Forward, Back and Standing Still
Seven Months to My Next WorkLife Chapter.
Last month, I ended with four questions.
1. Where will the writing take me next?
This Month My Writing Took Me Forward
My First Piece Is Published
Last month, I wrote that five pieces of my writing had been accepted for publication.
This month, the first was published.
It’s a story about Shane, an analyst promoted into management, and how one insightful question from a colleague helped him begin to coach himself.
You can read it here → The Questions That Help Managers Coach Themselves, It appeared in Employee Experience Magazine.
This Month My Writing Also Took Me Back
Self-discovery was the first body of work I developed.
For more than 20 years, I’ve worked with people as they explore what matters to them: their values, their purpose, their vision of where they want to go and their motivated abilities — what energises them.
It’s about understanding yourself well enough to make choices that feel right for you.
I returned to it in Professional Development: What Is Self-Discovery?, the first story in a trilogy. (Coming Soon).
It follows Albert, who has built a successful career, but when he’s asked what he wants from his working life now, he finds himself describing what’s expected of him rather than what he wants for himself.
The questions Albert asks himself are close to the ones I’m asking in this series.
What do I want from my WorkLife now?
What contribution do I want to make?
What do I want my professional and personal life to look like?
Two more stories will follow: Self-Discovery in Action and Self-Discovery at Work.
Evergreen Work
Self-discovery is evergreen.
So are stories.
Both stay with us.
They keep us present in the moment.
They take us forward, and they take us back, connecting where we’ve been, where we are and where we want to go.
Perhaps that’s why my writing took me in both directions this month.
Shane’s story and Albert’s story have something in common.
They teach through stories.
That’s how I share what I know.
I ask three things of every story I write.
Is it insightful? Does it demonstrate knowledge and deep understanding?
Is it inspiring? Does it motivate people to take action?
Is it useful? Can people apply the lesson to their own WorkLife situation?
The Questions Still Open
- What other opportunities might emerge from the work I’m already doing?
- How do I continue to build a WorkLife that gives me the freedom I’m looking for?
I don’t have answers to these yet.
Some questions answer themselves quickly.
Others take longer.
These are ones I’m living with.
I’m continuing to do the work and noticing what it opens up.
The Question I Keep Returning To
- What do I want that freedom to make possible?
When I began this experiment, I wrote that I wanted to make more room for life.
Travel is a big part of that.
Last month, I asked how I could build work I can do while travelling.
The freedom I’m looking for is to take my work with me, to travel slowly and to stay long enough in a place to come to know it.
The photograph accompanying this piece is a sunrise in Antalya, Turkey, on the Turquoise Coast.
I want to go back, and to explore the rest of that coastline.
That’s part of what I want that freedom to make possible.
What Happens Next?
Seven months to go.
This month, my writing took me forward, and it took me back.
In other ways, I’ve stood still.
Some things haven’t moved.
That’s frustrating.
There are days when the uncertainty weighs heavily.
Is what I want possible?
Can I make it happen?
I don’t know yet.
Living with these questions, and writing about them each month, is part of the experiment.
The next chapter is still writing itself.
Connect and Continue
Work With Me: Individual WorkLife Coaching, Commissioned Learning Resources, Speaking Engagements and Organisational Partnerships.
Support This Work: Your support makes a difference and helps me to continue creating resources that are accessible to everyone. Thank you. Carmel
Explore The Future of WorkLife — stories and reflections on the changing nature of work, the transitions we experience and the possibilities for our next WorkLife chapters.
Listen to the audio version here:
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