More and more I find clients coming to me after many years of a career that was all consuming but not necessarily all inspiring. And for a myriad of reasons they are now faced with choices to make. Livelihood, though typically important, is sometimes not the only driver in their decision making. Many people are waking up to the idea that they are not going to live forever, and if they don’t get around to the things that made up their dreams and underlying interests and curiosity, they might be sorry.
Let’s take a closer look at a one of those clients. Adam had been a corporate attorney for over 3o years and his company was being purchased. He was guaranteed a nice package. His kids were now grown and independent, and he had taken care of many of his financial responsibilities. At 60 years old he realized that he’d always been primarily driven to be a good provider and between work and family, his schedule was full. But as we probed into who he is today, free of many of his past obligations, he could now consider new directions. This was actually an epiphany for him. He always had thought of extracurriculars as frivolous, or just not available in his life.
I gave him some assignments where he went back to early life passions and interests and realized he’d always been a theater buff but eliminated theater as a career early on as it did not seem like a practical profession. But now it was a good possibility, as least for part of his time/energy. He also realized that he’d been having deep concerns about hunger in his community and would not like to put time into doing hands on work at his local food bank. We made a circle and he divided his 24 hr day into segments and divided his week into seven squares for days of the week and he actually structured his life INTENTIONALLY. He did get a half time contract job in law to keep the cash-flow going, but the other 20 hrs per week are now devoted to both theater and hunger alleviation work.
Sometimes we get so caught up in our routines that we fail to notice opportunity time!
So take a minute to consider your life, now, big picture.
Is it time for you to INTENTIONALIZE your life?
If so, feel free to contact me. A 20-minute initial consult is always complimentary!