Since time immemorial, worker bees have been unhappy with hive life.
According to author, life coach and motivational speaker Clancy Clark, two-thirds to three-quarters of American workers are less than thrilled with their work. That disillusionment has been made crystal clear by the current zeitgeist’s phenomenon of the Great Resignation, thanks to our collective nemesis, COVID-19. People are fed up with the 9 to 5, and searching out more fulfilling lives. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4 million Americans quit their jobs in July.
Those who can’t afford to put in their notice might still be sitting slumped over a keyboard in their cubicles or trapped behind cash registers with visions of new lives dancing in their heads. Lives with jobs that mean something to them, that put a bounce in their step and lure them out of bed in the morning.
Clark’s new book, “Love Your Work Live Your Dream,” set for a Jan. 4 release, is an ode to these days of our working lives. You can preorder it by going online to clancyclark.cc/love-your-work-live-your-dream.
Clark, a Cheyenne Mountain High School graduate, believes our work should have meaning and not only be a source of income. His goal is to inspire people to get clear on what it is they want to do while they’re on the planet, and take action toward living their dreams.
“We’ve got some major problems in the world at this time,” said Clark, who lives outside Cotopaxi. “What if that person stuck in traffic right now could have a major breakthrough on climate change or cancer, and can just get off the hamster wheel and get inspired and hear their intuition and go for it? Or just help a few people around them? One person can bring that energy to others and it spreads.”
Long ago, Clark also was a person who didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life, so he did what his dad told him, just as many have done. He went to college and pursued a business degree, but knew in his bones it wasn’t his calling.
At one point, Clark got a border collie and watched the dog come into his own, herding sheep without a single training session. Clark was inspired.
“Watching the instinct come alive in that dog as he answered his calling to herd sheep was a revelation for me to follow my own intuition,” he said, “and do the things that are most fulfilling for me.”
His new book isn’t only for those who are dissatisfied with their work; it’s also for those who love their work: “There’s always a next level to make sure dreams happen.”
Sometimes, of course, things are easier said than done, which Clark acknowledges. We can’t all just come up with a vision of our perfect life and expect it to unfold by next Tuesday. His answer? There are no endpoints, only waypoints. Take tiny, but diligent, steps toward your dream. Find a way to work on it even while you’re maintaining the full-time job you don’t love.
“It’s so empowering for people if they just take a little time each day, so it doesn’t seem so far away, and they can say I’m working on my dream,” Clark said. “Every action you take toward your goal is a success.”
As you work toward your vision, he also encourages people to stay open to where their tiny steps are headed. They might wind up going in a completely new direction, different than envisioned, but maybe even better.
“I love this saying: Your commitment to a goal shouldn’t be based on your ability to achieve it,” Clark said. “In Western society we’re so goal-oriented — it’s not worthy if we can’t achieve it. I say you can find fulfillment just by working on it.”
And always listen to your intuition, that tiny voice inside you that’s often cloaked by all the noise we infuse into our daily lives, either through the TV being constantly on or our face forever glued to our phone. To hear the voice of your soul, you must get quiet, pay attention and trust it will help you get more clear on what it is you truly want to create a more fulfilling life.
“So many people discount it because it’s their own voice, or they listen to the tribe,” Clark said. “They let someone else tell them how crazy it is — you can’t quit your job and raise horses, you’ll go broke. All the naysayers. Intuition is the best counselor we could ever listen to. It’s the wisest advice we’ll ever get, but it might be scary, or not what we wanted to hear.”
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This content was originally published here.
