Knowing your path

The summer of 2014 my professional life came to a halt. I had relied on two streams of income, and all of a sudden everyone was saying ‘no’ to me. It wasn’t personal, the companies and the organisations I had worked for, had for completely different reasons (and situations), come to the conclusion that they needed to change things and couldn’t give me more work at that moment.

It felt like someone pulled the rug under my feet. I had no idea how to bring in money to cover my rent. I knew I needed to change things up, but I didn’t know how. I had some  savings so I wasn’t yet on the brink of becoming homeless, but the fear of ending up there was tremendously vivid.

Flash forward to the other day when I confidently walked into a meeting and told a potential future partner I could definitely turn that company’s idea into a fantastic tv show, but I wanted to rewrite all of it.

Even a year ago I would have given my all to get the job. I would have said the things the company wanted to hear. The result of that wouldn’t have had satisfied either of us. The difference between the two Johannas is that I am no longer in need of the job. I have a business with several revenue streams today which gives me the freedom to choose what projects I want to say ‘yes’ to.

I have several stories waiting to be written, and because of the Bead Movement I feel the urgency of getting things done, and acting now instead of later. Writing takes time, and the two projects I have in line will take me a few years, and if I say yes to someone else’s project it will take time from mine. So taking on someone else’s project has to be WORTH it. It has to be worth putting my projects on hold. And it’s not about the money for me, it’s about the story and the impact the story will have. The realization of this is pure magic. It was a wake up call, because in essence it asks the question – Am I spending my time on the things that are of the highest importance or am I just keeping myself busy trying to find a way to my end goal?

It highlights the importance of knowing one’s way. To know why you do what you do, and what you need to do in order to create the career that matters to you.  And most people don’t. I’ve made it a mission to try to do something about this fact that we busy ourselves to the degree that we loose our way, which in turn could lead you on a path you will end up regretting. One of the workshops I teach is about these things – how you find your way, your purpose, your mission, vision, goals etc, and most importantly making it clear what exactly one can do to get there. Busy isn’t the end goal, and neither is someone else’s version of success and happiness. Yours is the only one that matters. So are you on your path, or are you walking someone else’s? And what can you do today, to get back to who you are and what you feel you are meant to do?

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