1. Let go the idea of a "dream job"
This one still hurts a bit. But since I told it to myself, it feels better, lighter. I remember seeing a funny video that said something like “I don’t dream of labour”. And I was like “BOOM!” Whatever my career has been so far and however fun and cool it might be, I don’t think that focusing on career itself can fulfil me to the extend I thought it could.
And don’t get me wrong – we better enjoy our work and find/build a career that aligns with us as much as possible, or even better – create our own one and make living out of it… but work is work. A job is a job. Career is a career. It’s labels. And even being a big deal of our lives, there are other parts of life that need attention and our “dreaming” even more.
It’s great to seek for fulfilment and dream of something out of the job, money, career box. It might seem obvious but I have spent some time way too focussed on this… and it never felt right at the end. Therefore, I decided to be honest to myself by saying that a job/career (even a meaningful one) does not bring me a major fulfilment. Not the job itself, not at this point. And it is very liberating to see this differently now.
It might not sound that encouraging to hear this from a career coach but it does feel encouraging to admit that there might be something else to discover? Not to settle with that one thing, that one “dream job thing”, and give yourself that opportunity to find more ways to look at life. Or just reminding myself: “Cmon, it is just work. How is everything else? What else matters?”
2. Kindness & inner peace make the world a better place
This one hit harder this year when war started relatively close. All I can say beyond the media and whatever stories we are being told, is that happy people don’t make wars. “Hurt people hurt people”. Simple as that, I will stop here. I think this one goes waaay beyond words. It is a feeling, a fundamental trait of being a human – to do good in this world. To be good. And we start with ourselves.
3. We know more than we think when it comes to what is better for us
I think we should listen more to ourselves when it comes to what we want. Because who else on earth could know better? Even when we don’t know, we have higher and I would say – only chances – to just fcking keep figuring things out and listen to our gut, intuition, call it whatever, when things don’t feel right.
And I don’t say we can’t be influenced (and we are!) by others and the world but we should always check in with ourselves. And even when we feel in conflict with ourselves (or let’s say – with our past selves – even if that was yesterday) we can do the change, the shift, the breakthrough that is needed for us to seek for the truth, be and act in more alignment.
I wish it was easier to be wrong, admit that and just move on. But honestly, that’s the only way to try again trusting ourselves.
4. Life is not a sprint, nor a marathon
Life is so much more than just running to the next destination, achievement and tiering yourself from this cycle. Life might consist of some sprints and marathons. But it also consists of in-between breaks, time to rest, reset, re-evaluate, just be and flow, breath… Simply walking is fine too. If we think that life is more of a journey, think of the direction you are taking, think of the little steps, moments you might go backwards to take another way. Think of that even if you stop, it does not matter that people keep passing by, running towards the next thing.
They might miss the whole journey being busy getting somewhere.
5. Stories are important BUT not everything
I love stories, so I love this realization too. It makes me less obsessed with stories! So, we tell, write, shape and share stories, having sort of a filter (think of an Instagram filter that captures the reality and then we chose the way we show and post it). So there is a story before the story, which is the moment. It is not captured, it is experienced. And every capture puts a layer (of thoughts, perception) on the experience. Before the stories, we must simply be and listen. Learn the silence, trust the experience, the silence before making the story in our mind.
Then, you might hear your heart speaking with you in the moment, your soul feeling whatever it feels, however it is or looks. And then, you might hear the heart and soul of others when they share their stories, you might try to feel and understand what these stories have beneath.
6. It's all about connection
Even when we disconnect, we connect to something else. Sometimes it’s isolation, loneliness that we connect to. Do not let others and the world set you apart. You are a part of the world, part of all. We are all one. And you – yourself – are whole too. It co-exists – being a part of something, and being whole yourself. It is the same. For some time it did not come together for me. I tended to isolate, disconnect in order to be with myself, connect to myself, and it is necessary but when I want to be alone I still know that I belong to the world. To trees, to the sky sometimes when no one is around. And this feeling, it makes you more connected even at times when you feel alone. We are only one connection away to something different and to ourselves.
7. There is no nr.7. (yet)
This one is my favourite just because I was like “hey but it would be cool to have 7 instead of 6″, and then I went blank. Yes! And this was exactly what the nr.7 is about. Do we always, humans, wish for more? Do we always want that perfection? 7 instead of 6? Why?
Never stop questioning, exploring, always seek (not for more) but for the depth of things. Sometimes the truth is very simple. Sometimes it might even surprise you how simple it is. But it is simple after it’s complicated… so to not tangle this point even more , I will stop here.
But I will not stop here…
I am sure, more we reflect, more we discover. One thing at a time, yet, it all connects.
