EN: What should work mean to your children?

#072 – What kind of understanding of work would you like to pass on to your kids?

They trust you. They follow your example. Whatever you do with your daily working life will be their ‘common knowledge’ of how work works. What do you want it to be?

This month theme has focused on how our background has shaped the way we work today.  How consciously we have chosen the inheritance passed down to us in our values and believes.

And just like we watched, listened and learned from our parents and the society we grew up in about what work means, our children watch, listen and learn from us.

What are we passing on? And is this what we want our kids to inherit?

What kind of relationship do you want your kids to have with work?

This podcast episode is not about what is the right and wrong kind of meaning of work. In this episode I simply invite you to question the picture you paint every day for our next generation, regardless of whether they are your children or all our children in our global village.

I’ve put together a list of questions you might want to start with:

How much do you work? Too much?  Too little? Too often? Too long? Not enough? Everywhere and all the time?

How do you refer to your work?  Another day, another dollar?  I would love spend time with you, but I have to go to work.  I can’t wait to start working today I have such an incredible idea I’d like to try out.

How much visible drama, happiness, pressure, excitement, anger, joy, resentment, fear, contentment about work do you display at home?

How do you talk to your children about work? About money? About participation and the role of work within your society?

How do you show them what self-care and self-respect mean?

What role does their chosen career play when you talk about other people?

What does ‘earning a living’ mean in your family?

Is what you share about your work choice and experience what you want to create meaning for your children?

If not, what would you like your children to take for granted? What would you like them to value? What would you like them to stand up for? What would you like them to rebel against?

Add any question you feel is missing here and follow it up.

Awareness not Perfection

And as always in my work – this is not about perfection. This is about awareness and taking tiny steps in a chosen direction.

Reclaim your own understanding of what you want work to mean to you.

Redefine what needs to change.

Let go of things that are past their expiration date for you.

Learn a new way of sharing and talking about work and what you truly believe and value in front of and especially with your kids.

And remember – whatever you say means very little compared to what you do and show them.

Be the change you want to see in this world…

Mahatma Gandhi

Links

A selection of people who share similar work ethics to mine and whose work keeps inspiring my own growth and development:

Brene Brown and all her work

Leo Babauta and his blog zen habits

Kate Northrup and especially her latest work:  do less – a revolutionary approach to time and energy management for busy moms

(Affiliate link)

Courtney Carver and her blog Be More with Less

Wondering about working together?

And if you’d like to talk and see if and how we could work together on your new definition of work and its implimentation into your daily life – just book a free first session (via phone within Germany or via Zoom in any other country).

Here you can choose your appointment for our free first session, which takes about 30 minutes.

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