The Good Work Book: How to enjoy your job & make it spiritually fulfilling

PART ONE

OVERVIEW

Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.

Kahlil Gibran

PREFACE

Suzie St George

This book had its conception in a personal journey to Good Work that I began many years ago. It has also grown out of my experiences of helping other people turn frustrating and stressful work into a life-enhancing adventure.

But, above all, it is a treasure chest of the wonderful techniques that my co-author, Fiona McDougall, has shown me. If you are a dedicated reader of self-growth books it is likely that you will already be aware of many of the concepts here; however, it is only by practicing these brain reprogramming visualizations that these concepts can become permanently embodied in how you think, feel and respond to work.

They have great power because they gently relieve emotional, mental and even bodily discomfort while at the same time establishing a steady connection to your spiritual centre. The resulting union between your personality and your spiritual nature allows wisdom and love to flow into every decision you make and every action you take. For this reason, they have the potential to significantly transform your experience, not only of your work but also of your whole life.

All techniques have been tested and refined with committed groups of students over a decade. As a result of putting them into real life contexts, we are now able to describe the processes, both conscious and unconscious, that create Good Work: work that not only puts bread on the table but also supports the growth of you as a whole person, expresses your soul gifts[¹], and contributes creatively to a bigger picture.

This, then, is a story written by many people but because its origins rest with me, I absolve Fiona and our students of responsibility for any eccentricity you may perceive in the philosophy expressed here.

Our Story

During the ‘80s I was a high school English teacher. I loved the job because it drew upon my love for creative language and young people’s vitality and potential. But, for a variety of reasons, the work gradually became less and less comfortable until in 1986 I suffered an alarming moment.

I was standing in front of my Year 12 literature class, droning on about a prescribed novel I didn’t much like and thought unlikely to have much meaning for 17-year-olds. Suddenly my voice disconnected itself from my body and seemed to be emanating from somewhere outside myself, as if I were a ventriloquist.

I realized that, like 86% of the Australian workers questioned in a 2009 job satisfaction survey[²], I had become disengaged from my work: and that the problem was serious! This was so frightening that as soon as class ended I tendered my resignation.

It wasn’t surprising that I had reached this dire state. I was working at teaching related activities seven days a week. I was extremely stressed by a job that, owing to administrative responsibilities for which I have no natural aptitude, demanded that I be in total control of detail all of the time. I was bordering on chronic fatigue, rarely exercised, and had no friends beyond my work colleagues. My family life was something I prefer not to think about.

My spontaneous decision to resign forced me to consider how I might find a new career. I wanted one I could enjoy as much as my early teaching days, but where I was not subjected to the stress of demands I could not fulfill. You might say that I had begun all those years ago to reflect on what Good Work was, and this, in turn, led me to ask myself why I had got into such a mess.

I soon recognized that I had been on a path that millions of other people were also following: work that was physically and emotionally debilitating. I knew that if I were to get off this self-abusive way of life I must make a firm decision to let go of the perspectives that had led me there. In short, caring for myself had to be the basis for all decisions about my future career.

Later I began to research the history of what I now call humanity’s Work-is-Sorrow mindset, and the reasons for its current form. I felt better for the knowledge; at least I now had a rational explanation for my moment of temporary insanity, and a few clues for avoiding it in the future. I did not, however, know how I had allowed myself to reach such a point.

It was not until my retraining as a psychotherapist that I learned that the downhill slide was due to my unconscious acceptance that if work became unpleasant it was to be endured rather than confronted effectively. I could whine about the discomforts and indulge in theories about how ‘they’ (the school administrators) could improve my lot, but I never had any conviction that the solutions I dreamed of would ever materialize. And, of course, I did not believe I could change the situation without sanctioned support. For this reason, I decided that in my new job I would be self-employed so that I could be in charge.

The step into self-employment definitely gave me better control. I was able to return to my natural talents and organize the workload to suit myself, but it certainly did not diminish my anxieties. The freedom I had achieved was traded for financial instability and exposed me to a different set of inner limitations.

I was not to find solutions to these problems until a decade later I met Fiona McDougall, an intuitive counselor who had studied many forms of healing, and who shared one of my primary interests: how to create a spiritually powerful life. With her guidance and friendship my discovery of Good Work unfolded.

A New Way: A New Life

Early in 2000 Fiona introduced me to her spiritually orientated brain reprogramming techniques. These visualizations, born out of her remarkable capacity to create uniquely powerful inner journeys, profoundly improved my ability to cope with the anxieties of being self-employed. As I became calmer and stronger I regained my former enthusiasm for work. To my great surprise, my newly fashioned career was also far more productive. I could do the same amount of work in half the time with plenty of room for the rest of my life.

