The Seeds in Your Pockets
In college, I assumed that I would graduate with a single job that I liked- enough to see myself there for at least a year. And with that image, I saw myself feeling decently at ease. However, since graduating almost 2 years ago, I’ve had roughly six different jobs.
I started with nannying for different families in California, then I received a life coaching certification and added on coaching. Then, I moved to Texas, got married, and worked at a coffee shop for a little bit. After that, I started working at Lululemon, received a childcare coordinator position at my church, and I still do some coaching.
I’ve felt some embarrassment with telling people about my spread out job experiences after college. Consequently, I’ve somewhat mentally thrown away the value I gained from some of the shorter or less “impressive” jobs. I’m all over the place, I think.
Yet, when I connect with my college friends, I find that most of us feel the same way. We’re all over the place- adapting to change and feeling a little lost as we try to figure out what we want to do.
But what if we instead contemplated who we want to be?
Don’t we often already have an idea of the person we’ve already been becoming and want to be?
I am deeply grateful to Dr. Maya Shankar, a brilliant leader in the field of cognitive science, who vocalized this powerful strategy for adapting to change.
Even though it feels in my life like I’ve done such disparate things, there actually is a powerful through line that connects all of them…
So what I would recommend to people.. especially those who are in the throes of change and feeling destabilized by that threat to identity is to try to figure out their through line… What are the underlying features of the things you used to do that you absolutely loved, and can you find the expression of that elsewhere?
It’s not fair for you nor me to abandon the experiences that have shaped us thus far as we move into new things. When I look at the common threads across my job titles, I see my passion to interact with many different people, to help others feel known, and to invite people into well living.
Maybe you could take a few moments to answer this question for yourself:
If my circumstances change, what are the passions planted in me that I get to carry with me wherever I go?
