The 1 Question, My Boss, Asked That Resonated With Me
The Better The Question, The More Impacting
The Question
My boss recently asked the following question to my entire team:
“If you weren’t working in this field, what would your dream career be?”
I ended up not responding because I realized I am doing precisely what I want to do. I felt empowered with this realization.
Shortly after, I then read the responses of my co-workers to this question and thought to myself: “Wow. These are some amazing endeavors and dreams that my teammates want to take on. So, what are they waiting for?”
Side Hustling Is The New Normal, So Why Don’t You Have One?
This is the age of the gig economy, side hustles, and entrepreneurship. Many people have second, third, and fourth incomes. But many people still have only one stream of income.
It’s not necessarily easy to take on a dream or side gig in addition to a full-time job, parenting, and other life responsibilities. But even when the kids are gone or other “impediments” of your time, something or someone else will come along to fill that void. The time will never be just right to start working on your dreams, which is why you got to start working on them right now. You will always have distractions and impediments that make it difficult for you to dedicate time to your dreams.
Questions We Should Ask Ourselves
How much longer will I put my dreams on hold?
When will the time be right to pull the trigger on my dream finally?
Why am I not doing what I love now?
How can I make time to work on my passions and dreams while maintaining a full-time job?
If I died today, would I be satisfied with the life I’ve lived?
What are my fears?
How do I want my life to be?
Stop Waiting
Create the life you want to live now.
We hear this statement all the time, but so few of us actually live this statement out. We tend to box ourselves in, hoping our lives morph into what we desire without investing any effort.
Stop waiting. Stop living in fear. Stop putting your dreams, your desires, and your life on hold.
How many articles, books, friends, decades, years, days, hours, minutes, and seconds will it take for you to live genuinely?
Most people will read an article like this and not make any changes. A few outliers will actually implement what they read. Will you be an outlier, or will you be one of the many who choose to stay the same? It’s too easy to live a mediocre life, which is why most live this way. But you can be different; you have the power to change your life starting today.
A Note For Leaders
Ask questions that hit the soul, bring about transformation within your team, and inspire change — both inside and outside of the office.
Not every question has to be metric-related, work-related, or goal-related.
Often the best questions you can ask your teams and direct reports are not directly related to work.
Get personal. The better your team can relate and understand each other, the higher the quality of work your team produces will be.
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Destiny S. Harris is a writer, poet, entrepreneur, teacher, and techie who offers free books daily on amazon. Destiny obtained three degrees in political science, psychology, and women’s studies. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook, or @ destinyh.com