Several years ago, when I began working in career development, I began to take an inventory of how people tell stories about their work and career. I have heard stories from intense pain to significant triumph from an incredibly diverse population of people of all ages, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and socio-economic backgrounds.
One thing that became apparent over time is just how many people work simply to earn a paycheck and feel no joy in what they do. I began to see that a startling number of people go to work feeling as though they have no stake in what happens. They function as a cog in a wheel with no power, no say, and no control.
As an optimist who has been fortunate enough to find work that aligns with who I am as a person throughout my career in mental health and career development, I refuse to believe that others aren’t capable of creating this same joy.
Regardless of their backgrounds, the only obstacle I recognize and have to work around with my clients is their faulty belief systems.
I know firsthand. Ten years ago, I was there myself. I worked day after day unmotivated and uninspired. I let my conditions dictate my perception. I submitted to the faulty belief that “it is what it is.”
The problem with that belief is that it relinquished me of any accountability whatsoever. So even though I was optimistic, things weren’t changing because I was not fully acknowledging my own power. At the time, I didn’t fully accept that “Life Can Be Better.”
I was one of the vast majority of workers who are disengaged and feel disempowered in most workplace settings.
After leaving that position and evolving over the last decade, I have seen the epidemic of disengagement and disempowerment with increased clarity. As both a victim of it, and a change agent against it, I have encountered hundreds of people in my practice who submit to a life of work without purpose. It’s painful to see because it is completely preventable.
Along came WHEN. I discovered a company whose entire foundation is built around not accepting limiting beliefs about how fulfilling life and career can be.
WHEN addresses three pillars of life: Health, Being, and Career and helps individuals create possibilities that can take their lives to the next level through self-awareness, advising programs and ongoing support.
WHEN empowers members to start asking “If I …, what could I create?”
We know that “If” is the most powerful word in the English language, as it serves as the beginning of all great innovation and change.
My work with others has always been focused on leveraging their imaginations and tapping into their own unique potential. What attracted me to WHEN was its mission to take this process of actualizing potential to the next step. Possibilities without action are just wishes.
As a WHEN Career Advisor, I help our members by helping them abandon the constraints of limited thinking and making the declaration to take action steps.
Harnessing the power of “if” and channeling it through “WHEN” can result in real impact. We see it happen every day.
Brad Minton
WHEN Career Advisor
