A Gift From Your Past Self
Was the past a waste of time?
I coach a lot of women primarily approaching 50 or older. By then if they are already in a career, the most common thought I hear brought to the coaching call centers around looking in the past at the time, money and hard work that went into where they are today. Often at the expense of ultimately feeding their joy. What a pickle that way of thinking creates for them - knowing they want to make a career or other life change, not feeling joyful about the results they are currently getting, and spending mental and emotional energy into what was, with another year lost. In business school, there's a term for it known as Sunk Cost. The cost of time.
- The cost of effort.
- The financial cost.
- The cost of years of school.
The common thought I hear from clients when knowing they want to make some type of shift away from their present and create their future by stepping into something new and different is, "I wasted all that time and money and effort and years for what?" They look to their past. You can fill in the blank as to all the feelings that are associated with that type of thinking. And you can guess, by the time they come to a coaching call with me, other than taking the action to schedule time together, they've been in an inactive state. The result of all of that? A rather joyless existence.
Past Present
What would it be to choose to embrace the "cost" of the past as a gift from your past Self to your present Self? You can choose to look at it as the gift that it is -
- It gave you money to pay your bills.
- It introduced you to new skills you hadn't had before.
- You met people that you otherwise wouldn't have ever come in contact with.
- It provided you an opportunity to put money away for savings.
- It afforded you the clarity to know that you wanted more, either to enhance your current profession or the clarity to know you wanted to step into a new career.
- It gave you a reputation.
- It gave you wisdom.
If you have the freedom to use this wisdom to do anything you choose, what will you choose?
But I Want to be Sure!
If your core question is "how can I be sure? (that the change I choose to make is the right one)", you cannot be 100% sure. That's what you can be sure of. There were so many decisions and choices you made in the past that you most likely weren't 100% SURE of. Maybe you weren't sure you were ready to have children when you did, you weren't sure if what you studied in college was the right road to take, you weren't sure that your first job was "the" one, you weren't sure if you wanted to negotiate that raise. Your wisdom and the courage you always have gives you the opportunity to take on the responsibility of not knowing. Your wisdom can be the gift of choosing to serve others in what you know brings you joy and from there you may actually find your calling. But if you don't look for it, you never will know for sure. Are you stuck in seeing the gift from your Past Self so you can see how to use it today? Step into a no cost, 30-minute call with me. On the call we will:
- Help you get started on tackling a challenge you are dealing with;
- Discuss the benefits of working together, and
- You will walk away with at least 1 coaching tool and strategy that you can immediately put into action!
If you are looking for a one time, 80-minute coaching experience that is action-driven and laser-focused the 80-minute mind-shift tune-up coaching call is designed just for you, to get you in and out with a clear vision, action plan and how-to steps to get you moving forward. Did you miss Ditch That Inner Mean Girl for the New Year? Replay Before closing, I want to reference and share a unique and powerful podcast from Seth Godin called Akimbo. Let me know for those who give it a listen, what you think!