Thanks to 20 years of professional experience I have learnt that we can identify three different ways to approach the world of work.
The first way is that of the careerist. This is the person almost fully concentrated on the job, with the primary scope of professional and economic growth. The advantage is that, if we achieve our career, we completely fulfill our desires with real satisfaction. The disadvantage is the high price paid for the stress and the sacrifice (first in the family) which may be very high if we don’t achieve our objectives.
The second way is the one that I call separatist: here the purpose is to maximize the earnings/efforts ratio. This is the typical approach of the person who doesn’t love his/her job. The advantage, compared with the “careerist”, is that there is more time for hobbies a/o activities out of the work. However, here we have also a disadvantage, because we dedicate 30% of our time to unpleasant activities just to gain money to do something that we like but that we can hopefully carry out in another 30% of our time (as the rest of the day is dedicated to physiological activities). At the end, this approach is very inefficient and definitively unadvisable, unless we have to apply it for surviving reasons.
The third way is the one I prefer as I don’t like either careerism or separatism. I have made the big effort to convert it into a methodology to be instilled in both my clients and students. This Multi-Holistic Model is based on the following principle: both in our work and life we have to capitalize what we mostly like and we can do at the best. The advantages of this Model are so evident to not require further emphasis. The disadvantage is that its application needs efforts, perseverance and a good dose of risk.
However, we may say that it’s easy to be “multi-holistic” when we have a real talent, or when we have limited and very focused passions. Indeed, but people in such situation are very rare (for example Maradona or a merchant of antiquities). In the real world, the majority of the people can do several things and have more than one interest.
At the end, how can we apply the Multi-Holistic Model? I will try to explain it by a “chemical-hydraulic” analogy.
Let’s take a yellow ampoule that we call ampoule of talent and passion and a blue ampoule – ampoule of study and experience.
The yellow one represents our creative side and contains everything that we like to do, we love, we have aptitude for and we naturally do. This is the ampoule of ASPIRATION, intended as desire and expectation, but also as the necessary action (“aspire”) to let maieutically emerge our real desires and talents.
The blue one, on the other hand, represents our structured side and contains all the things we can do, those we have studied and we have learnt by working and making experience. This is the ampoule of TRANSPIRATION, sweat and tears which require study and work.
Now, we connect the two ampoules to a green tank, the Multi-Holistic tank which has the characteristic of getting all and only what is present in both the yellow and blue ampoules.
Well, let’s try to do now the experiment of filling the two ampoules up with what we like to do and what we are able to do and let’s observe how much will go to the green tank.
What is our objective according to the Multi-Holistic principle? Very simple:
1. To understand what is in the yellow ampoule and to stimulate its emergence
2. To fill the blue ampoule up with the right things
3. To increase as much as possible the contents of the green tank
In other words, we have to deepen, through study and work experience, the things we like to do and we have talent for.
Instead, what does usually happen?
Somebody tends to take care only of the yellow ampoule (e.g. some artists) and to neglect the blue one. Who follows this approach, risks to ignore his/her potential and to remain a “wasted talent” or the typical “insanity & genius” person.
After all, some people take care only of the blue ampoule (managers sometimes). The consequence is that, in this case, we study and work for the entire life without passion, concentrated on topics which we are not suitable for, with the risk to seriously limit our professional growth.
Once more, the careerist will tend to fill the blue ampoule up during the day and, may be, to dream the yellow one at night (or when he/she will retire).
Instead, the separatist will work in the morning with the blue ampoule (which is not his/her real interest) and, in the afternoon, will dedicate time to the yellow ampoule but only as “hobby tank”.
If we take care of one ampoule at the time or, even worse, to only one of them, in the long term this will limit our activity area and make us inefficient and unsatisfied. In some cases, this will give us some sense of frustration and “asphyxiation”.
However, if we spend the day to TRANSPIRE and the night to ASPIRE, when we can really RESPIRE (breathe)?
The solution is simple and natural: we have to put the study in favor of our talent, to try doing a job which we like, to grow and make experience in those fields where we have the right aptitude.
In conclusion, we have to TRANSPIRE for our ASPIRATIONS in order to deeply RESPIRE and to find our natural equilibrium by exploiting our potential to the best!
