Wouldn’t it be nice to have every day feel like a Friday? On Fridays we feel happy, the workweek is ending and we look forward to having some time for ourselves. So making every day a Friday, one that is connected with our higher purpose in life, doing something that we enjoy every moment, seems like an impossible dream. Management consultant and author Marina Spence proposes it is not only possible, but teaches how to do it in her new book, Make Every Day a Friday!: The joy of connecting who you are with what you do.
As she tells us in her book, careers can be energy drainers or energy givers. It may be because we are doing too much of one thing, or we’re doing something that’s goes against our spirit or our inner truth. For example, a person who is an engineer for a defense company might feel stressed because he is at heart a pacifist. His beliefs aren’t in alignment with the work that he does to make a living. If our career is in alignment with our purpose in life, then it is an energy giver because we feel we are contributing both to our own enjoyment, and the expansion and transformation of other people as well.
According to Marina, changing careers is never easy because change causes anxiety for most people, but it can be easier. It can be less stressful if we do it in small steps, and if we feel we have the self-awareness to be aware of who we are and what our purpose is in life. If we can be the one that is driving the change as opposed to having it done, or feeling like it is being done to us, then it can be less difficult to make a change.
If you don’t like what you are doing and you think you might want to change, the first step is to discover what you like, and don’t like, about your job. You may find that you don’t really want to change careers, but rather may want to change bosses or industries. The next step would be planning how to change careers. Marina gives many ideas on how to accomplish that. Then the next overall step is to fine tune what it is you think you want to do. Try out some careers after work on the weekends or by volunteering. The trick is not to decide too early and leave your options open.
Another essential concept Marina believes is that every moment is precious. When you have the mindset, the attitude, that every moment is perfect, and when your mantra is thank you, thank you, thank you, then no matter what happens around you, you feel good—then every day is a Friday.
Marina goes in depth into these ideas, and many more, and provides daily practices for getting in touch with our deeper, higher selves in Make Every Day a Friday! For more of what Marian had to say, click on the linked articles Three Keys to Inner Change and How Hating Your Job can be a Gift.
Marina Spence is a management consultant working in the San Francisco Bay area. Purchase her book online and locally at the East West Bookshop in Seattle.
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