Your Friday Inspiration: “What Makes You Come Alive?” with Sean Aiken
Do you sometimes feel like everyone but you know exactly where they are going and what they want to do with their life? Is your business growing and succeeding but yet you still find yourself feeling kind of empty and unfulfilled?
Believe me, you are far from alone in this search and it is a topic that we can all relate to.
At some point in our life, maybe even right this very moment each of us will be faced with the following questions:
- What do I want to do with my life?
- What is my gift? – Which vastly differs from what you are good at. We are all good at a variety of tasks and although it may seem like being a laundry goddess is a gift don’t confuse being good at a task with what your TRUE gift really is.
- What contribution do you want to make in the world?
You must give yourself the permission and space to genuinely explore what each of these questions means to you. If you spend your life avoiding them you are opening yourself up to the risk that at some time down the road you will look backwards on your life with disappointment and regret.
Sean Aiken is on deck and ready to give each of you a bit of a “talking to”. The kind of inspirational talk that you just might have been waiting for. I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt it was definitely worth sharing with each of you. For those of you who haven’t heard of Sean Aiken, he is an inspirational young man who is the creator of The One-Week Job Project. From February 2007 to March 2008 Sean traveled an inspirational journey of epic proportions across North America, working 52 jobs in 52 weeks to find his passion. In total, Sean trekked more than 46,000 miles, slept on 55 couches, raised over $20,000 for charity, and tried every job he was given the opportunity to. From roles as a Yoga Instructor, an Advertising Executive, and Dairy Farmer, to a Stock Trader, a Baker, an NHL Mascot, and more… Sean has been featured on CNN, Good Morning America, The Rachael Ray Show, MTV, TIME, and The New York Times.
So set aside 8 minutes, grab your beverage of choice and prepare to be inspired by Sean Aiken and his TEDxVancouver talk – “What Makes You Come Alive?” http://youtu.be/VcMyX5R4dzs
There are some excellent takeaways from this video. Of course your takeaways may be quite different from mine as we don’t share the same headspace, I have selected those which really stood out for me and got me thinking about my relationship and connection to my work right now:
- Our society today is seeing a revolution in work consciousness. A shift in how we as a culture view work and our relationship to it.
- No longer is our work something that we merely endure, our work is becoming ever connected to our life’s work.
- The people who are the most passionate about their work are the people who are the most connected to meaning behind the work.
- Our career is only one means to express our gifts and fulfill our passion. In some aspect of our life outside of our career we must give ourselves permission to express our gifts to allow ourselves to feel the fulfillment we desire.
The common thread that connects these points is that the vast majority of people today desire work and/or employment that offers more than a just means to fund the basic necessities for life (and desired luxuries if one so chooses). Are you a person who is longing for a deeper connection and a greater sense of purpose? If you are, have you given yourself permission to truly explore what your passion is?
What the world needs are more people who have come alive. Inspire possibility. Embody your work and share your gifts. It will make the world a better and more beautiful place.
Please visit www.oneweekjob.com to learn more about Sean’s innovative international program designed to empower people to discover their passion and purpose by taking on a series of “One Week Job’s”.