I’ve struggled with “I also” when I first meet people. I had some advice years ago that talking about a range of things you do is sending mixed messages to potential customers so I tend to pick just one thing that I do and talk about that. It’s often a stab in the dark as to what I choose.
I’m not sure if this was sound advice or not? So if I met you I might talk about my career coaching work, or that I am a mindfulness teacher or even my recently added business activity of eating mindfully.
That said, I also really resonates with me, I have a portfolio career which means I also do lots of different things, that are all linked together with the common thread of supporting people who feel wobbly about their career. I love the flexibility and diversity that this gives me in my life.
I also care for my husband who has Multiple Sclerosis, so juggling life at home and working. I’m not really sure how I manage those spinning plates; I think you just get on with it most of the time.
Mindfulness practice has really built my resilience levels and also my confidence by making me more aware of what’s going on, and allowing me to loosen the automatic pilot of life. It is also helping me to understand why things have happened. In addition it quickly quietens that negative inner voice.
A lot of people I work with are unhappy about their job, often experiencing stress with some verging on burn out by working long hours 24/7 connectivity. My clients are struggling to cope and come to me seeking an alternative way of life and we work together using career coaching techniques combined with mindfulness practices.
Being entrepreneurial and combining existing skills, as well as embracing a new environment is what often happens. For example The HR Manager who had 20 years working in retail environments is now a Dementia Support Manager – combining her management experience with something she cares passionately about. Or The Chemist who had worked in a drugs laboratory for 30 years and has now set up a gin distillery in the next village to where he lives.
I believe the future needs us to be more confident, to believe in ourselves and not to lose touch with what makes us happy. “If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity. I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension.” George Burns.
We often fall into a role when we are younger and that sets us on that path for the next 20 years or so. It’s never too late to re think what you want, even if you are just retiring.
Way back, Charles Handy predicted that we would move away from a permanent job and he was so right. I’ve been working for myself for 18 years and back then it was frowned upon if you didn’t have a registered office where you worked from. Today life is much more different with video conferencing and technology generally allowing us to work anywhere. I visit clients on site when I need to, have an office at home, but also work from my kitchen table in my holiday home in Norfolk.
So I think I also is here to stay and I am delighted!
Please learn more about Belinda Coaten here and follow her new business, Eating Mindfully, here.
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