Are You Doing Your Soul Work and Does That Matter?

Are you doing your soul work? Are you doing the work you were called to do? And does that even matter?

What is Soul Work?

As somebody who has spent more than 20 years exploring this question and applying it to my own life, I can tell you that there are a lot of different ways to approach it, and there is no one right answer.

However, there are a few things you can do to help put yourself on the right path.

The first thing to consider is that your soul work might not be what you do for a living. There are different schools of thoughts on this. Some people will say “Do what you love, and the money will follow.” That was a very good, very popular book written years ago. 

There are other people who will say “Do what you can do to make the biggest amount of money in the smallest amount of time, and then take time off to do what you love.”

In my experience as somebody who's gone back and forth between those two schools, what works best for me for has actually been a hybrid of the two.

There are certain parts of work that I can do that are steadier, and there are certain parts that are more exciting, but in all of it I do need to be doing my soul work somewhere. If I'm not doing that, it really does seem to bother me and knock me off kilter.

How Do You Know What Your Soul Work Is?

The next question is: "What would your soul work be?" And the way people often think about this question is like this. Imagine if you had a hundred million dollars in the bank. What would you do with your free time, knowing that you didn’t have to work?

As somebody who's answered that question many times over the last 20 years, I can tell you that, at least for me, while that question is very useful, it has led me more to realize what my ideal lifestyle would be. I'd be on the beach, I'd be playing volleyball, I'd be wakeboarding, I'd be going skiing. Whatever it is, that's more my lifestyle than my job.

I've found that my answer to the question, “What is my purpose?” is almost the exact opposite. What is the work that I’d do that I might never get paid for, but I'd do it anyway?

If you're a parent maybe you can relate to this idea. There are so many things that we do as parents that nobody's paying us for, and yet raising our kids and giving them the best life is something that we believe in and want to do, so we do.

What I’m looking for is the lifestyle that is as close as possible to what would I do if I had a hundred million dollars in the bank, while still remaining mindful of the work I would do even if I weren't getting paid for it. If I can find a way to marry the two, that's great. If I can't, that's okay too.

Should You Be Doing Your Soul Work?

The third important thought on soul work is that some people say you have to do your soul work, or else it will eat away at you.

I can tell you from my experience that I've watched people do their soul work and come to hate it. I've watched people do something that was a hobby and a passion, and try to make money out of it until they end up hating it.

Of course, I've also seen people that make money from their passion and are very happy and successful. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer here.

Let’s look at an example. When people think about professional athletes, whether it be Dwayne Wade or a LeBron James or some famous quarterback, very often they'll think that this person gets to do what they love. And yet anybody who knows anything about high level athletics knows that to get to the top level the athlete might get to be the center of attention for maybe 30 minutes, 2 or 3 times a week.

But in order to make that happen, they're investing a lot of time doing things that they might not want to do, to get to where they want to be. They’re training, and taking ice baths, and speaking to their sponsors and managers, and so on. 

Your Life's Work Is Not Only Your Job

Once again, I’m not here to give you a specific answer about whether you should be doing your soul work as a job or as a hobby, or even at all. What I definitely would say, though, is that you need to get clear about what you're here to do, and about what you want to give. Those are very often many different things, but if you’re doing them both, you’re a happier person.

You might find that having different roles works for you. You might decide that as a parent you do one thing, and as a child you do something else, and as a friend you do this, and as a worker you do that.

It doesn't have to be that your life’s purpose is only defined by your work. That's something that we've come to believe in the last 50 years in western cultures. Perhaps we’re making too much of work. We think that our life purpose is so tied to work, and maybe that's one piece of our life purpose, but it needn’t be our only purpose.

Moving Forward

I hope this advice serves you. If you need help creating your plan for a 4-Day Work Week, I’m here to help. Get in touch with the things that make the most money for you, and the things that allow you to help the most people, and then also the things that help you live your purpose.

You can also go to 4daygameplan.com, where you can get started creating your plan.

As always, I look forward to helping you make more money in less time, do what you do best. Let me know whatever I can do to help you.