It was then that I realized Fiona’s techniques had led to the transformation of my own Work-is-Sorrow mindset; instead of unquestioningly accepting work stress as inevitable, my new and creative perspective meant that I was no longer dependent on outside conditions or the goodwill of others to be happy. I had discovered Good Work!

This revelation was incredibly exciting professionally as well as personally. I had a vision of what work that expressed an individual’s spiritual gifts without the hassle of the usual limitations could do on a broader scale. I began to imagine how amazingly different the world would be if everyone could love her or his work because it was free of anxieties, drudgery and pressures imposed by external factors.

Owing to our shared interest in human potential and spiritual self-expression, Fiona and I then decided to work together as personal development educators, combining her techniques and guidance with my skills in teaching, coaching and writing. Over time I codified these processes into The Siramarti Personal Growth Process, which we now share with students online as well as in educational workshops.

Here is part of an unsolicited report from one of our students who initially wished to make her work more comfortable, and ended up expanding beyond it. Jane R is an earnest convert to our techniques and her success is impressive. However, without wishing to overstate the case it is, nevertheless, a description of what is possible.

How A Different Mindset Changed My Working Reality: Jane R’s Story

‘When I was nursing in the late 80’s I decided to join an agency to do some extra shifts at different Melbourne hospitals. It was an awful experience. I felt stressed, overwhelmed and out of control and I hated every moment. I did a few more shifts only to find my feelings were identical wherever I went. I never did another agency shift. Over the years I watched from afar as many agency colleagues experienced the same sort of discomfort and stress. Why do it to yourself? I thought.

    However, gradually my life needed more work flexibility. I decided to give agency work another go – less work hours for more pay was very attractive, and the flexibility a necessity! Immediately the same feelings of fear, stress and worry overwhelmed me, becoming more intense the closer the first shift got.

    However, I knew I had my ‘brain change’ tools that Suzie and Fiona had given me. I set about using them religiously to dissolve the mounting emotions.

    Along came my first shift, overseeing the care of seventy residents at an aged care facility in regional Victoria – very scary when you are the only ‘go to’ person on duty! I used a daily visualization ritual to create the sense that I could be calm, in charge, relaxed and enjoying myself. The night before my first job, I felt surprisingly okay.

    The day came and went! I was stunned to find it was incredibly easy! Everything was a reflection of the qualities I had hoped for. I tried another shift at a different facility and it was the same. Clearing the self-sabotaging story that it was just a fluke, I accepted more shifts in both private and public hospitals, in different wards that required different skills, with different staff, patients and nursing demands.

    The amazing thing was that none of the new situations made me feel at all uncomfortable. I felt confident, calm and open to whatever was to come. I (was) able to adapt to new surroundings as if I had been there before … ’

Jane’s experience, like my own, details the effect of using brain reprogramming to relieve workplace anxiety, but it is more than this: it is also the story of a person who as a consequence of learning to clear her anxieties was then able to expand her work into a private business as a wellness speaker and educator. Knowing how to let go of her fears led to a job that better suits her unique spirit, which is lively, outgoing, and enjoys presenting information. These qualities now provide a new setting for her compassion, and her work also gives room for sharing her knowledge with others. She has gone beyond simply feeling better to being a stronger and more spiritually aligned person. Her soul and spirit are on board.

The Spiritual Aspect Of Our Approach

People are naturally ambivalent when we use the terms soul and spirit. This is because those terms have different and often controversial meanings. For us they refer to those sources of humanity’s unquenchable yearning to expand its horizons in order to bring more of the sacred into the world: more love, truth, peace, compassion, healing, well-being, and appreciation of life’s beautiful mysteries. People often aspire to those projects that are infused with the magnificence of these grand aspects of the human spirit.

This urge for spiritual expansion is reflected at the individual level in the desire to evolve throughout life into something more. Its form varies according to the unique nature of each personality but it is especially evident in the ways a person goes about exploring and developing their talents and passions: their spiritual gifts.

While spiritual self-growth is normally regarded as a goal reserved for that minority of human beings who are interested in esoteric philosophies and practices, we believe that discontent with work is actually a sign that the soul nature of that person is not being supported or permitted to express itself.

Unhappy workers usually complain that their work is frustrating, tiring, poorly paid and pressured. But when we ask people what they want, rather than what they object to, they are less likely to say that they want a highly paid job than that they want a job that makes their heart sing or that they wish to feel that it is the work they are ‘supposed’ to do. They want their work to make a difference or to leave the world a better place.

These longings arise from spiritual motivations rather than worldly ambition or survival needs. People want to love their work, and love others through their work.

