One of the greatest challenges of the millennial mindset, is we want to bring all of us into our work but we don’t believe that we can.
You see the world tells us we can’t… But here is the truth about the world. If I brought 10 different Millennials together and we pinpointed all that makes them individuals, I guarantee you that they would all have a different answer for what the world says they can or can not bring with them into their work.
See “the world” is really just short hand for our fear.
We project our fear out, and then it comes back to us as “the world” or “they” and it says the very thing we are afraid of.
The world actually desires that you show up in the fullness of who you are, it was created for just that purpose.
“They” need you to show up in the fullness of if you are, we are beings designed for relationship, for interaction, we grow when the people around us show up in the fullness of who they are and the reverse is true, we help others grow as we give them power to show up when we do first.
Google just did a massive study looking for the perfect formula for creating teams that are successful. After hundreds of interviews a couple years of data collecting the answer they came up with was “be nice to each other.” This was shown in one key area creating psychological safety.
Here the other person – seek to understand the other person- then seek to be understood. In other words, Google determined that for teams to be affective we need to create space where we can show up in the fullness of who we are. “The perfect cure for fear is curiosity.”
http://www.businessinsider.com/google-reveals-how-to-have-the-perfect-team-2016-2
So what does this mean? This means that you can actually show up. You can bring all of what makes you – you, to your work. This has been an area of contention for me for a long time. I have desired to bring everything that I am to my work. But I a large part of me has always struggled to fit, the spiritual side of me. How do you combine online business building with coaching and spirituality? To be totally honest I still don’t really have a clear answer for this. But I do know that what holds most Millennials back from creating, from building, taking risks and committing, is mental and spiritual in nature. I know that I am not alone in my desire to bring my technical skills and my emotional and spiritual self to my work.
Millennials are the first generation to act upon the idea that they should be able to have work that matters, that aligns with their values and they are free to bring everything they are to work. The result of this is a generation that is being characterized by remaining at a job for a very short time. Heck if I look at my own track record that rings true, and even when I work for myself I struggle with this same thing. I change directions, I constantly struggle to identify the direction I want to go in – why? Because I have not seen a model of business out there that allows multifaceted people to bring 2 or even 3 seemingly unrelated parts of them selves together into one idea. In an effort to identify and create a model that allows this I am asking these questions,
Do I have to focus on just one thing?
Can my work be as multifaceted as I am?
How do I combine the different elements of who I am into on message?
I know it starts with the simple act of giving myself permission to express both the technical and the spiritual side of my self through my business. Because after all if the world is just a reflection of our fear – we now have an opportunity to change the messages that the world is sending us. It no longer has to say don’t bring that to work – but it can invite you every morning to take risks, to show up fully and to empower the people around you to do the same.
If you desire to bring all of you to your work, I invite you to join me on this this journey as I explore what it means to bring all of me into my work.
If your interested in doing some self discovery to get a clearer picture of who you are and what the different elements are in your life, I invite you to get a copy of my Discover Your Purpose E-workbook.
Dan Byl is a Millennial Leadership Specialist.
His work centers around helping people discover their voices, and teaching them how to use that voice. You can find him at www.danbyl.com or join him on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Dan-Byl-Millennial-Leadership-Specialist