Unraveled

Fun(ish).

Becca Thompson

Feb 16, 2023 — 3 min read

Quick, put on your game face. It’s corporate camera time. It’s time to say big words, talk about how much you’re accomplished, and over-inflate things to make it look like you’ve been doing the right things. To look and sound important because that’s what people want to see. A polished professional that always brings their A-game to the table. Well, I have news for you.

You can spout off accomplishments daily: financial ones, quota wins, Presidents' Club plaques, the whole nine yards.

You can go to another National Sales Meeting and see how many big balls are dangling from the jacked-up truck bed. You’re welcome for the visual. But it’s the truth.

People like to talk about their accomplishments, titles, accolades, and “hey everybody, come see how good I look,” but at the end of the day, you come home and must take inventory. The award will gather dust, the quota will become unattainable, and you will be replaceable in time.

So that begs the question: What are you doing today that matters to the future you? The one that craves deep down, rooted happiness.

Are you even enjoying the ride (career path you’re on), or is it filled with temporary ego inflation and badges of honor that were ironed on and will start to peel away and fray?

Somewhere along the way, awards and ego fade. The sparkle fades, and the realization sets in that you’ve acquired excellent skillsets and advanced capabilities, but are you having fun?

A new career venture is a lot like the honeymoon phase in a relationship. It’s fun and exciting; it’s a boost and a special sort of adrenaline hit. Yet, like all newness, it will fade, and that’s not bad. But it can become only fun(ish). No, this isn’t a real word; it’s from my own special vocabulary. Defined: An event or career that you don’t hate but it’s only a little fun. The original luster has lost its shine.

The attributes you need to win over a heart, in the beginning, are typically not the same ones required to maintain and strengthen the relationship. It’s best to understand the attributes of both.

So, how do you bring back the shimmer? You have a few choices here.

Stay Complacent

You can remain in your zone of excellence. In this zone, you are doing something you are tremendously skilled at. Often, the zone of excellence is cultivated, it's practiced and established over time.

Continue to search for the good days or the better compensation plan that will keep you on board for another year.

F5 it: Press the Refresh Button

You don’t have to leap straight into something new. You can indeed make your current state more fun. Maybe it’s just time to refresh and realign with your “why.” Remember why you started in the first place, and make it a conscious goal to reconnect to that reason with intention every darn day as you kick it off.

Create Something New

Maybe it’s time to explore new options. I suggest you map out the areas you are passionate about, the ones that bring you alive, and what is in your zone of genius. In this zone, you capitalize on your innate natural abilities, rather than learned.

Every day as I continue to unravel and unlearn some old habits and dive into the things that come naturally. I become less and less inclined to be okay with that fun(ish) state and crave more adventure and deep-rooted happiness. Let’s continue working together to figure out how to bring more fun into our daily actions.

“The goal in life is not to attain some imaginary ideal; it is to find and fully use our own gifts.”

-Gay Hendricks

If you want to explore how to unlock your zone of genius, check out “The Big Leap” by Gay Hendricks. This book was critical for me when I made the leap from a corporate employee to an entrepreneur.

I hope that this edition of Unraveled leaves you thinking about how to take a deeper assessment, asking yourself this: am I enjoying what I do, or am I remaining simply fun(ish)? Kind of happy, kind of not.

Love,

Becca