I started an interesting "project" at work today...
Working on myself.
For the first time in my life, I have a kind of personal coach, who is going to try and help me get some clarity and work on improving my outcomes. This is pretty cool, because I have been doing this for others for about a decade in my own business, but I struggle when it comes to doing it for myself, now. Prior to having the stroke, I was able to, but it has become far more challenging since.
They aren't "official" sessions, but a colleague of mine (I hadn't met earlier) has completed a course and before he does the final exam, he has to book a number of coaching hours with multiple people. As I have been talking to my supervisor about career development and my struggle to find my place, she reached out to our people and culture team member, and she happened to know this guy was looking for another candidate to coach.
So, we had the first session today, which was a get to know each other and discuss expectations, processes, schedules and whatnot. What he realized quite quickly is that this is going to be a bit of a challenge for him, due to a couple of unique conditions. The first is that this is the first time he has done this in English (he is Finnish) so he is worried about communication misunderstandings, however I assured him that with my experience, it will be fine. The second is that I am a bit of a strange case anyway, given the brain damage and the associated issues it brings.
It was nice to be on "the other side of the table" in this session and he is very good, patient and at least seems, genuinely interested in working toward a better solution. As said, I have been doing something similar (different than this also) for a long time, and it is nice to be able to see a different style to my own, but also how things overlap. Even if we don't accomplish what we set out to, I think we are going to have some good discussions.
We are going to meet weekly, and there will be tasks for me to complete at times, like homework. I have never been one for doing much homework, but I am going to make an honest effort to embrace this opportunity, and take some time for my own development. It seems silly perhaps, but I get a lot of value from helping others succeed, which often means that I end up getting neglected by myself, and often by others too.
Before the next session, which will be on Monday, he sent me a list of questions to answer, which I will spend some time doing tomorrow. However, while I won't put them all here as some are more generic and basic, therefore less interesting, I think there are some worthy a little reflection, so I thought others might want to use them as prompts too. They are translated from Finnish.
- How do you tend to sabotage yourself?
- How do you regularly take care of yourself?
- What things have you given up on in your life? (e.g., "I'll never be fit.")
- When have you been happiest? Why?
- When have you been the most unhappy? Why?
- If you could have anything, what would it be?
- What kind of life would you like to have for the rest of your life?
This is a reflection exercise, and based on each of these, I could write complete articles and at some point, I might even do it for a few of them. But, I do think it is worth everyone spending a few moments just to run through the list, think a little about what answers come to mind and then also consider what we are doing in those areas to improve them, or support them.
For those willing to put in some effort and write a post about one or more of these, if you put it into the Reflections community and also drop a link and a sentence or two in a comment on this post in the next day or two, I will visit and offer a little support on it, as long as it meets the community guidelines.
I am quite "excited" (somewhat enthusiastic) about taking this journey over the next few months, and seeing where it leads. I don't know if it is going to be lifechanging, but what it does is force me to take the space out of my daily routine once a week or so, and do something for myself with intention. It might bring the clarity and may just be the impetus I need to shake up my world a little, and help me find a more suitable direction.
At the very least, it will give me plenty of things to write about.
Not that this has ever been an issue for me before.
Taraz
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