But it goes without saying, that if a person is chronically self-doubting, exhausted or resentful, they are unlikely to find or be able to create Good Work. We, therefore, invite our students to use our brain change techniques to dissolve their negativities first. We then encourage them to align their dreams and passions for work with focused action that strengthens their ability to make their job more rewarding on a daily basis.

Why Brain Change Is So Helpful In Creating Good Work

Until recently the urge to evolve beyond one’s limitations to better express the love that is natural to a person’s spiritual centre has been thwarted by apparently intractable human traits that fight against change. Conservative conditioning, the whisperings of the devil, or just plain cussedness have been variously blamed. However, our own work and the discoveries of neuroscience point to the possibility that these reactionary responses are embedded in neural pathways that can be transformed.

Developing new responses is made possible by embracing two concepts relating to the functioning of the brain and its impact on a person’s reality.

The first concept is that how a person feels and thinks in the present directly affects the likelihood of long-term goals being successfully achieved.[³] The fearful and self-doubting individual is far less likely to succeed than the one who is at ease, optimistic and self-believing.

The second principle is that it is now possible to consciously change specific negative reactions through brain change techniques that use visualization to promote positive mental and emotional responses, and even changes in physiology.[⁴] All techniques that transform a person’s consciousness depend on the phenomenon of neuroplasticity, a scientifically identified quality of brain function that has overturned the formerly held position that the brain is a physiologically static organ; in other words, the assumption that a person cannot change their experience of reality because the brain cannot create new pathways.

Neuroplasticity is now widely recognized as important for healthy development, creativity, learning, memory, and in recovery from brain damage. The ability of a person to independently reprogram her or his neural pathways and to open new ones through both experience and imagination is now credited with some breathtaking improvements in the lives of some people.[⁵]

Together these two principles mean that if, as Jane’s story shows, workers can dissolve chronic feelings of powerlessness, anxiety or self-doubt by using effective neural strategies they can utilize the natural talents they bring to their jobs with greater power.

To be a person capable of living life with a sense of authority and purpose, even in an apparently humble occupation, it is essential to dissolve as many self-imposed limitations as possible. The transformative aspect of this book, therefore, lies in the consciousness-changing strategies published here. The principles of spiritually effective living are gradually made real as each person becomes calmer, clearer, and more respectful of themselves and others. A more spiritually evolved personality emerges to direct one’s work.

Although readers may conclude that the Good Work techniques here are versions of the New Age practice of creative visualization, the process of making one’s work Good is not about simply ‘visualizing’ it. Instead, the ability to develop Good Work depends on strengthening every aspect of the self that diminishes one’s power to create what one wants.

Relieving anxieties and limited thinking is, however, an essential preparation only. It may be likened to ploughing a field: necessary for a healthy harvest. The seeds of your dreams for working life must then be planted in the heart, fertilized and cared for. In short, you must apply your fresh mindset to materializing your desires through grounded action.

You may remain skeptical that brain change can have a significant role to play in turning bad or dull work to good, let alone the capacity to alter personal circumstances. This is not unreasonable. Neuroscience - particularly applications of neuroplasticity to the problems of human consciousness - is still in its infancy. Personal experience of the effects of change via these methods is the only proof currently available. It is also true that none of the techniques will integrate effectively unless the practitioner is truly committed to the particular change that it engenders.

Nevertheless, for those willing to commit to personal growth via brain reprogramming, the effects can be far more lasting than actions that make a particular job more palatable.

Knowing how to express your natural spiritual authority is a surer foundation for expressing your love and truth than self-deprecating compromise, self-righteous objection or passive resistance to the demands placed upon you. Regrettably, those responses to the obstacles that currently face workers, bosses and communities everywhere are the more common ways of dealing with difficulty. However, they are veils to the expression of the uniqueness of the human soul, which is where the true power and authority of each of us lies.

Given commitment to be, as Gandhi put it, ‘the change you wish to see in the world’ these reactive attitudes need not be yours. Freed of fears and often-unconscious negativities, you can learn how to let your spirit guide you on a practical path to the fulfillment and balanced self-empowerment that Good Work brings.

Fiona and I hope you will enjoy the adventure that this book offers you. You are welcome to contact us at www.thegoodworkbook.com

Suzie St George

January 2016

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1 We use the concept of soul to refer to the energy that fires the unique essence of a person’s life. The soul is a reservoir of unconscious wisdom and the gifts that give direction and shape to the life.

2 Job satisfaction rates vary according to the type of industry and the economic conditions of different countries over time. This statistic is at the very high end of the scale. The usual range of dissatisfaction is around 44-66%.

3 The effectiveness of the practices of both the Mindfulness movement and