Not long after I quit my corporate job, a book sitting on a shelf in Waterstones Piccadilly, grabbed my attention. Its title, The Work We Were Born To Do; its author, Nick Williams. I was so captured by the content that I emailed Nick and thus began a connection that over the years has morphed from coach and guide to friend and colleague.
10 years later I got the chance last week to talk to him about his own journey from uninspired IT guy to inspired entrepreneur. We captured the conversation on video so you could eavesdrop!
You can follow Nick Williams on Twitter and download his free nine part Discover the Work You Were Born To Do and Become an Inspired Entrepreneur at www.inspired-entrepreneur.com.
What do you think, guys? Isn’t Nick a real inspiration?
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Christine Livingston, Christine Livingston. Christine Livingston said: A Conversation With Nick Williams http://goo.gl/fb/a4KWH [...]
Twitter: ali_davies
Enjoyed watching your conversation. I think the key thing that comes up for me is that work should serve who we are as individuals – our passions, what we are good at and what we feel our purpose is. Yet it seems that we have, as a society, become a slave to work. The tail is wagging the dog. I think one of the good things coming out of this global economic situation is that more and more people are starting to ask themselves important questions about how work impacts their lives. The more this subject is talked about the more people will start to feel safe about it and break out of the shackles of work that sucks the life out of them.
.-= Ali Davies´s last blog ..The Curse of Work Life Balance =-.
Awesome comment, Ali. I could not have summed it up better myself.
The words that really resonate with me are “The tail is wagging the dog”. Amen to that! I feel so fortunate to be in community of professionals who are not only starting to think like this, but are determined to make it different for themselves. Thereby, allowing others permission to do the same.
Hi Christine and Nick
Great video – it was lovely to see you both in person. Funnily enough I received Nick’s book as a christmas present from my parents about 10 years ago too. I re-read it again last year and so much still resonated with me. Really great to see this interview and hear more about Nick’s journey.
Jen
Thanks, Jen.
I suspected you’d have read and/or connected with Nick at some point. He’s been a big inspiration, both for my personal development work and for my writing (did two of his writing workshops a few years back). I like the way he talks about his work evolving, not just being a static thing. That’s really helpful….
Twitter: IAC_Heather
This is a great interview. I don’t think it would have had the same impact on me if I read it vs. watching the video.
A lot of people just kind of get stuck in the job that they are currently working, not because they love it or are passionate about it – but because there is the fear of the unknown, a fear of failure, a fear of what “others” might think. Like Ali mentions above, I also feel that if more people hear conversations like this or know about situations where a person has up and left what they were doing to follow their heart this world could be a much happier place! (well, from the individual’s perspective!)
.-= Heather Villa´s last blog ..“What Should I Do?” – Promotion =-.
Thanks, Heather. Glad you enjoyed the interview in person. I think filming it vs writing it gave it a grittiness that would otherwise have been missed. Besides, we had fun doing it!
I think you’re right that people get stuck in their fears. As I said to Ali, it’s great to belong to a community of people who are open to freeing themselves from the shackles of old ways of doing things and allowing themselves a different experience. In giving ourselves permission to do that – and indeed daring to talk about it like this – we give others permission too.
Twitter: remarkablogger
Very pleased to see you doing video, Christine! As indicated by the comments, this was a great choice for the interview.
.-= Michael Martine´s last blog ..How I Got 50k Visitors to My Blog in One Month =-.
Thanks, Michael. It was a lot of fun and it opens up possibilities. The comments are all indicating that seeing people talking about doing their own “different kind of work” is both useful and legitimizing, so it’s getting me thinking about how I might do more with this kind of medium.
Twitter: bobbessette
Hi Christine,
I like the new look of your blog and it’s nice to see you are still at it. It was also enjoyable seeing you in an interview. I really don’t know Nick Williams or his book but I will check out his link that you provided.
Thanks again for your well wishes recently. It meant a lot to me. Hopefully you’ll see my blog back in action very soon.
Best,
Bob
.-= Bob Bessette´s last blog ..You should hasten to use Quicken. =-.
Hi Bob,
How wonderful to see you!
Thanks for the feedback on the blog. I remembered what you said about making the main column wider and having only one auxilliary column
Do check Nick out. He’s a really inspirational man.
Meantime, hope your blog IS back in action soon. I’m subscribed, so will look forward to the email dropping in my inbox. All in its own time.
Take very good care.
Hi Christine,
It’s great to have some different media to consume and I think as everyone else is saying, it simply works.For me there is something important about hearing the words being spoken that gives a different energy to things.
The community concept that was touched on I hope to hear lots more about. This is what is seemingly being pulled together by blogs like yours.
I hope that Ali is right and that more people are asking themselves about the daily impact of life. With recent events here in Greece, it is sometimes hard to think about the impact of work, I wonder how these philosophies relate to wider issues ?
See you soon !
Thanks, Tim.
It was such fun to make this video with Nick. A real experiment for me and one I hope to play with even more. It’s really interesting that hearing the words has such a different energy than reading them. It appears to be bringing stuff alive in a different way.
There’s definitely a community coming alive around this topic. I think we’re all starting to identify ourselves and finding the way to connect. Recognising that too feels important to me. Nick talks about his loneliness of feeling that he was doing something “different”. I know that I and others have or have had that experience too. Building community round this gives a sense of normality to what can be a challenging path.
Your question about the wider implication to some of these principles is excellent. There’s something for me about people being awake and being fully accountable for themselves and for their lives that transcends the field of work.
See you soon indeed!
Twitter: adrianswinscoe
Hi Christine,
Great video and nice to see you and Nick in person. Only slightly familiar with Nick’s work but will check him out. So true that finding ones real purpose can make our journey so much more rewarding.
Thanks for this,
Adrian
.-= Adrian Swinscoe´s last blog ..The UK Election and Challenges for the Next Governing Team =-.
Twitter: diary4life
Christine, a great choice of people to interview. I’ve always found Nick Williams a great inspiration. I find his message short, simple and very effective. Thank you for sharing this interview.
Regards
Paul
Likewise, Paul, I’ve found Nick to be a real inspiration. I think it’s something about how human he is and how prepared he is to share his own experience for the common good.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Take care.