If you work full-time, you most likely spend more than half of your waking hours on the job, commuting and/or thinking about work. And if you’re a stay at home mom or entrepreneur, even more! No matter how much you might enjoy your career, it can often be hard to love your job because of the trade-offs required. And as women, we aren’t designed to thrive in the male-led hustle culture. That’s a culture designed by doing more and measuring success according to income vs. impact. So if that hasn’t felt right to you, there’s good reason! You might also benefit my last post on living a Balanced Life.

Just as are our genes are handed down from our parents, so often is the lifestyle. If your parents participated in the daily grind, you are more likely to, as well. Similarly, your lifestyle and attitudes towards it are likely to be passed onto your kids. Whether you hate your job, just aren’t growing, or love your job but miss out on family time because of your long hours, your kids take notice. Whether you mean to or not, you are setting the example for them to follow. Do you like what they see?

Good does not equal love

Maybe you don’t hate your job, but it doesn’t excite you either. And maybe you’re really good at it. So does this mean you should stay in a career because it’s good enough and it pays the bills? Or do you wonder if you’re meant for more?

Gay Hendricks describes one of my favorite ways to think about “work” in his book The Big Leap. The goal is to discover your Zone of Genius and work there. It’s not about having a high IQ but about spending time doing what you are uniquely suited to do and that also gives you extreme contentment. You might be wondering how you find the time to discover your zone of genius. Let me walk you through the zones Gay discusses and maybe that will help.

Zoned out

Zone of Incompetence

Contains all of the activities that we’re not good at. Many of us waste a ton of time here, but the best way to handle most things in this zone is to delegate. For me, trying to fix an appliance falls into this zone. I may save money trying to fix it myself, but how much time would I waste?

Zone of Competence

You’re competent enough at the activities in this zone, but others can tackle them just as well. Delegation is key here, too. Laundry falls into this category for me. My husband has always done his own laundry and my kids started doing their own by the time they were ten.

Zone of Excellence

You complete things in this category extremely well and you are comfortable here. But you are not growing. As Gay states it, “a deep, sacred part of you will wither and die if you stay.” This was a large part of my corporate career.

Zone of Genius

These are the set of activities that are uniquely suited to you. The things that light you up and help you discover more about yourself as you engage in them. The things that enable you to make the impact no one else can. For me this is being curious and using the information to connect others to people and resources that could help them solve problems.

Want to love your career?

What would it feel like to be living in your Zone of Genius? To spend time in a job you love? What would it mean for your family today and in the future? I challenge you to think through the activities you tackle regularly and determine where you can make a change. Check out The Big Leap, for additional insight on each of the zones and how to find your Zone of Genius. Once you know, focusing your energy on what excites you will be that much easier.