I have just been given an opportunity to continue working with a client during a lull in the contract because, as my husband puts it, I have worked hard to expand the services I’ve provided; and that has made me valuable even in ‘downtime.’ There are some benefits to considering what more you can do to bloom where you’re planted…
Expand Your Do
My tendency is to work hard. I find it hard to sit still so I generally always have some kind of project in the works. What has fueled my fire in the last year or two is the recognition of my life purpose – to empower people to make informed decisions – so that anything that I take on has that much more meaning for me as a person if I can operate within that purpose. By expanding the impact of my work to include fulfilling my life purpose I have created more job satisfaction.
By expanding my roles within companies I have extended my time with them and survived my own two-year itch to move. In two different local television stations, I watched and learned and filled in for Chief Editors to the point where either I replaced them in action or in position within the company.
Expanding what I do doesn’t just increase my value in one role but can also open up opportunities in other areas to develop professionally. As an example, while on assignment in Australia I realized I wanted to facilitate transformative experiences like a tour guide I followed from Alice Springs to Uluru. I was so moved by the deep red dirt, the aboriginal stories, and my own broken heart that I came back to the States and enrolled in an ecopsychology graduate program intent on helping others to reconnect to the earth. I am now coaching people as a means of facilitating personal transformation.
Expand Your Who
I didn’t just leap from a local video editor who crafted stories to a software trainer traveling the outback. I developed a process of reflection that I refer to as the Dedeaux Design. It is the process I outline in Redefining Success. Think of all the times you’ve noticed or seemed to experience ‘overnight success.’ Was it really overnight or did you spend time preparing and positioning yourself to take advantage of an opportunity to be at the right place at the right time? Knowing this, it might make tough times of transition go by a little easier if you were to celebrate all the ways you contribute to the path of preparation and position you take in order to expand your possibility.
Lessons Learned
While an investment of hard work has enabled me to expand my value for a client, I have found that expanding my role or perspective benefits me as a person as well. In my career expanding my role enabled me to find new opportunities within the same company or to take advantage of opportunities outside the company. As an evolving person taking time to reflect and get clear about who I am and what I want expands my ability to see the opportunities before me and in doing so, has expanded what I thought I was capable of.
In what ways have you personally or professionally expanded your perspective or your prospects in the last year? In the last six months? In the last season?
References
Redefining Success: Creating a Future Fit for the Person I’m Becoming
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