Nurture your working life: part 1 (Intention)

This is a series on nurturing your working life

Where I sit, we’re on the cusp of spring. Wherever you sit, I hope you’re surrounded by that same feeling of imminent growth – both from the earth around you, and for YOU and your working life.

Let’s start with some definitions…

What is nurturing?

To nurture is to care for and encourage the growth or development of something.

What is your working life?

Here’s where things get interesting.

A few years back we published a series called “what is work?” – with four posts and four answers:

a pastime: you spend a meaningful portion of your life on it
an energetic contract: there is always an exchange
a catalyst: your work is changing you
a legacy: something is left behind after you’re done

How do you define your “working life”? And what if you considered the four tests – time, energy, catalyst, legacy – would that expand what counts?

For example, your working life might include:

Training for a marathon
Documenting your family history
Applying to grad school
Working toward a credential
Planning a birthday party
Buying a car
Raising a kid or bunny
Volunteering
A side hustle
A day job

Let’s talk about intention

Before spring arrives, the gardener is considering their intentions. This is the planning phase. They might be researching and measuring, chatting with neighbours about grass seed and pruning strategies. They might be planning major landscaping additions, or, maybe they’re all about the small accent flowers.

Before you can plant the garden, you need to start with a vision.

So I’ll ask you: What are you going for in your working life right now?

Notice right now. Thinking beyond a three year timeframe overwhelms most people.

Of all the pieces that fit into that “working life” definition right now, choose up to five that matter most.

Now imagine how they fit together. How does your garden grow?

Is it more monochromatic or more colourful, more wild or more structured, more local or more exotic, more traditional or more unique? Are the different elements climbing all over each other or separated in neat rows by chicken wire?

Let’s get some visuals going here 🙂