The work I do flows out of who I am.
It has taken me a long time to find the work that draws me into it. I have started off in so many directions, trying this and trying that. I learn the lessons of the past, exploring and discover my personal path. Each day is a step toward where I am going, including the days when I stop to listen.
What I do and how I do it reflects my essential core values. My work is my craft. Each project, each client, each task, is a facet of my true self. I work, putting the pieces together, to practice my values and principles.
No one else is able to do the work I do in the same way.
A great deal of what I do depends on whether other people trust me.
At the same time, the work I am drawn to do is rarely about me. I work with other people, bringing out their best.
The people who trust me to help them come to see that they are the crucial partner in our working relationship. I listen, ask questions, laugh and cry with people. I make recommendations. They are in control of what they actually put into practice.
I can help people see things in new ways. They determine whether or not they will actually change.
I may approach my work as a craftsperson, like a blacksmith, shaping and straightening. It is the fire that really makes the work possible and the metal that holds the strength.
One step at a time, we work away, crafting something new from what has gone before.
Is your work all about you, or all about other people?
What will you see in a new way today?
[Image by Hans Splinter]