Office Politics or Your Life - Purpose? What gets you ahead?

Posted on June 01, 2022 by Ronnie Loaiza, One of Thousands of Performance Coaches on Noomii.

Office Politics or Your Life – Purpose? What gets you ahead?
I ran a poll in several Facebook groups and on LinkedIn. I was not asking people what they thought the answer ‘should be,’ but what they truly believed and may not want to say out loud. The question was: "What do you honestly believe gets you that promotion or to the next level in your career? I threw in some common “lunch-time talk” responses.
– Hob-Nobbing with the Decision Makers
– Showing off
– Always asking for more to accomplish: big accounts, projects, tasks
– Leadership (always showing leadership or taking the initiative) – Always Finishing
Duties/Meeting Deadlines
– Just Nose to the grindstone In one group, someone entered "Quitting
– One person filled in her own answer of: Finding a job where they see your value.
And a couple of people voted for it. I invited these voters to consider what would get them
ahead if, for now, they wanted to stay at that workplace.
But in all cases, my answer is that none of the Poll Options are correct to get ahead as you see as genuinely getting ahead. Most people subscribe to fulfilling the posted job requirements and demonstrating the qualities posted on résumé builders.

To be the star in your career and life, none of these options will matter until you do two things:
1. Know what gives your life meaning. Ask yourself, what is your life purpose?
2. How do you know?

It’s not ‘Woo-Woo’ (okay maybe a little woo). Philosophers, teachers, senseis, and wise elders have found that what everyone ultimately wants is to have their lives mean something. I honor the many people who struggle to survive. And I see that they also want to survive for a reason.

You think you want to get a raise to buy a better home, travel, go to spas, buy bling and nice things, or pay the mortgage and your kids’ college tuitions. Other reasons may be your standing in society, proving yourself to your parents, spouse, high school friends, yourself, or, it’s just what you do in life.

While these all may be good reasons for you wanting to get ahead, what lights the fire in your soul, physically in your chest, has you grinning and feeling amazing and proud and alive!!! – is to be living out your life purpose, and your legacy. Even if you have a job where there are no promotions, whatever you do is so much more significant when you live your purpose! It feels great!

After a long trek through great jobs in different careers, I finally felt this in my coaching practice. My clients stop looking at the old ways of defining success and getting ahead. They start identify their purpose in life – their mission statement, and everything starts to open up. You start seeing how and why anything you decide to do, anything, either supports or negates your life purpose.
Let’s toss out a few examples:

*What you eat for lunch?
How does your nutrition determine if you’re showing up with your A-Game to that meeting, that
client, your job, or your family? Does it affect your metabolism, weight, and health in any way?
What does that do for or against your life purpose? If you think “nothing,” open up your mind to
the possible effects; no matter how inconsequential you might think they are, how you show up
for people feeds into your life purpose.
*Flossing your teeth?
If you don’t floss enough or correctly, you could get gum disease, tooth decay, gingivitis or bad
breathe, waste time and money on dental work. It could lead to an infection which could affect
your heart, and not flossing doesn’t in any way contribute to your life purpose of_______ (you fill
in the blank) and not flossing often – if even in the most subtle way – can take away from your
purpose. (if even the tiniest way – it does!)

*Procrastinating?
You don’t live up to your word to yourself or someone else, and the various possible adverse
butterfly effects, work against your purpose.

These may seem trivial, but you get to choose how you live your life, and when you know your purpose, your decisions start to be more in line with that.

*Back to your career.
When you identify your purpose in life, you consistently feel confident. You prioritize better, and
you execute! And when you make decisions in your career or job based on your life purpose,
core values, passion, and zone of genius, you are more confident in your talent, skills, and zone
of excellence. Your drive comes more naturally rather than forced!
It is incredible how you advance, level up, bounce back, get stronger, better, and fulfilled.
Whether you land on your feet or fall flat on your keister, you’ll be good with it, learn from it, and
get that promotion or raise, usually without you asking. People notice you. People see you for
what you are because living your life’s purpose yields transparency, honesty, and authenticity.
These are the pillars of my coaching.
Identify – Optimize – Execute. You will identify and declare your Purpose and Legacy. To truly be able to take the next steps in your career, or job, or anything in your life, your drive and motivation come from feeling that purpose in yourself, having it well embedded in your mind, so it drives your thoughts, then your actions. You optimize your strengths so you don’t go by just what others think you should do. You act naturally with confidence. And you execute! To take action, you first need to identify your reason for your goal, how you’ve grown and strengthened (optimized) your zone of genius and excellence! With these, you are confident in your priorities and decisions.
Whether it’s improving a relationship, implementing a new strategy at work, or getting what you want from your vocation or career, it all goes back to tapping into your life purpose. RonnieLo Life Coach- Holistic Leveling Up.
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