How are you treating yourself? To what extent are you taking good care of your talents? Are you finding yourself frustrated with your work? Overwhelmed with domestic responsibilities? There is an alternative approach.
“Stewardship” is a stodgy sounding word that can provide a breakthrough to DaVincis — to smart, creative, multi-talented people like you. Stewardship means taking good and thoughtful care of something. It’s a warmer, cozier, more competent way of approaching the many responsibilities in your life. Rather than thinking ‘Oh god, I have to do X, Y and Z!’, it’s a shift to calmly managing whatever comes up for the purpose of taking good care of what’s important in your life.
Here’s how:
Step #1: Put Yourself First
To take good care of the many projects, people and activities in your life, your top priority is to take good care of yourself. You’re not an effective steward of your career if you’re stressed out and working yourself sick. If you’re not cultivating your talents, you’re shortchanging yourself (and the world).
Ask yourself: how can you take good care of yourself? What’s working well in your self-care? What gaps need to be addressed? How is your health? Your energy level? How are you treating your body? Your mind? Are you treating yourself to simple pleasures you enjoy? What can you do to take even better care of yourself?
Step #2: Identify what’s most important to you.
What — or whom — do you want to be taking good care of? Your family? Your relationships — personal and professional? Your home? Your career? Your finances? Something else?
Answer thoughtfully and candidly.
Step #3: Reframe “To Do’s” as Stewardship
Take of the important aspect of your life you identified in step #2. Now ask, for each: how can you take better care of this? How can you cultivate an attitude of caring stewardship for each important life domain?
What currently seems like a burden? How might you translate that into more positive terms? For example, if your domestic responsibilities seem overwhelming, it might help if you reframe your chores as taking good care of your home. “Ugh. I have to clean the kitchen. Again.” becomes “I’m making my household cleaner and safer” or “I’m taking good care of my household members.” If financial tasks make you squeamish or avoidant, try approaching them as “Taking good care of my money”.
By thinking in terms of caring stewardship of what’s important, it’s possible to remove a lot of negativity, dread and procrastination about the many things on your plate.
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Are you struggling with too many talents, skills, ideas? You may have The DaVinci Dilemma™! Find tools, fun quizzes, coaching, inspiration and solutions for multi-talented people at http://www.davincidilemma.com/ .
