Paving Your Own Path

When I asked Jen Smith to write for me a few weeks ago, she could not have known that I was thinking of running an occasional series of guest posts, profiling people who are finding their own “different kind of work”. But serendipity being what it is, this is the theme that she herself chose. Read and enjoy!

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I wanted to share with you, my own experience with “A different kind of work”. I love this website and it is great to connect with like-minded people, people who are “committed to finding the way to do what they love and to love what they do”.

For ever since I can remember, I have wondered what my purpose in life is. I used to think I was a bit strange, particularly when growing up, as other people didn’t seem to ponder these questions as much as I did. I have realised as I have got older that it isn’t the case that other people don’t think about these things. Particularly through setting up my own blog, I have met others who are on a similar journey, people questioning the status quo around ‘work’, who are committed to creating work for themselves that truly fulfils them.

Where I’m at

I am thirty four, and for the last eighteen months I have really started paving my own path. What do I mean by that? Well, I have done some great (and not so great ) jobs in my time. A lot of my jobs have been in the areas of health / psychology / coaching, but it really hit me last year that out of everything I have done, coaching and mentoring is the thing that I feel really makes a difference and is a natural expression of me (particularly one to one work). I have now trained and set up my own part time business. ‘Paving my own path’ has been about biting the bullet and setting out to do work that I truly love (coaching) and creating it how I want to (working for myself).

Discovering my purpose

For a long time I was a little bit jealous of people who had a special talent or obvious vocation in life, people that were naturally talented singers or just ‘knew’ they wanted to be a doctor, for example. Funnily enough, my passion for personal development was always there. When I was about ten I remember avidly reading my dad’s personal development books and I’ve been like that with personal development ever since. Maybe I knew my purpose all along but didn’t believe that I could actually earn money from it or had the belief in myself to believe I could. Looking back though, the path to discovering my purpose has really given me an invaluable insight into my passion and helps me when coaching other people to do the same now.

Creating my own path

My journey changed in the last eighteen months when it hit me that I probably was never going to find the ‘perfect job’ and that maybe I needed to create it myself. I always liked the idea of being self employed but, if I’m honest, I lacked confidence and self discipline. I held out for finding a job that would be ‘me’, with a steady pay-check, paid holidays and everything already set up (i.e. a bit easier than doing it myself J). I tried lots of jobs, but didn’t find the perfect one. It’s not to say it’s not out there, but that’s where I got to. I realised I need to be self employed, a) because it really appeals to be my own boss and, b) to shatter that belief that I can’t do it (after all that’s what being a coach is all about isn’t it! J). A series of soul searching, and getting in touch with what I wanted and enjoyed, led me back to one to one coaching.

Things are usually easier than they seem

One thing that has really hit me since starting my own business is that when we follow what feels right, even when there is no ‘map’, things fall into place. Since getting accredited as a coach at the beginning of 2009 I have cut my hours in my employed work nearly in half and am now consistently earning an income coaching and mentoring on a self employed basis. That’s not to say I haven’t worked hard and been consistent, but if you had told me that I would be in this position a year ago, I might not have believed you!

Each step leads to the next

I know this is probably obvious, right? But everything I have done has made me who I am today. I am not totally where I want to be with regards to work (full time self employed coach, mentor and writer) but I am definitely on my way. There are a lot of experiences that I look back on, that didn’t make sense at the time but do now.

There is a time for everything

There is a time for questioning and a time for action. I question things a lot and I really think that continual questioning about why I am here has really helped me to be stubborn and not ‘give up’ looking for my passion. We all know people that have given up and settled because they don’t know what they want to do- I have never wanted to be that person. Life is an evolving process, and just because you may not know what you want to do now, or even in ten years time, doesn’t mean you always won’t. We need to keep questioning and learning and being open to discovering our passion. Similarly, it is not a ‘destination’- finding the work we love will evolve. From needing a website for my coaching business I stumbled across blogging and have now incorporated this into my work too. I am sure this journey will look different again in a years time.

Save for your dreams

Saving, and making the most of the money you have, makes a real difference to achieving your dreams. It’s all about priorities. If you want to go back to study, maybe staying in an extra night of the week and cutting back on some non-essentials will help you achieve that? If you really want to achieve something, money isn’t everything, but it does give you freedom to do more of what you want to do.

I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Henry David Thoreau

Jen is a Life Coach and Personal Development blogger who can be found at Reach Our Dreams. You can connect with Jen on Twitter @reachourdreams or if you liked this article then why not subscribe to her RSS Feed?

Related posts:

1. Deviation From The Norm – My Different Kind Of Work
2. Here’s How New Work Pioneers Navigate Their Journey
3. Change Your Career While Keeping Your Job
4. Introducing The Manifesto For New Work Pioneers
5. Doing Your Real Work