop, clear the fog, and make a shift.
What I have learned on this journey of redesigning my life is that my clarity shouldn’t be just for me, everyone should go through similar introspections.
As I knew I was being pulled in a different direction, here were some of the questions that I contemplated:
- Were any of my past career choices wrong?
- Had I listened to God’s voice throughout my life?
- Why am I burned out when I used to love my job so much?
- Am I too old to start a new career?
Learning from the triumphs and trials of my past was key to a road map forward. That meant joining the Great Resignation and starting to pursue a purpose that God would not only be pleased with but what he created me to be. True authenticity!
However, it does leave the question of how many others are running in the fog. How many people are still searching for their authentic selves? Who else is asking these same questions but chooses to keep suffering?
Is seeking a greater purpose the cause of the Great Resignation?
Yes, burnout combined with ancient 9 to 5 standards for the workplace has been a key contributor to the Great Resignation. However, the majority of the Great Burnout is directly correlated with people not being able to do what they have been designed to do. This “Great Burnout” has accelerated a movement that was already in progress before 2020.
Workers want more purpose in their work and that is a good thing! To find that purpose, we have seen the cleats hung up for the last time in thousands of corporate locker rooms across the globe. This trend will continue.
The percentage of entrepreneurs and freelancers peaked at an all-time high in 2021. With that, 68% of new freelancers say that ‘Career Ownership’ is a top draw, followed by the ability to work remotely at 54%. I would argue that the new freelancers are also seeking ‘Life Ownership’. True freedom in work and life!
With Freedom Comes Clarity
Freedom is now being pursued to permanently eliminate commutes, pointless business trips, and other time-sucks. New freelancers have not only found their freedom but have found their unique gift to this world.
Though we are cheering for the freelancers, we are also grieving those that are stuck in the fog and drowning in the middle of the ocean. Solutions to better workplaces are being sought out like the 4-Day work week, meeting-free day policies, no email after-hours policies, growth of project management platforms, and updated wellness plans.
All of these are good solutions, but every organization is unique and will have to come up with solutions for building a viable culture that promotes a complex solution of bottom-line success, autonomous vs. collaborative work, mental health support, freedom, and flexibility.
This is no small order, but most of the new ideas for improving the workplace culture in a hybrid world do not get to the meat of the issue: alignment with a person’s uniquely designed purpose and protecting that skillset.
It is hard for someone to burn out if they aren’t already on fire for what they do! However, burnout can happen if your work is not aligned with what you do best. So this raises two questions that every single person should be asking:
- What work am I designed to do?
- How do I get there?
Let’s start with a biblical perspective.
How should we approach work? We are to please God first! Colossians 1: 9-12 says:
“…We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”
How should we perform at any job? Work hard as we’re working for God! Colossians 3:22-25 says
“Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.”
Why do we have to work? Not to save us, but because we are saved, to do good works! Ephesians 2:8-10 says:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
How can I find satisfaction in our work? Our satisfaction comes from knowing He is God! Ecclesiastes 3: 9-14 says:
“What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.”
How do our unique gifts align with our work? We are all blessed with a gift that should be used to help others. 1 Corinthians 12: 6 -11 says:
“There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”
Having a perspective on work throughout the bible is key when faced with today’s complications with how culture is trying to fix the workplace.
Yes, workplaces are broken. The HR Handbook should be burned and rewritten with biblical values.
Rewriting the handbook may never happen at your workplace, but I would offer some soul-searching tools if you are in a place of turmoil, burnout, or career fatigue. Having clear self-awareness that is aligned with where God wants to position you is life-giving!
Here are the benefits…
When you know your purpose, the stress of life can become easier to bare!
The tension between the demands at work and life can get the best of us. Meeting deadlines, requests of your time, extracurricular activities of the family…the hamster wheel can equate both for the workplace and home life. Aligning to your mission in life frees up the emotional stress from trying to do it all. It provides clarity on the events and activities that you should or shouldn’t be doing. This provides space and margin that is needed for decompression, a slower pace, and intentionality for the work & play you were designed to do.
When you know your purpose, it becomes easier to say no to things that aren’t a priority!
It is difficult for most people to say no. The inability to draw boundaries kills time and productivity. This doesn’t even have to be an audible no, this is permitting distractions like email, social media, or IMs to take the attention away from other priorities. When the distractions pile on and you haven’t verbally pushed back diplomatically, the hamster wheel starts to move a bit faster. Being clear on what you do surely helps in removing the junk that has no association with your current goals.
When you know your why (aka purpose), you know your way!
Knowing your why could mean a career change, a move across the country, or picking up an entirely new habit or skill set. It could mean a small tweak to something you’re already doing or it could be confirmation that you are on the right path.
Knowing your why gives you purpose in life, regardless of the situation that you are in. Every single person on earth and the billions that came before us were born with a natural gift…something that you can do well without the need of an education system, organization training, or any other certifications. It doesn’t mean you can’t sharpen your tools, but your unique genius comes naturally!
Maybe your genius is administration, leading, spreadsheets, or discernment. It could be artistic like poetry, music, or painting. Maybe it’s the ability to teach, speak, or organize. Having a handle on your unique gift to this world, positions you to know how to use that gift in any situation.
When you know your why, it brings Glory to God!
To bring glory to God and to find joy in what you are doing gets down to the why. Ephesians 6: 7-8 says to “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.” When you are working in your genius, you find yourself smiling even during laborious and stressful times.
Roadmap to your Purpose
If you already know your unique gift and how that aligns with your purpose, feel free to stop reading. If you haven’t taken the time to reflect or revisit your purpose on earth, I would encourage you to start with some or all of the recommendations below.
- Take multiple personality assessments and connect the dots of similarities.
- Next, have conversations with an array of different perspectives of the people that you are close to you, including your spouse, and ask them about your unique abilities.
- Next, ask yourself these self-reflection questions about yourself (and your work).
- If you were shipped wrecked on an island with a group of folks to rebuild the ship to get back home, which job would you take on? (i.e. builder, organizer, supplier, inspirer, leader, advisor, craftsman, engineer, designer)
- Outline everything you love to do and would be willing to invest more into?
- Follow the breadcrumbs of your career and outline everything you’ve done that gave you more energy.
- As a child or 7-year-old self, what brought you joy in your activities?
- If you didn’t have to be perfect, what would you do?
- Lastly and most importantly, pray and meditate on all of the results from the first 3 steps and ask God for direction. Seek pastoral support and prayer, as your gifts may be used in the marketplace but also in the church if it’s God’s will. Your why could also be seasonal and God could very well have you on a different assignment than the one you will be working on a year from now.
Knowing your why may have nothing to do with you! It has everything to do with glorifying God and loving others.
I recently heard someone say that “the best two days of anyone’s life are first the day they were born, and secondly when they know why.” I would encourage anyone that may be lost, to start seeking your meaning.
Don’t dismiss your past as you may find the purpose of your journey is to build character in preparation for your future.
