#75 Doing Your Inner Work Improves The Outer World w/ Lily Lawes
My college graduation happened right as the 2008 recession hit. No one was getting hired. So when offered a position at a big company like Adobe, I jumped at it. The only problem was that the job required me to be proficient at Microsoft Excel - and I had no idea how to use it 😅
I was willing to learn though. Still fresh from university, I studied like a mad scientist. I had never touched a spreadsheet before, and yet in just a few months I was an excel whiz.
After the novelty of learning wore off and I mastered the skills I needed to get by, I realized that for my extroverted personality, working on spreadsheets all day wasn’t the role for me. I needed to be creative and to interact with more people to feel fulfilled.
I spent years after that trying to navigate the stormy waters of working in corporate to find a role that was right for me. And I never quite got it.
Nothing seemed to match my interests and skills long term.
I moved out of state. I changed companies. I sought out mentors for advice. None of these external sources led me towards the feeling of success that I knew was possible to experience.
You know what helped me? Going inward.
Doing the inner work and gaining clarity on my values and passions was the secret that guided me towards my dream job as a coach.
Instead of looking at spreadsheets and not speaking to a single soul all day, I found myself seeing the direct impact of my work and helping my clients to make big changes in their lives like:
Getting out of 5-figure debt and put 6-figures in the bank
Starting a purpose driven business quicker and easier than they thought possible
Getting out of a miserable, toxic relationship to finding their dream partner
Reaching their long time health goals without having to suffer or sacrifice much
It’s extremely fulfilling to take part in people’s lives when they make their dreams come true.
In my conversation with Lily Lawes, she shares her inner work journey to becoming a self-love coach. Starting in children's publishing, to working at an NGO in Uganda and living a glamourous life in Dubai were all phases of her life in which she was deepening the relationship with herself and doing her inner work. This path eventually led her to doing the purposeful work she does now.
We are constantly evolving. Who you are now isn’t the same person you were years ago. The decisions you make today will lead you towards the person you are becoming.
When you do your inner work, the choices you make are more in alignment with what you really want. You will have more claritypeace and fulfillment being on the right path. And when more of us are fulfilled in life and work, the world is a better place.