I am finally coming up for air and remembering all those months ago when I thought it might be interesting and even perhaps helpful to create a newsletter to help people navigate easily to the blog and to share top tips….and then, well, I think you know what happened next. The big P. I think many good intentions had to get put on hold whilst we all had to (have to?) work out how to live during a global crisis. But it seems I am on a different part of the curve now and it’s never a bad thing to start again. Indeed, that is recalibration in action.
So, perhaps a good time to re-introduce myself. My name is Cat and I am a development worker and risk professional in the charity sector and I am also a coach for the helping professions – in short, those who spend a lot of their time and energy supporting others and working on big social problems. This blog is part of the work I do to support positive growth, change without overwhelm and share perspectives, tools, and resources. I do hope you find it helpful and useful !
So I hesitate to even declare that “we” are all now in a post pandemic world…By its very nature, the experience globally has been both unique and very similar and also by its nature, pandemic becomes endemic and we just “have to get on with it” (well that seems to be the British interpretation). So where have you landed? Are you still in the thick of it, have you experienced the big quit? Are you coming up for air? Are you emerging from a pandemic Upside Down to a brave new world? Or are you mourning the losses on all levels? To be fair, whilst none of those are mutually exclusive, I think we can say that some of us have felt that shift to the 4 Ps – Perspective and Processing Post-Pandemic.
The impacts both positive and negative of going through a global crisis will reverberate for many years to come, but I have met many people who are using this break with the norm as an opportunity to reassess what is important to them. The whole context of “work” and how that fits into a life/work balance is a hot topic – whether it is your employer trying to get you back into the office (and whether you are running with open arms towards this or screaming as far away as possible), negotiating a redundancy, processing the trauma of your experience or making a total 360 shift towards what you really want to do.
It does seem that all bets are off now when it comes to the concept of a stable and linear career path – perhaps less “I should be doing this” (because of what I did at uni, or my career to date, or what my family think, or because its well paid, because change is scary) and more “I want to do this instead”(even if I am not sure how to get there). It’s easy to say more people are shifting towards their values, but time and time again it’s clear that those who are most aligned with their values feel more satisfaction and enjoyment in life and especially from their work.
The identity shift from career based to value based identity is not always easy, and requires a level of self reflection and courage. Isn’t it interesting to see whether the values you hold “in life” are perhaps different from those you hold “at work”. Something I often see with clients is:
1. An immense confusion and even guilt about moving away from or within a helping profession role
2. A fear of financial loss even when they can articulate that a stressful role in a difficult sector is not best for their health but “it pays well all things considered”.
These are deep and profound worries and are usually connected to this sense of what people feel they should be doing and also the challenge of reconciling working with those disadvantaged and marginalised whilst also being able to prioritise your own needs and wants.
Fear is a normal feeling, we don’t need to say that people should never be fearful – but it’s interesting to ask yourself, how does your fear speak to you ? What are the resulting actions from feeling fearful ? Can you sit with it and move forward anyway or does it paralyse you for far longer than it should? Is your fear of what others think or say or is it because you doubt yourself? When fear starts to limit you, or prevent you from making change that you know logically will be good for you, then it is no longer helpful. So how do you answer your fear? What tools and support do you have ? Do you learn from your fear?
I can recommend two excellent resources to work through these key reflections:
An excellent podcast “Professional Troublemaker” by Luvvie Ajayi Jones. Episode 9: with Esther Perel “Answer your Fear”.
Luvvie is a New York Times bestselling author and professional troublemaker. In this episode she is talking to psychotherapist Esther Perel. Esther is one of today’s most insightful and original voices on modern relationships. She’s a bestselling author, TED speaker and host of the hit podcasts Where Should We Begin? and How’s Work?
Values exercise:
Step 1. List your top three interest or things that you enjoy doing. Write down when you do them and with whom. Write down why you started doing them and how long you have been doing them. Include as much detail as you can – perhaps you might even draw your experience.
Step 2: For each interest write down exactly what it is that you enjoy about them. Come up with as many reasons as possible and really try and dig into the details. There is no judgement – but try and push deeper than “it’s fun”. Allow yourself to give as many reasons as are applicable.
Step 3: Can you step back from the answers you have given and see any themes? What values do you take from these themes? Write them down – perhaps they fit nicely in a little diagram?
Step 4: Do you immediately think of any careers or jobs that fit those values? Would those values have been any different if I had asked you, what are your most important work values?
Step 5: What do you take away from this exercise? How aligned are you both inside and outside of work with your core values? Do you need to shift anything? How can you get closer to your values? Write down three key action steps. If you are closely aligned, how can you celebrate this?
If this has resonated with you and you want to explore support to make changes, please reach out to discuss via a Discovery Call.
