Today’s Task: Share What You Have Learned with Others
Today even though I felt I didn’t have the time, I made it for a friend who is going through a transition in employment and doing some informational interviews. It was one of those days that I knew would be full from the moment I woke up to the late hours of the evening with all the coordination that an international move requires. But I did it anyways. Because sometimes the best way to exert generosity is not with money, but with your words and with your actions. I remember listening to something a while back that talked about ways that you can be generous even if you don’t have a penny to give. And I really appreciated that small kindnesses – a hug, a squeeze of the arm, an hour for a conversation – is actually a much more valuable gift.
It was one of those humbling moments where you start to realize what you’ve learned – when you’re put in a position where you’re asked about your journey and what you’ve picked up along the way. I’ll credit most of my valuable tidbits to the enormous amount of podcasts that I’ve listened to over the last five years – probably the thing that’s increased my learning and comprehension ten-fold since discovering that I’m an auditory learner.
Some things that I’ve learned:
- If you don’t make plans, someone will make them for you
- Clarity is everything. If you don’t have clarity about what you want, you’re just going to keep orbiting around the thing you want without actually getting it.
- Don’t give up on believing that the crazy magical wonderful thing that you want is possible. What you seek is seeking you.
- Don’t give a f*ck about what you studied in school and how it relates to how you spend your days as an adult. Who really gives a sh*t if you have a PhD if you can’t hold a conversation or get your work done? What people want is results, employees and co-workers who love what they do and are lit up by making a difference, even in their own small corner of the world. I’d much rather be surrounded by people who love their job than a bunch of highly educated boring individuals. **Note – This is not to say that education = boring. I’m just saying, do something that makes you happy**
In the end, a career is just a string of experiences that took place during this lifetime, in your body. I keep trying to tell myself this as it relates to getting my first tattoo – this is just my body in THIS lifetime. Treat it like a tapestry that gets to be decorated and enhanced. And in the next lifetime, I get to start over again and have a new tapestry to work with.
A career is similar. It’s just a bunch of things that you do in exchange for money or services or whatever else keeps you going from one month and year to the next. Some people are fulfilled by their careers, and other people aren’t. Some people just want money to go have fun and chill out, others want to have a strong alignment between their values and what they get paid to do on a daily basis. There’s nothing wrong with either of those desires. They’re just different.
In being alive, you as a reader have most likely learned something. So share it with someone else. And consider the way in which creating that energy exchange allows you to feel more nourished. I know for a fact that today’s conversation gave me a lot of energy. Way more than it took to share a bit about my journey of entrepreneurship. I have a feeling it will have the same effect for you too!
