If you’re like me, you’re motivated to make a difference, not by obligation to a task list.
It was Monday morning. My day started just like any other. But before I knew it, I was having trouble getting things done. I tried settling in to write a blog article, but ended up staring at the screen. It had been a while since I did a Facebook Live, but I couldn’t think of anything to say. It should be easier than this!
It wasn’t even 9am and I was shoulding all over myself.
Needing a change in focus, I shifted my energy to a different project – a Gofundme campaign my cousins and I are preparing to launch later this month.
Within an hour, I had emails written, a training video recorded and several social media posts prepared to rally the masses. My energy was way up and so was my productivity.
What was the difference? A shift in perspective.
Alignment is key to your ability to make a difference
With my own business activities, I had been treating them like a run of the mill task list, things I have to do, rather than things I want to do.
When I shifted my attention to my cousin Mary Archer’s Gofundme campaign, I had a direct sense of how what I was doing could have a direct impact on her much-changed life.
Wait a minute!
Cue the sound of screeching brakes….
Haven’t I designed my business and life so that I’m able to do what I love to do – make a difference? Isn’t that what my coaching is all about?
I’m so good at turning everything into “work” that without realizing it, I had turned the business that I love into another list of obligatory chores. The very things that usually fill me with energy had become draining because I was focused on what had to do, instead of what I get to do.
Instead of fretting because blogging is hard (it is!) and staying invisible because I didn’t look or feel perfect (I didn’t!) , what I needed to do became crystal clear.
I needed to shift my alignment and put the same “make a difference energy” I had for my cousin into my business. Part of that includes sharing the experience with you.
Check your alignment
Alignment is key to your ability to make a difference and get results. Are you aligned with people, ideas and things that serve you, or are you focused on being of service to others?
When you can show up as someone who is of service, you are aligned with a higher purpose than if you are focused only on what you can gain.
Great leaders know this to be true: By helping others get what they want, you will in turn create what you want. Aligning yourself with making a difference for others is one of the most powerful things you can do.
