Full or fulfilled?
Recently I was talking with the local Kiwanis chapter about Monyok Leadership. One of their members asked me: “How do you know a client or project is for you?” It is an interesting question, isn’t it?!
I try to operate in the mindset that the world is abundant and there is enough to go around. If I trust what I know to be true about abundance, when it is my time, God will provide. In the early seasons of Monyok Leadership I was focused on having a full plate. I said “yes” to every project. My focus was making a name for my business. And saying “yes” worked. My schedule was full and thankfully, has been steady since then.
It can feel good to be full. But full sometimes means saying “yes” to projects or clients that I am not quite in alignment with. It is taking a consulting job with an organization that I am certain will not follow through on implementation or with a coaching client that isn’t ready to take responsibility for their own actions in order to grow. It is doing the work despite the outcome. I am learning that a full plate isn’t always a hearty one.
How do I know a client or project is for me?
I have learned some pretty valuable lessons working on the “wrong” projects. The most important one is that the outcome matters to me more than the paycheck. And if the likelihood of a successful outcome of a project is negligible; it is the wrong project. If the organization is full of excuses and resistant to change; it is the wrong project. If the outcome is unrealistic; it is the wrong project. If the leader of the project is untrustworthy; it is the wrong project.
Working through the lessons of the season of “yes” helped me to grow more comfortable with saying “no” to projects or clients that I can tell from the onset that alignment is missing. It is not necessarily knowing all the things I do want from a project but instead knowing confidently what I don’t want. It is trusting that when I honor those values, something else will come along because being fulfilled is worth a lot more than being full.