Are you contemplating a career change? Maybe you want to start doing your own thing and be your own boss. What signs should you look at to determine if you are taking the right course of action? How do you know if you are making the right decision? It's not always easy to know for sure, but you can test your plan using the acronym ELFS. I first learned about ELFS from my life coach, but where it originated from exactly is unknown; however, it provides a simple yet profound way to examine and test your job prospect or business idea to see if it's a good fit. If it meets all of the following four criteria, it is probably a great idea to pursue.
Easy
English poet Thomas Shadwell once said, "Every man loves what he is good at." Does it come easy to you? Is it in your wheelhouse or area of competence? When you have a strong interest or passion about something, the easier it is to achieve success. By using your natural gifts, skills, and areas of expertise, tasks tend to be much easier.
Maybe it is something you have never done before, and you are not sure if it will come easy to you. When you consider the idea, do you feel peace and calm, or do you feel stress and tension? Can you see yourself doing it with ease, or does the thought seem difficult or overwhelming? Your gut instinct is an excellent source of guidance if you pay attention to it.
Lucrative
We all want to be compensated for the work we do and be compensated nicely. American author Henry David Thoreau said, "Wealth is the ability to fully experience life." When we give of our time, effort, and expertise, we deserve to be rewarded in kind. This is the way the world works. No one starts a new job or business so they can work for free. If they did, they would not be able to do it for very long. Your skills and talents are wanted and needed in this world, and people are willing to pay a price in exchange for them. In essence, the more value you provide, the greater the financial reward. According to American author Julia Cameron, "When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us."
Fun
This one is so important! Centuries ago, Confucius said, "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." You need to enjoy what you do. When you are having fun, doesn't the time seem to go by faster? When you love the work you are doing, you will be much happier, more fulfilled, and more successful. It is important for your work to not feel like drudgery or like you are just going through the motions. The majority of people do not have fun at work or enjoy what they are doing. Since one-third of your life is spent at work, doesn't it just make sense to spend that time having fun?
Service to the greater good
We all want to leave the world a better place than we found it. When we serve the greater good, we make a difference in the lives of others. If you can help even one person, you have impacted their life forever. American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well." Ghandi is quoted as saying, "In a gentle way, you can shake the world." Choose work that allows you to have a positive impact and make a difference.
If you are considering a change in work, make sure to run your plan through the ELFS test. If it is easy, lucrative, fun, and in service to the greater good; then you are on to something worth pursuing. Go after it, and don't look back!
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