What motivates health care workers to risk their lives? (and aren’t they amazing?)
This week, Frontline ran a documentary on how medical teams responded to the pandemic in Italy. There were so many examples of bravery, compassion and concern–nurses who stayed with patients because family couldn’t, doctors who sat for hours with coma patients because they wanted them to pull through, workers who risked their lives and gave up their family life to go to the hospital to care for complete strangers.
It was moving to see the dedication–and it brings to mind the question: What drives a person to do their job no matter what the situation?
The answer is alignment. Pure and simple. These people have found their calling—a role that aligns with who they truly are, what’s fundamentally important to them and what motivates them. While I can only speculate as to the value set of each health care worker, I think it is fair to say their values include helping others, being selfless for a cause greater than their own, having an impact and making a difference in others’ lives. Those intrinsic rewards are what they seek.
For many, finding a job that inspires because the work is aligned with your belief system may seem unlikely, impractical and maybe even down-right impossible. But I am here to tell you it’s not.
We all have a human yearning to enjoy our lives—and that includes the work that we do. Isn’t the ultimate dream to get paid for what we LOVE to do—think of fly fishermen, pilots, professional skiers, designers and yes, doctors, nurses and other workers in health care settings.
A job that honors your very core IS possible. It isn’t a pipe dream. You can find a job that will make you bounce out of bed – they are out there.
How can you find it? Well, that’s a subject for another blog, but here’s what I can tell you, you are more likely to find it if you
- open up to the opportunities that exist or arise around you
- think out of the box
- explore deeply what was behind what you wanted to “be” as a kid
- ponder what is important to you, beyond financial gain
Also, get some help. These are the kinds of questions, yearnings and dreams that a career or life coach can help you discover from the recesses of your mind, long forgotten and buried under the day to day habit of making a living. You will know the right fit, and you can be happy in a job that is aligned with what you care about, think about, and truly want in your short time on this earth.
Life is short and like the ad says, you are worth it. Aren’t you?
I would like to dedicate this blog and express my deep gratitude to the front-line doctors, nurses, aids, housekeeping staff, food service staff, transporters, technicians, receptionists, maintenance, mechanics and other operations personnel (and anyone else I have forgotten). You all are amazing, wonderful and inspirational.
