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- Ali Boston
Start the year by rediscovering your passion at work
Rediscover
(Verb)
What was your favorite part of the winter holiday season? Maybe it was cooking – or consuming – festive food. Or getting out the old board games to play with family. Or returning to your childhood home. Or maybe it was simply the fact that everything seemed to slow down a little – whether or not you actually had vacation. For many of us, the winter holidays are a season for reconnecting with our inner child again. It’s a time of rediscovery: the magic of snow falling (or at least dreaming of it); the joy of giving and receiving gifts; the simple satisfaction of winning a game of Monopoly.
There’s something special about reconnecting with your childhood. It can be a reminder of the things that spark joy in you and where your true passions lie. What was it that you loved doing as a kid? Does it show up in the work that you do now? Maybe you loved taking care of your dolls and now you work as a doctor. Or you loved drawing and now you work as an architect. Maybe the connection is harder to trace – that’s okay too. Start by looking back and noticing.
But you don’t have to go all the way back to your childhood to rediscover what you love about your work. The break from our normal routines that the holidays offer can help you look at the present differently too. Maybe the job that’s been stressing you out all year suddenly doesn’t seem so important now you’ve had some time out. Or maybe Aunt Julie’s questions have made you start to wonder yourself what exactly the point of your work is. This different perspective can also be a chance to rediscover what your hopes and dreams for your work life are.
Your call to rediscover what you love doing
This January, instead of setting yourself goals or resolutions that are impossible to meet, why not dedicate a month to figuring out what does or doesn’t make your work meaningful to you? If you’re coming back to work after the holidays feeling a little lost about where to begin, we have lots of great tools to help you.
In this first week, focus on rediscovery. Take a notebook and respond to the following questions:
What did you love doing as a kid? If you had any dreams about what you would be when you grew up, write those down too. What’s stayed and what’s changed?
What first inspired you about the work that you do? If you’ve never felt inspired in your work, that’s okay, note it down too.
Who has inspired you in your work life? Reach out and reconnect with one of the people on your list.
Remember, this week isn’t about coming up with the answers. It’s about rediscovering the things that spark joy in you.
Our free downloadable calendar for January has some great prompts to help you through this week – as well as a progress tracker so you can log what you’re uncovering this month. Download it here.
Ready to go deeper? Then try the Meaningful Work Survey.
The Meaningful Work Survey experience starts with 31 questions designed to open up different perspectives on what makes work meaningful to you. Where is energy gained or drained? What opportunities exist to give your work more meaning? You’ll receive a comprehensive report that includes short videos showing real examples of how you can put your results to work.