When I Grow Up
When I was a kid I wanted to be an aid worker. I can vividly remember day dreaming how I would coordinate assigning resources, argue for increased levels of funding, and travel to far away countries to make change. Just your typical 8 year old, ready to take on the world. I was confused as to why issues like hunger and access to education existed in the 1990's, with so many smart grown ups out there. There must have been something I was missing.
Around the same time, the Kielburger brothers started making waves with their grassroots rejection of global socioeconomic inequality. Sitting at my kitchen table reading the newspaper article on how then 12 year year old Kielburger started the Free the Children organisation, (now WE.org) I experienced my earliest memory of "comparisonitis" and imposter syndrome. I had thought I needed to be a grown up to be taken seriously, but here was this "kid" doing more than anyone. I was ashamed of not doing more, like them, and I recoiled back into what I viewed as my own lane, feeling unworthy of the work I was being called to.
My parents will tell you I was always globally interested and minded (and vocal). Props to them for making Christmas and Birthday gifts a global cornucopia of social enterprise gems and cultural experiences like #Putumayoworldmusic. I will tell you, though, I never felt like I was qualified enough make a difference.
That's why I studied Human Rights at a Liberal Arts University, waiting for the worthy police to come grant me permission to be the change I wanted to see in the world. I graduated with with 2 majors, and lots of questions. I had also experienced some acute and excruciating levels of homesickness studying what seemed a vast 4 hour commute from home. Convinced I didn't have the constitution for true international work, nor the ability to fund myself while doing so, and feeling wholly inadequate, I committed to finding a close to home, financially viable, career path, one that would allow me to make sustainable contributions to causes that mattered. That, for now, would be my activism.
It turns out, you don't get to negotiate with your callings. They will always be part of the work you do, how and why you do it, when we feel far away from them is when we experience burn out, frustration, and a sense of loss in our work. Your #careerforyears will go through iteration and iteration of your calling until you feel as connected and aligned to your work as you do your own self, working against it only creates malaise. I work with people to help them feel and act in alignment with their calling, resulting in sustainable careers they feel worthy of and are joyful reflections of their highest potential.
I'm having my own career for years milestone, one of many and certainly not the last. I'll be saying more about it soon. What I can say for now is that voice I heard so clearly as a child, that was drowned out and deterred by fear, confusion, and emotions of discouragement is now singing loud and clear; again.
My journey has been one of self-reflection and realisation. My inner drivers of dignity, wisdom, and advocacy never went away. I have experienced ways of working in line with my drivers through iteration after iteration. The career that I adore and have diligently curated started from seeds planted nearly thirty years ago. I am now closer than ever to fully realising the #careerforyears 8 year old me was called to. The work to achieve this started over 10 years ago with my own #careerforyears mindset shift. 10 years from now, will you wish you had started today?
Follow me to learn more about my career for years, and connect with me to learn more about yours.
All the good stuff,
Lydia