What will you do next?
This is a question I sat with for twelve months. Approaching my late fifties, and in the middle of a pandemic, it felt like a time to make a change. I was acutely aware that I have ten more years before I am expected to retire and I was feeling the pull to do work that uses my big brain, like previous jobs, but draws more on my empathic self as well. Above all, I knew I wanted to live purposefully with the time, energy and resources available to me.
For people driven by purpose and passion, Priya Parker encourages us to reflect on three questions to support “what next” decisions:
1. What is needed right now?
2. What skills/knowledge do I have?
3. What can I do to help?
I sat with these questions for a long time and by doing so, was able to start making decisions about the next phase of my life. In sharing what this looked like for me, I hope to demonstrate a process available to you also.
What is needed right now?
The pandemic exposed so much need that I initially felt a little overwhelmed. COVID revealed all the cracks, gaps and inequities within our society. Where would a change maker like me start? I was encouraged to see the emerging movement of people organising around the idea of ‘building back better’ from the impacts of the pandemic. At a more personal level I could see that people worldwide were asking themselves how they too could live with more purpose and impact. The ‘resignation generation’ is just one expression of this phenomenon. Perhaps the ‘need’ I could respond to lay somewhere in this.
What skills/knowledge do I have?
Essentially, I have defined myself as a strategic collaborator, who uses knowledge and networks to shift understanding about social problems and generate insight around possible solutions. My reflections on this question, however, surfaced a long held wish to work more ‘hands on’ with people – supporting individual change not just big picture/policy change.
What can I do to help?
If I had been answering this question ten years ago I’d have had a set of practical and economic considerations to guide my decisions such as my responsibilities as a single parent, the size of my mortgage, my energy levels etc. At 57 and with my children now independent young people, my choices are different. Although I still need an income, my decisions are driven much more by the desire to feel in sync, challenged and impactful.
Where I have landed
So, here’s where my pondering these three questions landed: I can use my skills and knowledge (and learn some new ones), to help women like me to live with purpose and impact and contribute to building a better society. I have built on this initial idea and recently launched Flourish after Fifty, or FAF, for short. If you are thinking about what’s next for you, I encourage you to sit with these questions and explore what they mean for you. And I invite you to work with me as your coach to support you through this process if that serves you.