What do you want and how will you know when you’ve got it?
Tough question. Have you ever asked yourself this question? Do you know the answer? How important is this question in your work/life?

We spend 60% of our time either working or getting ready for work so if you’re saying I’m only doing this to pay the bills I think you are missing something important. That means you are trying to get money to pay for the remaining 40%, half of which you are asleep for anyway.

That’s not to say we all have to ‘follow our dreams’ like we hear so frequently from reality shows and talent selection programmes. Sometimes there is hard graft to be done or unpleasant phases of life to be lived, it is more to say are you doing things with intent or by accident? And is it affecting your happiness?

What do you want and how will you know when you’ve got it? This applies medium and long term.

Is it money? Is it responsibility? Is it a certain item or possession? Is it a feeling inside or a state of mind?

For me it is a state of mind which I can achieve when I balance;

·       Work I enjoy or I learn from (and pays the bills)

·       Time with my family

·       Time for myself

How I define these individually is my business but if I get this right I know I’m there. I can feel when it is out of balance – I imagine myself on a triangular wobble board with the above 3 factors on each point - I am always trying to keep all points in the air. Crucially I can feel when I haven’t got the balance right and I can feel when I have and I register it and, either do something about it or consciously recognise it and value it for what it is.

Money comes and goes. Awards, titles, job roles are there for a while and then grow old, get phased out and get forgotten by others. Possessions get lost, broken, stolen or are superseded by something else. It’s the feeling inside no one can take from you, your state of mind that only you can own.

For a wonderful blog with a talking heads film about exactly this issue check this out http://www.soulbiographies.com/2010/11/the-riddle-of-here/

What do you want and how will you know when you’ve got it?

Piers Carter

Coach & Leadership Consultant