Voor Nederlands, klik hier.
People who know me often describe me as friendly, optimistic, supportive, and enthusiastic. This is how I prefer to be and work best.
How you work is strongly aligned with your core qualities (your natural positive qualities), drives, motivations, values, and your WHY.
Your WHY is your unique contribution and its effect on the world. It is always positive, action-oriented, and infinite. My WHY is: I facilitate so that other people can elevate themselves and experience more love. More examples of WHY statements can be found here.
You keep your WHY alive by consciously engaging your HOWs.
We often help clients discover their WHY. Next to formulating a WHY statement, we help clients define their HOWs. These are based on the themes that recur in clients’ stories. You can read more about the HOWS here.
Everyone has their own ways how they prefer to work and being at their best. They are based on values. You feel them, and you can often name them. The challenge is to make them actionable and provide context.
My HOWs
“How do you work?” I hear this question often, and I often ask it of others. It helps me determine if and how we can best work together successfully (and better enjoy what we love to do).
I’ll give you my top five HOWs. There are 30 or so that often overlap. So you may see a different HOW of mine than the ones below. Each HOW is based on a theme, is action-oriented and is provided with context.
Connection
This is a theme that is important in my life. Even though I don’t mind being alone, I get more energy from being with family, friends, and colleagues.
The action-oriented HOW is: Nurture connections.
I do this by giving others attention, looking people in the eye, asking good questions, and listening.
As an entrepreneur, I often work alone, but when I work with others, there is more energy, inspiration, and fun. Together, things go better, there is more success, and there is more fun.
Positivity
People who know me know that I have a lot of laughter and fun in life.
So the action-oriented HOW is: Laugh often.
This may be a little superficial, but to me, it means that I am optimistic and always look for possibilities, even when things are tough. I look forward and not downwards. I compliment others, and I am grateful. By preparing well, I can adapt when problems arise. I involve others with integrity. I see the humor in a situation.
Enthusiastic
If I believe in something and it feels right, I go all the way. I don’t do anything half-heartedly. I approach everything with energy. You may have seen that when I give a workshop. I don’t dance as well as in the video below, but I strive for it. My heart starts to flow when I dance. Life is an adventure, and I want to experience the extreme. The latter is the HOW.
Honest
It’s hard for me to lie or withhold the truth. That just doesn’t feel right. As a consequence, I can’t be myself and authentic.
The HOW is: Be real.
That means I have both feet on the ground and am genuine. I live authentically. Trust is very important in this context: I do what I promise. I respect the space of others.
Meaningfulness
I am here on earth to learn, experience, and grow as a Soul. It is about learning to give and receive love. That means being aware of what is happening in life. Meaningfulness must be reflected in my work and my life.
The HOW is: Do what you believe.
That means that I am a happy entity. I do it with and for love; otherwise, I will not do it. I follow my intuition. Also, I help others to make their lives easier, and I contemplate on my (spiritual) experiences.
In the table below, I have summarized my HOWs:
Slipping too far in a HOW
And yet, I don’t always manage to live and act in line with my WHY and HOWs. That happens when I’m stressed, tired, scared, or sick.
But it can also happen when I slip too far in a HOW. For example, I can get too excited and do things that are not really necessary, take up too much energy, or do something that is not honest or authentic.
Then, it’s time to take a step back, breathe, and ask yourself how best to serve or work right now. Sometimes, that means to rest in bed. Or you can ask yourself, “What best serves this situation?” I might then apologize for having gone too far with my enthusiasm and, therefore, not being able to adhere to a personal value.
Would you like to make your HOWs more concrete using your WHY, values, and core qualities? We can help. Contact us today to get to know us.
How do you prefer to work? When are you at your best? Let me know in the comment box below. I, and other readers of this article, look forward to read from you!
Thank you for reading up to here & sharing this article with your colleagues, friends, or family. And please SHARE this article with your X, Facebook, and LinkedIn networks by pressing the buttons below so they can also benefit from this article. You can copy parts of this blog if you state the source.
Have you seen an error in this article? Let me know! I am grateful!