‘What do I really want?’ Part I - Developing your narrative
I was in my mid-30s when I separated from a relationship. All the money was tied up in the house and a small business that wasn’t worth much. I borrowed some money off a friend to live on and stayed at another friend’s house.
The friend I was staying with asked me, ‘What are you doing?’
‘I have to get a job. Need to pay the bills.’
And he said, ‘No, you’ve got a roof over your head and food.'
‘I want you to write a narrative out to when you're 65. Write a vision for yourself and go big. Talk about your career in the context of the many other things in life that are important to you. Feel it, imagine you’re 65 updating your best friend on the wonderful things happening in your life.’
Two weeks later, I said, ‘I've written the narrative.’
‘OK, what are you going to do?’
‘I’m going to get a job.’
And he said, ‘No, no, no. No, we're going to set some goals.’
Many years of experience later, I’ve developed a tool that helps build a compelling vision and goals to set clients up for success.
The narrative covers finances, career, love, family, friends, health, lifestyle and community.
One woman wrote her narratias a letter to her best friend.
Her message to her friend started with, ‘I'm just leaving France after my six-month sojourn. I've bought a house here. I'm coming back to Australia to work as an sustainability advisor to boards. My daughter Jane is just having her first child, my first grandchild.’
Over the next three months, whenever she got pulled into daily distractions and challenges, I'd bring her back to her vision. It’s about owning your narrative - including any negative self-talk and biases.
I’ll talk more about that in my next post.
