I sometimes save these thought streams in a draft folder while I noodle on them before publishing; however, I felt compelled to publish this thought stream in mid-stream knowing I’ll be adding to it later. I invite you to comment and help drive some of the thought.
I was recently driving through a depressed neighborhood in the urban core of Kansas City and the thought came to me that the vast majority of the residents in this area are “surviving” as opposed to “thriving”. Why is that? Why do we not do more to allow people to thrive instead of survive? What could we do? What are we not doing? A million thoughts were running through my head on how we could change a culture where the norm seems to be survive (live paycheck to paycheck) and the exception is to thrive. How can we turn this around? If given the choice, I believe it’s human nature to want to thrive, so why is it so many find themselves in the mode of day-to-day survival? Is it purely circumstantial…or is it social engineering?
I then thought about this same concept as it relates to the workplace. Are you thriving in your job, or are you surviving? What does surviving mean in the workplace. Are you burning cycles on surviving that are taking cycles away from your opportunity to thrive? Are your actions feeding off of negative energy or are you the shining star people gravitate toward? Are you in alignment with your company’s core vision? Do you know your company’s core vision? I think you need to have some self-awareness in order to thrive in the workplace. I’m guilty from time to time of slipping into a “survive” mindset and burning cycles on justifying my actions or inactions. This is a reactionary mindset that takes cycles away from more productive efforts that are in alignment with your company’s core vision that could allow you thrive in your job. It’s good practice from time to time to do some self-reflection to make sure you’re in alignment with your workplace peers and employer. It’s at that point you have to hit the pause button and evaluate the energy that surrounds you and the energy you’re projecting. I usually come out of this exercise very focused and motivated. I also find that my workplace relationships improve and get back in balance if I feel the scales have tilted. It’s very easy to slip into an unhealthily mindset in the workplace; hence, you might want to put a rock on your calendar once a month for 30-minutes of professional meditation to keep your scales in balance.