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Free will & the freedom to choose

Free will, the freedom to choose and therein create our own future, is from my perspective the defining factor of what makes us human in this universe.

I was moved this week by the film “A Soundtrack for a Revolution” a documentary of the music that inspired and supported the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America.

It made me realise that I have the luxury of freedom. A luxury too often taken for granted considering that freedom has and continues to be for so many people a long and hard won battle.

I wonder, do we not then owe it to ourselves, our families and our communities to recognise and claim our right to choose and create our own futures? Yet, in a society where we have the luxury to choose any number of things we often fail to choose that which would make us most happy. So I am asking,

Why not choose to do what we love for a living?

Workplace Freedom: establishing the optimal work life balance

I for instance chose to leave a job in a recession to found a company despite a complete lack of funding or the income to cover my outgoings.

By all accounts it was a risky decision, but one that I chose to take in order to pursue my dream of building a company through which I could help other people.  It was one of the best decisions of my life.

Granted I am young and single so I was in the position to make this choice. Understandably, many people would say that they do not have the freedom to choose, when or where they work.

It may seem at times that the need to survive, to care for ourselves and others means we do not have the option to leave a job that makes us unhappy, unfulfilled or simply ambivalent. Yet at any time at least two options exist.

1. You can choose to do nothing and retain the status quo or;
2. You can choose to try something different, plant a seed see if it grows

The difference between one and two;  willingness to change and adapt.

Towards Work Place Freedom

Choosing what, when, even why you work can eventually transform the way you live.

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to Work a day in your life.” Confucius

Here’s a couple of things you can do today to begin the move towards greater workplace freedom

Step 1 write down you answers to the following questions:

1. What are your greatest strengths or talents or to rephrase: what do you love to do?
2. What three things do you think you do best in life?
3. Are there any talents or skills you’d like to teach?
4. If you could do your dream job what would you do?
5. What could you volunteer to do or learn that would put you one step closer to that dream job?

Step 2 is to take your answers from step 1 and create an online talent profile so that we can match your talents, skills and interests to work opportunities.

I completely believe that we can all work at and be rewarded for doing what we love, I’m not saying that it will be easy, just that you’ll probably enjoy it.

However, work place freedom – like so many freedoms won before – can only be achieved through connected, collaborative community effort.

We need people like you to build this talent community in which each individual is willing to help others achieve the same freedom through active participation.

EMPLOYERS are refusing to hire Generation Y workers because they lack a work ethic and spend too much time talking to friends in work hours. Source

In my early twenties, I adopted a twin philosophy from a very good friend of mine “…it costs nothing to be nice…”  and that “…if you can’t say anything nice, best say nothing at all…”

I have lived to discover the wisdom of this advice and in my personal experience I have seen and heard that the negative characteristics that people  would attribute to others are most often a reflection of  the person speaking. Quite simply; what you say about others says more about who you are, than who they are.

Hence the assertion of this blog is that those that bemoan Gen Y, probably just wish they were more like us. It’s opinionated and at times bias but it is an attempt to develop conversation around opposing thoughts; drawn from three of the many hundreds of comments that the Article Gen Y too lazy and unfocused to hire generated.

Work Life Balance

Pretty sick and tired of “he/she who is the centre of the universe” and “work” being “somewhere you go during the day”.

Just a little jealous? I reiterate my stance on work life balance fairly often. The reality for us is that, unlike earlier generations, work is NOT our life. Work is important to us but we’ve been taught that it is better, for our health, to work to live, rather than live to work.

In addition to work we may also be juggling study, friends, family, sport, other paid and unpaid work commitments. Hence the need for flexibility.  There are people in every generation that would benefit from a more balanced approach to work and life.

Respect My Authoritah!

These brats have no respect for experienced people. You treat them well and they crap on you.

Experience alone does not qualify one for respect, being respectful toward others does. Respect, like Love,  is something you give not get.  May I suggest leadership:-

• Our concept of leadership 2.0 involves asking questions, connecting and collaborating.
• We seek leaders that inspire, support and encourage our personal growth and development.
• We want to feel that we work to contribute to something meaningful.
• We will find new and improved ways to increase effectiveness, efficiency and productivity in business.

Gen Y’s Great Expectations

The main issue with Gen Y’s (but not all) is their expectations are ridiculous. They come into the workplace and after one year they want a promotion and if they don’t get it, they throw a hissy fit…I think there is some resentment in some of our older people as we had to work our way up and earn respect in the workplace and pay would come later. These days they think and expect to be CEOs at 24.

We are entering the workforce the most highly educated generation, yet I can see that to those that did not have to pay for an education our pay expectations may seem disproportionate.  Still, education has burdened our generation with billions of dollars worth of student debt. Is it unrealistic of us to seek an income that may see us debt free within the next 15 years?

And aspire to leadership, we shall because our entrepreneurial spirit makes us increasingly willing and able to take risks,  our education has armed us with knowledge and insight and today’s technology allows us to connect, share and collaborate in new, more effective ways.

Gen Y Collaborators

Love us or hate us 10 years from now we will represent almost 40% of the New Zealand workforce. Maybe it’s time to accept that aspects of our work ethic and the workplace freedom that we aspire to are  useful, perhaps even necessary, for the growth of a knowledge economy.