about rowdy

why i quit my safe job

3 minute read

I quit because my Fairy Godmother told me to quit my safe, secure career in superannuation. She whacked me over my bald head with her wand and told me that I wasn’t living my purpose working in superannuation. She told me that I wasn’t making the impact I wanted through my work (after all, I’d rather organise my sock draw than keep writing about being relaxed and comfortable in retirement).

But that’s not all she told me. She also told me I was hiding my best self. And because I was hiding my best self and pretending to be something I’m not, I was hostage to my bad mojo. My anger. My frustration. And I admit, the dangerous dose of despair and self-loathing I had.

She’s a straight shooter, my Fairy Godmother.

And she was right. I tolerated my own BS. I hid from doing the work I wanted to do and I hid from living the life I wanted to live. And my Fairy Godmother had some advice for me, too. She advised me to find my purpose. Because when I do, she said, I’ll have good mojo, doing the work I want to do and living the life I want to live. And when my Fairy Godmother dropped this truth bomb, this rainbow appeared out of my window at work (which is true, although the story of my Fairy Godmother may be dubious):

But where did I find my purpose? Well, it wasn’t at the end of this rainbow, or stuffed down the couch with my wallet and car keys.

I found my purpose in retirement coaching

Coaching is a good mojo producing goldmine for me, and perhaps for you, too, for three reasons:

reason #1

When I coach, I don’t have the answers or solutions for my clients. Instead, my clients uncover their own answers and solutions. I just help them. I develop trust and presence with them. I listen. Really listen. I ask questions. I delve for meaning and insight. I’m curious about who they really are. And I’m comfortable not knowing, wanting to learn who they really are from them instead of from my own judgements. And I acknowledge and encourage them. Then I play back what I hear them tell me. All of which helps my clients to define their purpose and to align their daily behaviour to that purpose.

reason #2

I’m rubbish at chit chat. Instead, I prefer to dig into meaningful conversations, like the early settlers dug into the earth, looking for their own gold nuggets of mojo. Meaningful conversations because, as Susan Scott says in her book, Fierce Conversations, reality is interrogated, learning is provoked, challenges are tackled, and relationships are enriched.

reason #3

I love to see the value in my clients that other people (or perhaps even themselves) have overlooked or mistaken. For instance, their attitude, skills, talents, personal values, beliefs, sacrifices, resilience and actions (as opposed to having been devalued, sadly, because of their gender and/or age).

That’s me above enjoying some good mojo. But coaching (and a little celebrating now and then) aren’t my only sources of good mojo. I get good mojo elsewhere, too. From where I hardly ever say.