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Types of People

I believe there are two types of people when it comes to the world of work and careers.
We have the people that view it as a game, and realize that in order to do that type of work in which they are doing they must tap into some natural skills that they are already proficient and adept at.
Their job is simply to be like a chess piece on a board and understand the landscape. By understanding the politics of the arena in which they are in and finding ways to move around and build relationships, these people tend to be very successful because they are able to see a macro level view point of everything. These people are natural networkers, or “Weavers” as I like to call them, that build relationships easily and have a high EQ.
They imagine themselves at a micro level within the entire landscape and move around very quickly.  You immediately know who these people are in organizations.
You look at that person and go, “That person is going to move up very quickly.  They’re actually even over qualified for this position.”

One Unified Person

Then you have people that say “Just freakin’ forget it” to the entire game and they opt out completely. They “burn their bridges” and go all in.
They say “I’m not going to play a game in this incredibly important aspect of my life.”
Let’s be clear that neither one of these is more right or more noble than the other.
But in this second option, you have people that are simply saying “I opt out of playing that game and I’m going to turn my work and my career into something that melts in where the lines blur between the rest. Where my family, my friends, my relationship, my personal growth, my health, my wellness, my vitality and my career, my craft are all part of one, all-encompassing process of emergence.”
This is the process of becoming one unified person. It’s more holistic. With that there are lines that are less blurred.
What has to happen in order to opt out of the game, is that this person has to say “F it” to playing the politics of that world.
Now, let’s be clear, this person also still has to make certain things happen in their career in order to truly achieve what they want. But what they shouldn’t do is not sacrifice the type of work they’re doing in order to achieve or make money.
They make sure that they would be doing this work even if there was no money in it for them.
They’ve asked themselves:

“What would I do if money were no object?” (Here’s more on that.)

And that is exactly what they have done. And they’ve turned it into a career. So that there is such a deep rooted level of fulfillment within it.
They never have to question their motivation. It’s intrinsic. It comes from within. It’s not something where they have to push themselves, because it’s natural. They go into a flow state when they do this type of work. It pulls them.
There’s a purpose behind it.
And when you have a purpose in your work, it pulls you. You don’t have to push yourself. And it’s a different philosophy. It’s the one that I’ve shifted into.
I opted out of playing that game, but I still believe that both are equally important in this world. And both are absolutely necessary. But we need to realize that there are these various paths. And these are the two that I see.

Photo credit: Couple—CC license