Combined Life and Work Experience

Combined Life and Work Experience. – by Arnie Wohlgemut

Many of us strive for success – success based on our definition. In our pursuit, we will often be sidelined by our self doubt and mindset.

Recently I was researching the topic of separating work experiences from our home life experiences. What I discovered is, we really should not try to differentiate the two.

I believe that the experiences in our work and career life, shape our behaviour and mindset in everything that we do. I will explore several areas that may help you understand that we really live one life.

• We experience life one ingredient at a time.

“Don’t judge the ‘taste’ of life by isolated experiences.”

We don’t taste life like a meal, carefully prepared, skillfully presented. We experience the ingredients in isolation, and sometimes it is messy.

For example, I love to make home-made bread. Measuring out each ingredient, combine them in the order that will produce the best results. If I were to eat or taste each ingredient on its own, I know that I would not like most of them. I do not know anyone who would enjoy eating 2 cups of flour, regular or gluten free or a teaspoon of salt. Yet when combined in the bread making process, they are key ingredients that aide in something tasty.

Much like the bread, an experience that happened at work or one that happened while on vacation, doesn’t matter, it all blends together to make “your bread” because it happened to YOU!

• Don’t make trophies out of your failures and disappointments.

“Just because it tastes bad in isolation, does not mean it will not serve a purpose in the finished product of you!”

When we identify with a distasteful experience, we begin using comfort phrases to comfort our insecurities. For example: ‘that’s why I’m like that’, ‘I knew I could never do that’ or ‘I’m not good enough or smart enough’.

When you allow your identity to be consumed by an experience, you will always limit your power to overcome the obstacle. When your disappointment becomes a dead end, it has become a problem. It now becomes a trophy and will keep you in the comfort of a dysfunctional life.

In my life I have tasted many “ingredients” in isolation. Failure; disappointments; betrayal; financial hardships, to name a few. None of which tasted good yet each one has impacted whom I’ve become. Not just how I approach my business but also how I choose to live my life.

• We are a summary of our life experiences.

“Your history has absolutely nothing to do with your potential. It does however have everything to do with your progress.”

We don’t always get to choose the transportation to our goal. What we do get to choose is how we respond to the experiences along the way. This is never easy!

How about you? Are you learning from your distasteful life experiences? If so, you can choose your mindset which will define who you become.