I've had more than 50 different jobs in my life. Most of these I had before the age of 30. It's fair to say I've done a lot, tried a lot and learned a lot.
There have definitely been jobs where I don't think I was making much of a difference. Jobs like doing data entry at a gym full of oversized men, selling stuffed animals to grandmothers who wanted to spoil their tiniest family members, or initiating telemarketing calls with truck drivers out on the road were never really going to change the world.
But not all my work was meaningless, far from it. I know I made a difference in the lives of other people when I cared about making them a good coffee on their way to work, when I paid attention to getting their order right at the restaurant they were eating dinner at, and when I made sure that the kids with allergies to a range of foods on school camp got the meal they needed.
Over time, I picked work that felt more and more meaningful to me, and that often correlated directly with work that made more and more of a difference in the lives of other people.
Some of the achievements I remember in my work life before I got into business were things like the following:
- Helping a 10-year-old girl overcome her fear of heights by being very gentle while teaching her to abseil,
- Facilitating a workshop about sharing your true self with teenage girls, and
- Helping newer outdoor guides understand how to teach better or navigate better or organise their gear to make their life easier.
It doesn't surprise me that as I reflect on what aspects of my work have felt the most meaningful - and therefore feel like my best achievements - that they're almost all to do with teaching a new skill and/or helping someone to do something they didn't realise they could do. Additionally, my favourite moments have been the ones that were infused with my love, care and presence, where I was really concentrating on being fully with that person and whatever we were doing together.
Thankfully, the story gets even better after the age of 30 because once I got into business I was able to concentrate even more on doing the things I loved and doing them my way. I've also, very deliberately, been a student of human behaviour, psychology, communication, coaching and a multitude of other disciplines in the last decade.
The skills I've collected have allowed me to do even greater work than ever before. And this leads me to the greatest work achievements that I've done to date and that is, the deep, vulnerable coaching work I do with clients.
At this stage in my business a portion of my time each week is spent serving adult clients from around the world via Zoom. They have the financial means to have 1:1 with an expert and they have a strong desire to solve the problems that are getting in the way of them being their most authentic, most empowered selves. They usually run their own business and they're often therapists or coaches themselves.
The part of this work I am most proud of is the depth of safe space I'm able to create and hold for these people as they share vulnerable and painful things with me that they wish to resolve. It is life-changing work, for both them and me; their life changes because they're no longer run by these old painful memories and my life changes simply by being their witness.
So while my answer to the question that prompted this post is not a single story I can tell you about one single moment in time, I can say that my ability to do this kind of work is probably my greatest work achievement to date.
And the best part of it is that I know I'm only going to get better at doing this kind of work. Because I continue to deepen my study of the many disciplines I mentioned above but I've also added trauma resolution, neurophysiology, emotional regulation and many more business skills to the learning mix.
I can't wait to see what my work looks like in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years from now as I get more and more skilled at doing work that genuinely helps other people. My hope, plan and vision is to get better and better at communicating the many things I share with my clients 1:1 with people in small and large groups, and eventually, more and more, through writing and videos so that people all around the world can learn the stuff that will help them to become healthier, happier and more empowered regardless of their financial situation or geographic location.
This is my answer to this week's LOH Contest. There are always 2 questions to choose from. This is the one I chose:
2️⃣ What has been your greatest achievement at a professional or work level, perhaps a project that made you feel proud or something you did on your own and that only you could have done at home or at your workplace?
Thank you for this week's contest ideas and judging of all posts @irenenavarroart and thank you to @goodysam for tagging and inviting me to participate.