What Can You ‘Upcycle’ in Your Life?
I love that word ‘‘upcycle‘. It means reuse something, recycle something by adding something to it. Not throwing something away when it appears to have outlived its usefulness to you, but doing something to it which adds to its value or appeal.
New for Old
I was prompted to write this following a short break from work with my daughter, (I recommended a break if you can-you’ll find yourselves thinking about loads of things you can upcycle without even trying!)
In my absence my darling husband had begun work on painting our kitchen units. Last year we upgraded the work tops to blue pearl granite (gorgeous since you ask) but kept the solid wood cupboards as they were still in perfect order. But they had a wood stain which was out of keeping with the granite and the rest of the updated room; they’d lost their appeal. And so ‘we’ decided to repaint them. (In the interests of full disclosure I should probably mention here that I made the decision, husband ended up painting….)
Little Things Can Make a BIG Difference
In the way of things this has taken a while…but coming back from my holiday I was amazed at what a difference those few cans of paint have made. (And, of course,the blood sweat and tears that have been shed while I was sunning myself by the pool, with a Pina Colada, thinking about upcycling my business…)
Anyway, back to the point! Seeing my cupboards painted has cast the kitchen in a whole new light, literally and metaphorically. The bright colour makes the room look better but also other parts of the old kitchen appear brighter and better. It has enhanced much more than the cupboards themselves.
And that change has made me think about other aspects of my life, or more specifically my business. I’m going to take some time to think about where I can add value without losing my essential core.
What parts of your life could do with a bit of a review? How can you add value to your career, your life, without losing the essential you, while being true to yourself?
When did you last ‘upcycle’ you?
Photo credit: Kslyesmith
What is Important in Your Life?
The advertising world is very good at telling us what we want to eat, to read, to look like, to wear, how to decorate our homes and so on. It has a vested interest in us ‘wanting’ things so it creates needs we didn’t know we had until they told us! Very few of us are immune ( I speak as someone who has just acquired a flat screen TV- yes, we are very late adopters!)
Most of this is relatively harmless (unless you buy from companies which exploit countries, employees and use child labour!) as long as in our hearts we know what really counts.
Policy, Procedures, Politics & Overload
It’s not just advertising though. In our work we can get dazzled (or dazed) by policies, procedures, promotions, and politics and start to lose sight of the really important things in life. In the scramble to do our job well, get noticed, fight our corner, we can forget why we work in the first place, what our own bottom line is. Sometimes the higher up the organisation we go, the more disconnected we can feel with staff delivering service on the ground. This disconnect can lead to feelings of dissatisfaction which we fill by trying to do more of the things which took us there in the first place, or buying things to booster our self esteem and provide a justification for what we’re doing all day long.
No One is Immune
I experienced this myself. I started out in my social work career to make a difference, to help people have better lives. Yet the more I advanced the further away I found myself from my original aspiration and the more involved I seemed to get with minutia. It was very seductive for a while, feeling important.
My awakening came when I tried to evaluate just what contribution I was making to the very people I had started out wanting to help. It didn’t feel enough. Occasionally, despite being my own boss, it still doesn’t, and I have to go and reconnect, irrespective of whether this is a good move for my business or my purse!
I see symptoms of disconnect sometimes when working one to one with senior managers. They can get so fixated on their own roles that they forget what their organisation is there to do, what it’s like for those directly in touch with the public or customer. For example, a while back, while acting in a consulting role, I made a comment that staff would be pleased with something we had agreed (the agreement was achieved with some hearty debate).
“Oh well, as long as they are happy” a senior manager said in a voice heavy with sarcasm, entirely missing the point. The point was not to make senior managers happy but to improve service delivery on the ground; front line staff deliver service on the ground, either through sales, or service. Unhappy, demoralised staff give bad service and do not work well in my experience. Lose sight of that and you are on a hiding to nothing.
By the same token, your own personal satisfaction falls when you lose sight of your own personal values.
Go Back to the Floor
One remedy for managers is to get back out on the ‘shop floor’, whatever that might be. Actually go and visit staff, spend a day on the ground. get a real up to date feel for what goes on. I know one chief executive who spent a day on a public enquiry desk to better understand what staff were dealing with. It was very enlightening!
It’s a remedy for all of us, when we’re getting caught up in work battles and politics – remember what is really important to us. Keep your foundations solid.
What is really important in your life, and are you giving it the care and attention it deserves? How do you make sure that you keep yourself connected?
Women With The Lid Off!
I was listening to radio discussion recently when I just had to chortle out loud. The discussion was about convertible cars and it seems that they are most often bought and driven by women over 50!
In the spirit of disclosure I had better own up to being a woman over 50, who was driving her red convertible car while listening to the radio! However, I obviously buck the trend as I was 49 and a quarter when I bought mine…..
I listened to the discussion with obvious interest. It wasn’t a deep discussion and had a light hearted touch, but one comment struck me. Asked why she had a convertible, one woman replied that buying it was symbolic of her having reached an age when she could do things just for herself.
And I very much identified with that. Like all the women on the panel, I had never bothered much about cars at all; they were utilitarian objects chosen because of their price, carrying capacity and ability to fit child seats in easily! And suddenly, it seemed, I found myself with a daughter who has her own car, a son away at University, and my husband who drove (still does) a wreck of an estate into which anything will fit! For the first time in my life I had no restrictions at all. I could afford the car I wanted and the insurance!
So maybe buying my car was a little act of middle aged defiance? Maybe, I was saying this is me, roof off, hair going crazy, independent me!
What has been your best or most enjoyable ‘act of defiance’?
PS Car in picture is NOT mine. Mine has a button to open the roof!
What Price Your Value?
Our values are of huge importance to us. If we able to live life in a way that respects our values we’re well on the way to finding the secret of happiness!
Values are not our morals; they are not about being right or wrong (although living in an ethical way might be a value we hold).
When we are honouring our values we feel ‘right’ inside. Similarly when we are ignoring, (or are not able to live by) our values we feel all ‘wrong’. The technical term is dissonance. If we’re not making choices in life based on our true values we’ll suffer from dissonance. It may reveal itself as frustation, or anger, or indifference. We may try to pretend to ourselves that all is well but inside we know. All is not well, whether it’s at work, or in our private life. We know something is not right, even if we can’t always put our finger on what is wrong.
I have included an exercise in my book on understanding your values because articulating our values can sometimes be difficult. This post may also help. What values have to be met for you to have a happy and fulfilling life? Does your current job or lifestyle honour them?
