After a leadership workshop, I was approached by a participant who asked me
“What keeps you going?”
I gave him the usual answers…
“I like my work”
“I want to make a difference”
“This stuff really counts”
And then I asked him
“What about you, what keeps you going?”
He wasn’t sure, but he said he would think about it on the drive home.
And so did I.
Mostly, clients only see me in those “up” moments. Passing on content, making sure everyone’s involved, creating energy in the room, cracking “dad jokes”.
But I’m not always up. It’s not always like that. I often go home and flake, exhausted.
And in the early days, I’d do workshops for 12 to 14 days in a row. (We used to have fortnightly workshops in those days). “Those were the days…”
If you had asked me why I did it back then, I would have said the same thing I told that participant…
“I really like my work”… and so forth.
But there was another reason as well. I had a mortgage to pay. But I know that’s not what keeps me going now.
So, on that drive home, I had to really think “What keeps me going?”
And I started to tear up, because I knew the answer, and so do you.
This year on 8 December, Deborah and I celebrate 40 years of marriage.
Our Wedding Day 1979
What a ride it’s been.
The beautiful people we have met along the way, the places, the passions, the plays.
And the sadness as well. So much sadness.
I’ve lost my mum and dad, the aunties, uncles and cousins.
Deb has lost her dad, her aunty, and both her brother and sister and nephew.
We both still grieve the loss of our own daughter Ruby.
And yet, and yet, and yet we keep going.
What keeps me going?
LOVE
And I truly believe in the end it’s the only thing that keeps us all going.
A LOVE of my beautiful wife
A LOVE of our incredible son
A LOVE of my gorgeous brother
A LOVE of my nieces, nephews and their children
A LOVE of my crazy friends
A LOVE of my amazing colleagues
A LOVE of my precious work
A LOVE of life itself.
What about you?
What keeps you going?
TO LIFE
TO LOVE
Until next time…
Find the passion.
Develop the skills.
Make the numbers.
Make a difference.
Paul Mitchell
“APAC’s most respected transformational leadership performance coach”
Paul Mitchell (@Paul_S_Mitchell) is a speaker, author, transformational leadership coach and founder of the human enterprise. Through leadership coaching, leadership development programmes, keynotes and facilitation, Paul works with organisations to build cultures where everybody leads.
Looking for coaching for yourself or one of your leaders? Coaching that does more than just go through the motions? That challenges you to be the best you can be? I invite you to explore Transformational Leadership Coaching and be challenged by myself and your key stakeholders, the real coaches around you. “I wanted someone who was going to help me be a great leader not just a better manager. I contacted Paul because I knew of other Senior Leaders who saw him as a “game changer”. I didn’t want to take the long way to my goals. I wanted to invest in the best. That investment has paid off enormously, through his balance of constant challenging and support.” Sujith Abraham, Group Vice President, Asia Pacific Strategy & Sales Development at Oracle
(Correct title at time of testimonial given)