2 July 2023
BENEFITS BEYOND MONEY
Last night I replied to George (member of a facebook group) by sharing my thoughts on a question he asked.
As I completed the comment, load shedding (electricity shutdown term used in South Africa) kicked in and I packed away my computer and went to bed. But it was just 8pm, a bit too early to fall off to sleep. And so my mind lingered on thinking about the advice I gave George.
By 11:36pm I got out of bed, put pen to paper and started to journal. I was amazed at the findings at such a late hour. I was highly energised as I wrote. I loved the flow of my train of thought….I share it below.
I oversee a team. We work hard together and have achieved a lot. There are moments when we sometimes have absenteeism in our team and other days when all are present. Absenteeism for whatever reason on a repetitive basis is cause for concern. I asked myself, where do I display absenteeism at work. As I generally go to work daily. I asked myself, where am I physically present yet not truly present in my mind? This was not easy to answer because I have always and still do give my job my full attention. Despite this, I wanted to think deeply about finding an answer to this question.
I turned it around and looked at it from the angle of engagement. How engaged am I in what I do? To answer this I have to ask what are the benefits to what I value the most of doing my job everyday. Most people would answer: A means to earn a living. But as money does not sustain engagement at work forever, I thought about this a bit more…
I realised that I have the opportunity to work with a leader who regularly displays integrated thinking. My boss is always seeing the upside and downside, pros and cons, benefits and drawbacks in everything. This comes across a lot when we chat. As I am more conscious of integrated thinking now, I am seeing this behaviour. Because I appreciate such behaviour and want to display it too, I am more on the lookout for it and recognise it in every chat my boss and I have together. I also dwell on the fact that he is a reflection of me and that I am making progress to be able to see this side of me in him. Wow! I have grown a lot. I love working with a leader with a balanced perspective. It is not common out there. Integrated thinking speaks to wisdom I give priority in my daily thoughts. A huge reason why I want to work at ACA. He is my daily reminder to stick onto the path of mastery by maintaining a balanced perspective. I value this.
I have the opportunity to help a man achieve his vision for his business. The universe will reward me with help to achieve my vision for what I want for my life. Being of service to one person will be balanced out be being of service to many others as a facilitator and coach. I look forward to the law of one to many and many to one in this dynamic.
My boss enjoys sharing and speaking. These are traits I definitely own too. By taking the feedback of not interrupting him when he speaks, I concluded that by listening to him share wisdom, others will listen to me share wisdom. I had to make myself not want to interrupt him. I did this by seeing the opportunity daily to hear him speak as a means to the end of being rewarded by the universe with others wanting to hear me speak. This was a huge aha moment and as it speaks so dearly to what I strive to do ie. speak the wisdom oozing out of me. I now listen attentively when my boss speaks. I found my benefit to remaining quiet when he speaks and now I actually want to not interrupt. I got my mind to see how I will ultimately benefit by allowing him to speak for a while saying what he wants to say. Working on improving my listening skills. The universe only brings to you what you need. I needed this situation to decipher the hidden message in it to grow and transcend the barriers holding me back from my greatness. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with my boss at ACA.
I have compiled a list of non-monetary benefits of working at ACA and I add to it regularly, The above benefits I described speaks dearly to who I authentically am and what I am striving for. I have added them to the list. When I have challenging days at work, I look at my list for a balanced perspective and to be grateful I am living towards achieving my vision whilst being of service helping someone else achieve their vision.
I have grown to realise that my job serves different areas of my life rather than just earning money. I feel more engaged now, present, grateful and loving being on the ACA team.
The more engaged I am, the more engaged my team will be. Even though I initially felt I am engaged at work, I found more benefits to heighten my engagement to accelerate my results at work. By doing so, what I put out is what I will get back. And so my team engagement will heighten. A unique, different way to tackle disengagement and absenteeism. Important to try a variety of different approaches when tackling team challenges. I hope this story inspires you within to open your heart and mind for a new perspective on challenges you face.
I feel different about my job now. It feels more sacred, more holy, more spiritual. I am energised to be of service at ACA. The above benefits I identified last night, catapults how much I want to actually participate doing what I am paid to do rather than taking it for granted. Sometimes we have to take time to remind ourself of benefits that we do not see at face value or rather, benefits we just ignore.
Thank you George for asking your question. I feel more empowered and more in control of my life’s events.
Lots of love,
Rajes
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