I was recently watching a Hallmark movie. Yes, I know, I am a die hard follower. The main character in the movie said she was a “Creative Solutions Specialist.” She mediated conflicts in the workplace, in the family, in a client’s own life.
I looked at Scott and said “Wow, I didn’t know that was the title to our daily lives!” Aren’t we all creative solution specialists?”
I can think in one day how many different types of problems I try to solve in my adult life. From “We ran out of milk” to “Have you updated the website for our summer sale?” to “Has anyone seen my goggles?” to coaching my daughter “How do I tell my friend I don’t have the same interests as her anymore?” to “How do we balance our new budget to pay for a bunch of car repairs” to “How do I work with my colleagues to create this new intervention plan?” to “Do I really find fulfillment in my current job?”
Adulting is hard, let’s be honest. Being a child is a state of bliss, at least part of the time. The worries, and demands of responsibility are not with you as a child.
I was recently reading articles on job changes post pandemic. LA Times reporter Kiera Feldman wrote a piece titled “Coronavirus Today: Will Covid-19 change work for the better?” She stated that over a third of white collar workers who were surveyed recently stated that “they would quit if required to return to their offices, they would prefer a hybrid arrangement, dividing their time between the office and home.”
I can think of a handful of friends and family in my own circle that have already regretfully gone back to work full time on site and are contemplating is this what I really want to do?
The article went on to explain that “businesses like Google and Microsoft are offering options to work from home at least part of the work week. . . the end result may be something better than what we had in the Before Times.”
I know that I have had many pep talks with myself about the balance between work and home life. How many of you have questioned: Is this how I want to spend the next 20 years of my life?
The pandemic gave us time to reflect.
If you are reading this, you made it out alive, physically and mentally. . . that was a gift.
In the LA Times article, according to Dr. Pouran D. Faghri of UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health, she said “Let’s think about how we can provide better mental health for employees to have better physical health to perform their jobs.”
You might just be the creative solution specialist that is a catalyst to positive changes in your profession.
Take stock, what went well this past year with your career, your workplace, your professional fulfillment?
Did it meet your expectations? Did it not meet your expectations?
The average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime.
Regardless if you identify with white collar, blue collar, or no collar. . . at the end of the day, do you find contentment in your everyday work?
There is a popular song titled “Home” by Philip Philips
Hold on, to me as we go
As we roll down this unfamiliar road
And although this wave is stringing us along
Just know you're not alone
'Cause I'm going to make this place your home
Settle down, it'll all be clear
Don't pay no mind to the demons
They fill you with fear
The trouble it might drag you down
If you get lost, you can always be found
Just know you're not alone
'Cause I'm going to make this place your home
If you haven’t found home yet, trust that you are on the road to finding it. Just give yourself the permission to find it. I look forward to hearing what job will call you home in this upcoming year.