Summary

The article discusses the importance of rewilding one's soul in the workplace by embracing imperfection, authenticity, and connection with nature to foster creativity and purpose.

Abstract

The author emphasizes the significance of rewilding the soul, a process of returning to a more natural, authentic state, within the context of professional life. They share personal experiences of overcoming perfectionism and the transformative impact of embracing one's true self at work. The article suggests that by focusing on meaningful actions rather than flawless execution, individuals can enhance their creativity and productivity. It also highlights the value of embracing diversity, connecting with nature, and using one's senses to foster intuition and a sense of purpose. The author advocates for a balance between work and personal well-being, encouraging readers to engage in activities like meditation, conscious breathing, and nature walks to achieve a more fulfilling and alive work experience.

Opinions

Perfectionism is rooted in fear and insecurity and can hinder personal growth and job satisfaction.
Embracing imperfection and authenticity can lead to better workplace interactions and more meaningful connections with colleagues.
Prioritizing "upstream solutions" and doing the "right things" rather than obsessing over details can improve work quality and personal fulfillment.
Engaging with others in their native language, even with imperfect understanding, can create a more open and bonded work environment.
Preaching about world issues and personal beliefs can alienate others, emphasizing the need for balance and the ability to "loosen up."
Rewilding activities such as using all senses, sharpening intuition, and dancing can enhance one's connection to nature and self, contributing to a regenerative approach to work and life.
The author values the importance of feeling alive and connected over being a "know-it-all" or maintaining a flawless facade.

WORK

How to Rewild Your Soul in the Workplace

Dropping perfectionism is an important step

Many of my readers are on a path of rewilding their souls. And I love it! We need wild. We need raw. We need honesty. And diversity.

We need to rediscover Gaia’s wisdom to live our best lives with the capital P of Purpose. But how do we do that in our daily lives? How do we interact in the workplace when nobody understands what we’re on about?

Well, let me help you by showing you some of my successes and miserable failures in that respect. It’s a journey. So, we can never get it right the first time. Or at least I didn’t.

Drop the Perfectionism

Miss Perfectionist has been my nickname from an early age. I loved languages but never dared to speak them in real-life because I heard myself making mistakes all the time.

I love creativity but never dared express myself in front of my colleagues because they were very rational people. Or so I thought.

I worked hard to get the max out of my productivity as an international sales and marketing manager. And at the same time, my head was so full, I nearly exploded. Still, I managed to be this super-successful know-it-all and do-it-all.

Burning-out didn’t happen to me (although I have been close several times). But having fun? Well, no. Not like I have now. Now, I feel life. Really feel ALIVE. Back then, I was hiding my true me from everyone. Including myself.

Promise to Myself

So, how did I change? The first step was an honest promise to myself that I would embrace all of me from now on. I would stop the pretense and become open and real. And then I started learning about feminine ways of productivity.

The second step was to drop the perfectionism. Harvard Business Review tells us that “A lot of perfectionistic tendencies are rooted in fear and insecurity”. Well, that was me alright. And because I was very productive as well and came across as a self-confident person, I never really looked in the mirror and changed.

Looking in the mirror. Picture: PublicDomainPictures via Pixabay

Takeaway Success

I stopped my constant need for perfectionism by focussing on doing the right things (upstream solutions) instead of fussing over the tiniest detail. The funny thing was, nobody noticed my work was of less quality. The perceived flaws only existed in my own head. People liked my work even better. Because it was less complicated with tiny details, I guess.

Because I created space in my head with meditation and small moments of body-connection and breathing consciously, my memory started working better. Things started popping into my head out of nowhere. And that helped me big time to be more creative and find the right things to do.

In the case of the languages, I learned a big lesson when I was giving training to an international group of people. In the beginning, they had a one-on-one with me to align expectations.

The language I used for that was English. But I noticed they weren’t as frank with me as I wanted them to be. So I asked what we could change to make them more open. Hesitantly, one of them said: “I can be more open in my own language. It bonds better.”

So, I took the leap and we made a deal. I asked my questions in English. They could answer in their own language. Speaking slowly, so I could grasp the essence. And we laughed a lot not understanding or explaining snippets in English again. The laughing might have been more important in the bonding than their actual answers.

I learned that people are not busy judging me. They just want to feel comfortable with me. So the moment I stopped being a know-it-all, they felt much more relaxed and we bonded.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou

Takeaway Failure

My life has a purpose with capital P. I want to change the world because I think it’s broken. But not everybody is aligned with me there. So when I started to learn more and more about the broken state of the world and upstream solutions, I wanted other people to know too.

I became a teacher, a preacher. And I can tell you, it’s no fun to be around a preacher. My friend’s daughter (11) said it very clearly to her once:

“Mum, please stop talking about LIFE please! Can we just play?”

So I had to learn how to loosen up first. The rewilding helped here. I take long walks in nature, use all my senses, sharpen my intuition, and dance from the bottom of my heart. But the pitfall stays with me. And sometimes I topple into the ravine again. Nowadays, I can luckily laugh at myself when it happens.

Feel free to share some of your own experiences with perfectionism in the comments. I’d love to read how you get on with rewilding your soul.

If you want to connect, you can find me in my food forest, admiring the pollinating bees. Or via LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, ManyStories, Quora, Patreon, and my website.

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