What will you do next? (Part 2)

As a veteran coach, counselor and consultant I hear people ask themselves that question a lot. Maybe not out loud, but a lot. And when we do (I include myself here), it’s usually related to how we can live with more satisfaction and generosity than ever.

Usually when people call to work with me as a Life Coach, they’re asking one or more of the big questions and, along with it, “what will I do next?”

In my newsletter two weeks ago I said that even if you’re great at living each moment with gratitude and in line with your values, there are questions that live in your soul, inviting your attention and focus—especially after a couple of decades of living as a grown-up.

I’ve noticed five big ones. Question #1 was, “Is my life a success?”

Here’s Question #2: “Where have I achieved mastery?”

If competence is a matter of ability and training, mastery is competence infused with your gifts and excitement and desire to do more.

A client last week was talking about what she’d probably need to do next for her professional development. She was bored and so was I—and I told her so! She stopped, took a deep breath and began to take our conversation in a new direction. I listened and watched her energy rise as she leaned forward, and started to describe how she could turn an “unofficial” area of mastery into a viable calling.

Mastery begins with noticing some things: What do you just love to do—even if it’s hard work? What do people thank you for? What keeps you up late in conversation and reading? Once you notice the roots of your mastery, the cultivation begins in earnest. Like success, is never accidental. And like success, the most important thing is what you do next.

Think about these questions:

1. what do you think you are--or could be--really good at? How do you know?

2. what will you do next?

I’ll post question #3 in a couple of weeks.

What will you do next? (part 1)

As a veteran coach, counselor and consultant I hear people ask themselves that question a lot. Maybe not out loud, but a lot. And when we do (I include myself here), it’s usually related to how life could be even more satisfying than it is.

Even if you’re great at living each moment with gratitude and in line with your values, there are questions that live in your soul, inviting your attention and focus—especially after a couple of decades of living as a grown-up.

I’ve noticed five big ones. Here’s the first—I’ll write about the next four in the weeks to come.

1. “Is my life a success?”

What happens when you ask yourself that question? Does someone’s face come to mind? Or your investments? Or a diploma? Or a professional success? Or a big achievement from a few years ago? Or the way you regularly use your gifts and abilities, or . . .

If your life is a success, it’s never accidental. And if it continues to be a success, the most important thing is what you do next.

A professor called me last week after listening to a college recruiter interview his son. “What are you good at?” The recruiter had asked. “What do you enjoy? What do you long to do more of?”

I could hear this man smiling through the phone, “Listening to those questions,” he said, “I realized that my son had clearer answers to those questions than I do.”

Think about these two questions:

1. what happens—in your heart, mind, gut--when you wonder about the success of your life? and
2. what will you do next?