Discovering What Feeds You

For me, it started with not liking where I was (in my own head and the job I was in). I was spinning my wheels in a job that “was only going to be temporary” and ended up lasting 10 years. And many of you are in the same position. Life was pushing and pulling me, and since it wasn’t that bad, I found myself just floating along and not knowing where I was going to end up.

This was not making me happy.

I wanted to thrive in life, not just survive, and I had to figure out what that meant.

To thrive means: to grow or develop well or vigorously. To prosper, flourish.

In order to thrive you have to be fed. So, I had to define “What feeds me?”

I had always heard, “If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life.”

But what do I love?

After I started thinking about it, I didn’t really know what I liked, disliked, or loved.

I was pretty sure of what I hated; and that list was occupying my time more and more. I was in a sales job; leaving for work at 9:00am and getting home at 10:00pm. I worked every weekend and holiday. Rarely got fresh meals because there was no refrigerator or microwave at the store; by the time I got home I only wanted to crawl into bed. My mind was turning into mush because there was no stimulation, no internet connection, no computer and my library card was pretty used up.

I was already living my list of “do not wants”… now I just needed to put into words

what I DO want.

A famous question asks, “If you had all the money in the world, what would you do?”

I know myself well enough to honestly say I would have a hard time getting out of bed every morning without a purpose.

This was my next step.  Listing it ALL.

My loves, likes, so-sos, dislikes and what I loathed.

I pretty much spent 3 weeks asking myself what DO I want.

• Something to get me out of bed before 10:00 in the morning was GREAT, or I would needlessly nap until noon.
• I like working with people and on my own.
• I enjoy working with computers.
• I enjoy meeting new people but also like building a rapport with “regulars”.
• I want to be able to get home in time to run by the market to pick up fresh food for dinner, because I have found I enjoy cooking.
• I want my nights, weekends and holidays free.
• I needed stimulation and learning.

This was a good start, and I had only touched the surface. Where else in my life was I just accepting what was there – and not thinking about if it gave me pleasure to do these things?

Does this feed me? Does this serve me?

This is where the workbook helps me to see all the areas I could think of that people might have an opinion about. Seeing your likes and dislikes in writing helps to solidify in your mind what you are missing.

Whenever I entered into a new relationship, I chose not to buy my brand of soda, butter, toilet paper, or bread; and felt I had to let go of some of the things I liked because it might: save money, storage space, time or a hassle. I began to notice living together limited my space, my time and my choices.

I am not saying it is bad to be in a relationship; just understand if there is something you care about, tell your partner that this is important to you and you want this, whatever this is.

So… What else do I want in my day?

• Puppy dog kisses are high on my list as well. It just makes me laugh out loud, giddy.
• To wear a casual uniform so I wouldn’t have to design my wardrobe every morning.
• I feel good when I can share my knowledge; I guess you could call that teaching.
• I like learning about the body and how it works; but I don’t like the blood and guts, makes me woozy.
• Music helps fuel my soul, so I enjoy listening to it and dancing to it.

And so the list began…

I like:

• the freedom of choice and the structure of protocols
• sitting down sometimes and walking around to stretch my legs
• the beauty, smell and sounds of nature and being comfortable in air conditioning / heaters
• hand writing (to build the communication centers of the brain) and typing (because it is faster and legible).

As you can see, the choices I picked don’t have to be one OR the other, they can be a rainbow of wants or likes.

So here is where you can start to make your choices. Please use the workbook if you choose, it may broaden your ideas and give you new insights.

WHAT FEEDS YOU?         (go to Step 2)