In our latest series ‘Flourish’, we'll discover what it looks like to thrive in the four domains of life: physical, relational, vocational and spiritual.

We’ve asked people from across City on a Hill to share their top 5 practical tips on what it looks like to flourish in each domain.

Today's tips are 'vocational'.

We hope these tips will help you to cultivate healthy habits, draw you closer to Jesus, and truly flourish in life.

Marshall from City on a Hill Melbourne East

1. Make time for rest and protect it. Don’t fill it with things that over stimulate you. God made rest for a reason. Learning to say "no" is a vital part of allowing yourself to be effective.
2. Pray! Pray as often as you can. Pray in times of stress and anxiety at work. It helps to lay our burdens on Him. Pray when travelling to work to help centre everything you are to do, for the Glory of God. Going to God first helps to give you a right perspective on what lays ahead for the day. Pray and thank God when things are going well.
3. Remind yourself daily that your identity is secure in Christ, not in your job. Yes we are to work our hardest when meeting our work responsibilities for God’s glory, but who we are is not defined by what we achieve.
4. Great communication is the key to thriving in your workplace. Carefully consider how you communicate. Do it in a way in which those around you feel highly valued, important, and always take time with people to understand them and their point of view. Learning how to ask great questions of people is a skill everyone should invest into.
5. Always be honest and genuine with people around you. Relationships are vital at work. People follow and appreciate those who are REAL, not those who are RIGHT.
   

Aaron from City on a Hill Brisbane

1. Remember there is meaning in even the most trivial of tasks, a calling is a calling, whether you are filling out spreadsheets or curing cancer.
2. Treat your co-workers, your upline and those you manage, as they ought to be treated according to the example of he who grants us unmerited and unlimited grace
3. Be excellent in whatever you do, not just for professional pride but in service to those you work with and for and a God who has placed you in your profession/role/vocation
4. Find long-standing Christian professionals in your field and cultivate relationships with them, ideally as mentors. No one is immune from needing guidance.
5. Remember your work doesn’t define your identity, though this can easily become the case.

Brendan from City on a Hill Geelong

1. Approach your work with an attitude of gratefulness rather than entitlement.
2. Respect the time of your superiors. When you have to present or report to those higher than you, keep it concise.
3. Try to find other Christians in your workplace (City Bible Forum might be able to help connect you).
4. Consider joining an Evangelistic Prayer Team (run by the City Bible Forum) - only meets once per fortnight and keeps me regularly in prayer for my colleagues.
5. Consider meeting one-on-one to read the Bible and pray with a colleague.

Ian from City on a Hill Melbourne West

1. God created us for work. God created the work. In our work we have the opportunity to glorify God
2. Seek first to understand and then to be understood (This is the fifth habit from Steven Covey’s book— The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People)
3. If you want someone to do a BETTER job then tell them they are doing a GOOD job
4. Create the environment where everyone can be THEIR best.
5. Never forget the power of the written word. (I would often send out thank you letters to home addresses to recognise achievements. This does wonders for morale, commitment, loyalty and performance)