Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. ~Ambrose Redmoon
I start today’s post with this quote because I have been contemplating something for a good while now. I work for wonderful people at a great company and I can’t complain about the kind of money I make, but there has been “something” missing for a long time. I joined the board of a special needs school thinking that would fill the hole of “I need to do something more – something with meaning” but it hasn’t. I love my corporate job in finance and I love the students and teachers at the school too, but the hole remains.
So over the last 6 weeks I have been periodically taking career aptitude, personality and “what the hell do you want to do with your life” tests. I think I’ve taken about 14 so far. EVERY single test reveals that I should be a mental health counselor, psychologist, novelist/poet or teacher. There were even a few tests that I went back and took over thinking that maybe I hadn’t answered the questions truthfully, but the results were the same.
Every one of these careers is in the field of changing lives. EVERY ONE! So that has to be what is missing from my life – my contributions to making other lives better – right?
I’ve always threatened Mr. Strong that I am going to get out of the corporate world one day and become a teacher, so I can be with my kids more and his answers are always the same”
“You don’t have the patience to be a teacher.” Maybe a coach – not a teacher.
“You would miss making the money you make and we would be broke during the summer.”
“You would be bored on your time off during the summer.”
Mr. Strong is absolutely right on all accounts! I can’t argue with any of them! Even though Kitty tells me I would be a great teacher because I don’t except excuses – I agree with Mr. Strong on this one.
Then yesterday, I came across a self-assessment test. This self-assessment asks you to think about the times that you feel the most joy. Well, this was hard because I feel true joy when I am planning a vacation and really just at the thought of a clean house, but that isn’t what it’s really asking…is it?
Okay, if I am being honest with my whole entire being, the times that I feel true joy are the times that I have helped someone accomplish something. This summer was amazing for me! I helped myself, but I also helped the girls and a few friends learn that their goals ARE attainable. I felt true joy the day CL came into my office and told me “thank you” for helping her lose 12lbs. (Although she is the one that done the work, she said without my “drill sergeant” encouragement and direction she wouldn’t have even started.) This brought the happy tears to my eyes – that was true joy for me. Or when the girls and I went school clothes shopping and they were finally happy with their sizes and Kiki wasn’t afraid the girls this school year were going to call her fat! That is true joy for me! Knowing that I helped change – if nothing else – their negative attitude and instilled some self esteem, so they could face whatever came their way. Or when I helped a friend get through some tough non-profit accounting training – with just a few suggestions and corrections – she jumped for joy the day she finally ran the reports and “understood” that she COULD do the job! She sent me flowers…
Showing someone that they have what it takes to accomplish ANYTHING they decide they want to accomplish and seeing their happiness when they do – THAT IS MY PURE JOY MOMENT!
THAT is what fills the missing piece.
Anyway – after I took this self-assessment from this Ivy League University and incorporated everything that I just wrote above – my career paths that were decided based on my answers were basically the same, only this time Personal/Life Coach was on the list.
Is that even possible? Me? A personal/life coach?
Naturally I drilled into the Personal/Life Coach line and every description, every characteristic of “do you have what it takes” and EVERY duty of a personal/life coach fit me – it fit everything that I try to do now with my family and friends.
Then I read this:
“Most people can’t make big changes on their own,” says Kim Goad, author, personal leadership expert and president of Ovations, a Westminster-based performance consulting firm. “[They] cannot push themselves. They need someone to tell them to stretch, and they need to hear it from someone other than a spouse or friend.”
Well if you HAVE read any of my previous posts then you KNOW I am the person behind the persons encouraging (YELLING) at them to push beyond their set limits.
For now, I will be doing some more research, but I feel that I have had what Oprah would call my “AH-HA!” moment where the light bulb turned on.
And you might (probably not) be asking how this relates to the Law of Attraction – well, I know now that today I am placing an order for my tomorrows from the Universe. My predominant thoughts and feelings today are creating a frequency that is automatically determining my life tomorrow. So, for today, I will feel good about what I have written in order to make my tomorrows as magnificent as I currently imagine.
I hope you are doing the same!
Those of you that read my blog or know me personally - what do YOU think?
Yes I know what you mean about there being something missing. Does this feeling ever go away forever? Maybe it is a sign to start being open to the next thing. It is easy to be seduced by the worldly things and sell your soul to the corporate world but there is nothing quite like freedom! I think most people would be able to know what their passion is but limiting beliefs about their talents or not knowing how to make a living prevents them from seeing it.
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