There is a continuous drumbeat in our culture for more achievement.
A better salary, a bigger title, more status, more prestige. We’re told we have to be “driven.”
And those things can be good, for sure.
But lately, especially in these challenging and stressful times, I’ve been reflecting with my clients on what’s truly important.
The uncertainty, turmoil, and real suffering we see in the world call for a more foundational focus than material wealth.
It’s less about what you have to show for your life and more about how you carry yourself through the world.
It’s about connecting to the simple and powerful wish to be a good person.
The desire to be helpful from an authentic place of caring.
It comes down to a quiet, internal mission: “I want to be helpful. I want to be a force for good in the world.”
And then, giving voice to that wish.
There is so much to worry about. But in the end, every day there are ten million beautiful sunrises across the planet. There are amazing songs being written. Incredible moments are happening everywhere, all the time.
This brings us to a central question.
In a world with unlimited suffering and unlimited beauty, who do you choose to be?
This isn’t about shying away from the hard work of easing suffering and taking care of our lives. It is about consciously choosing to also be an agent of goodness.
This week, I invite you to take a little extra time and effort to act on that choice.
Say something nice to someone.
“I really appreciate the way you’re approaching this with such care and responsibility.”
“Your creativity in this project is very helpful. It’s a great contribution and something I appreciate about you.”
There is so much worry and even doubt, that authentic words of this sort are golden.
I just finished a session with a woman who had to interrupt her career for two years to take care of her mother’s health and estate. It was a hard and big struggle. She is wounded by it.
Now she is wondering how to get back into the market to get a job. She was worried about being judged for being unemployed for so long.
We could have just dealt with that directly, but I paused and said, “It seems to me that in all of this—your innovations at work before this happened, then deciding to take time off to take care of your mother in very challenging situations at great personal cost, and now returning to work – in all of this,
— You are working very hard to be responsible and do the right thing.”
There was a pause, and then she started crying.
“I never thought of it like that.”
Because indeed, she had paid a great price to do the right thing.
Yes, she was only connected to the costs for her, personally and professionally,
But the other side of this is her choice to live her life with integrity.
And that matters.
And she needed to hear that.
To know that about herself, so she can move into this next chapter of her life on that solid ground.
So I invite you this week – Join me in exploring how to create your own center, free from external influences. Where do you see yourself or others orbiting beliefs?
Because we are the ones who are called to do this work. And it’s good work.
Stay present, and remember—inspiring goodness is gold that doesn’t tarnish.
– Brett