How to align your professional and personal priorities and why this leads to greater fulfillment

When we feel like our work has meaning, it becomes more fun, we feel more enthusiastic about it, and we get higher satisfaction from it. 

But what makes our work meaningful to us? What fills it with meaning?

In my understanding, the work I do is meaningful if it is aligned with my purpose, passions, talents, competencies, and values, and it has an impact that I consider important. There are of course countless types of work that could fall into the “impact” category, but which one we choose, is up to us.

Assuming that our main priority isn’t exclusively monetary, this meaning as well as the joy we receive from it will determine what we put on our PROFESSIONAL BUCKET LIST.

We all have our bucket lists in our lives. They may include travel destinations, records to break, or any other thing that is on our top priority list to do before we leave this beautiful Earth.

But what about our professional bucket lists?

Let me give you three of my own examples: Three things I don’t want to leave undone in or through my business:

1.     Create a brand-new bombastic leadership program that offers both training and coaching

Spoiler alert: I’m on it! And it’s called The T.H.R.I.V.I.N.G. Leader Formula™. Stay tuned!

2.     Write another book

Again and again, people have said to me: “Regina, you’ve experienced so many amazing adventures... You gotta put them into a book!” So, last year, I finally wrote my second book. For a long time, I'd been debating what focus to give the book. Because these adventures have taught me so much than any studies, and they have allowed me to grow in ways that would have seemed unfathomable before having those experiences. And that’s how LIVING MY FREAKIN' AMAZING LIFE was born (also available in Portuguese).

3.     Catch up on some of the events canceled due to lockdowns and closed borders in 2020

For 2020, I had lined up speaking and training gigs in New York City, Kigali, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Kansas City, London, Abuja, Lagos, Honolulu, and Kampala. In fact, I had just returned to NYC from two months in Rwanda and Uganda, when the lockdowns were imposed. I literally signed an LOI for a long-term collaboration in Uganda just a few weeks prior to lockdowns being imposed, and a contract for an event in Nigeria one week before. My first canceled engagement was for March 9.

(As a side: My life has been that of a nomad since then. Because I love freedom, and I refuse to be mind- and otherwise controlled (or even locked down) by people who should have no say over my life.

But those engagements have been in the back of my mind ever since, and I am determined to make some of them happen… when the right moment comes… or replace them with new opportunities.

All these professional goals are aligned with my personal values and passions:

1.     The new leadership program: It is my view that we need many more courageous, value-driven leaders so we can create a better world together, and that includes corporate.

2.     The book: I love to share my stories and adventures, as many of them have not just been exciting, but also transformative. And they did in fact teach me important lessons for business and leadership, as well as make me more resilient and wiser over time.

3.     Events: I love to travel, explore, and share. Nothing can replace in-person contact with people from other cultures. I have learned and grown so much from this, and it has been tremendously enriching for both me and my work.

Completing these three tasks gives me a sense of wholeness and fulfillment.

Now I’m curious: What are the top three things in YOUR professional bucket list and why?