I was on the phone with a friend. She is driving some exciting changes in her workplace and I have been coaching her for added support.
At one point she said to me, “You know you have been coaching me for years.”
I brushed the comment aside and yet hours later it resurfaced, taunting me to investigate.
Have I really been coaching people for years?
I began to think back……
I was first given the official role and title of Leadership Coach back in 2005. I had my dream job. My kids were babies, I was working part time and I knew I was making a difference in the everyday work lives of people.
I loved it and yet I did not recognise this as my purpose.
This role ended in 2010 and I somehow found myself lost and unsure about what to do next. I wanted to keep things easy for my family and starting my own business seemed indulgent and ridiculous.
I decided to work more in my husband’s business to support him. An admin role with flexibility and work I found easy and was good at.
It appeared to be a perfect fit……….and yet I was becoming increasingly unsettled.
Deep down I knew there was something more for me, and I would spend the next 4 years searching for ‘my purpose’, for that ‘thing’ I was born to do.
I laugh now at all the books, blogs and articles I read and the online questionnaires and worksheets I completed in the pursuit of this answer.
Meanwhile I continued to help/coach in an informal and relaxed way. Happy to support a friend with some deeper questioning and moments to reflect. Encouraging them to take action and even following them up to add accountability.
I was working in admin, helping friends, and yet something was missing. So began the search for an easy part time job. Something I could do well and would fit with the needs of my family.
Securing that role eventually unveiled the truth…..Standing and staring at the sales counter, I was employed for, I felt a heaviness and a disappointment overwhelm me.
This was not the role for me, it was the ‘should’ path and it felt flat.
I looked at my husband, gently shaking my head and whispering, “I don’t want to do this.”
It felt like now or never, and although terrified of what I might find, I opened to the deeper yearning within.
I wanted to use my knowledge to create a business + my skills to teach + my passion to help others…….I had finally found my purpose.
Your purpose is a 3 part equation.
Knowledge + Skill + Passion = Purpose
If you want to discover your purpose not only ask yourself what you are good at, ask yourself what it is you would do for free.
What draws you forward?
What problems do you notice and want to help solve?
What feels like a guilty indulgence?
What are you good at?
What comes easy to you?
Then look for ways to create more of this, not only through a paid job.
You may volunteer to organise charity events.
Coach your child’s basketball team.
Make inspirational card for friends and family.
Bake a sweet treat each week for Mother’s Group.
Decorate cakes for family birthdays.
Sit and listen for hours to a friend when in need.
Arrange posies from your garden to brighten up homes of those you love.
We are all here with a unique set of talents and desires, and by weaving them all together you will be adding your exquisite value to this world.
What could be better than that?
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