work

Now that I am self-employed, the line between work and the rest of my life is becoming very, very hazy. What is work anyway?

Writing this blog: work or not work?

Work. Work that I love, but work. Selling real estate? Definitely work. Walking on the beach with my dog? Not work. Or is it? Isn't it personal work? Yoga: work or not work? Work. It's work on my own growth, and it's work to make me a better teacher.

What isn't work? I guess watching Dexter isn't work (I've been spending a lot of time doing that lately), but basically aren't we always growing and learning and wouldn't most of us agree that growing and learning are work?

I've spent a lot of time this weekend working on the new space. My hands are kind of raw from installing click-and-lock laminate flooring. My knees started to hurt. But a lot of that time was spent talking to our new neighbors or to people who came by to help or see the new space. All of this was definitely work, but it never felt like work. Not even for a second.

My professional goal is to work a lot, but never feel like I'm working.

Two and a half months into self-employment, and this is one big experiment. What are the things that I do that are producing results--whether it's making the yoga studio better for everyone or getting my clients into houses--that are the most enjoyable, that feel the least like work?

I'm learning that I need to delegate the activities that are painful for me. That pain and dread are good indications that I'm probably not great at those things anyway. I have finally given the square one website over to a studio volunteer who does it for a living. She's great. In an hour she made the website look way better than I ever could, even if I slaved over it for weeks. And she enjoyed it.

So far, I know I love starting things. I am dying to open more yoga studios. That means I need more capital, so my work now is to find that capital and do what I can to keep the ideas flowing. A lot of the detail-oriented implementaion of the ideas can be delegated. Someone will love doing it. Like the website. I'm learning. Lots of people can do lots of things way better than I can and be happy doing them.

But there are one or two things that I do really, really well. The experiment now is to be very clear about what those things are and figure out how to do more of those things and less of everything else. It's an obligation, in fact. Ultimately, the goal is to be of maximum service to humanity, right? Isn't that your goal? If that's the case, we better be doing what we love. I've spent enough time in jobs I really dislike to know that it is very difficult to be of maximum service if I hate my work.

Oh, and I haven't forgotten that I have to make a living. I have this crazy, naive hunch that if my goal is to be of maximum service and if I focus on doing the things I love, the makin-a-living part will just fall into place. I'd love to hear people tell me their experience with this. In any case, it's just another experiment.