💡Pay attention to your spark moments
How we have a purpose-filled life
Hey Sleepyheads,
Sharing a thought inspired by my iPhone Featured Photos 👇
Six years ago today I was teaching English to Syrian Refugees in Lebanon. Among other things, I remember two points becoming very clear:
I had a spark moment: I loved teaching and gained an understanding of education being a key that unlocks human potential and people's futures 🔑
I did NOT want to teach in a traditional classroom: it was not for me. I wanted to be involved in large scale impact, and have learning be around real life experience + discovery, not be limited to a curriculum ❌
I felt a spark but I did not resonate with the conventional way of pursuing it.
I wondered if it was possible to lean into my passion for teaching/education without being a teacher in a traditional classroom setting. Seemed far fetched and unrealistic, something I should let go of.
6 years later it's come full circle. Through my role in The Knowledge Society (TKS) I am involved in all the things I like about educations without the things that never clicked for me. I get to focus on unlocking human potential and having impact in a way that fits and makes sense to me.
🚨 Let’s remember: this role which combines a lot of my interests didn't even exist when that spark moment happened 🚨
Wake up moment: Sometimes it takes patience but if you give up and ignore important spark moments then you won’t foster a life that is ready to live purpose-filled.
The spark
Have you had one of these moments? Let’s define this “spark moment” as doing an experience that lights up something inside of you. An internal check mark that says, “yes” this is good, this fits.
There can be many moments like this throughout our lives. Each one can give us a clearer picture of who we are and what gives us purpose. We can use them as data points into living a life where we feel joyful fulfillment.
The problem
The spark moment is all fine and dandy but bringing it into reality is where it gets tricky. Usually these moments don’t translate into a black and white thing or a straightforward career. It’s a piece here and a piece there but putting them together is hard and can feel like a pipe dream. As a response to this, we disregard these spark moments.
There’s many reasons why we might ignore the spark. For example, it might be an interest or skill that doesn’t quite fit the current plan. We discredit it as, “that one time” I resonated with “that random thing”. Categorizing it as possibly childish antic that will pass.
The problem is that when we ignore the things that fuel us then we start ignoring ourselves.
We let ourselves forget the really important pieces of who we are and deny ourselves opportunities to feel purpose in our lives.
Keep the spark alive 🔥
Here’s 3 ways to keep the spark alive and stop ignoring yourself.
Pay attention: don’t disregard the spark moments you have just because they might not fit with your current time/environment.
Stay value aligned: identify the core value/skill you’re using when you're doing something that brings you joy and see how you can transfer it into your current environment. My central value in teaching and educating stayed the same even though it took different forms over 6 years in different roles.
Make it a reality: there are so many unconventional ways to pursue what you care about. If you can’t find it - create it.
Put it into action
For me, I identified the core skill of teaching and educating as valuable. But it took 6 years and a new company to be created for me to practice it a way I wanted. If you’re in a similar position and wondering if it means you should just shelf it, the answer is 👉 no. shelving. allowed.
I used the skill I identified joy with wherever I could. The core skill at the root of passions and interests are often transferable.
It’s one of the reasons I was drawn to the the start up world earlier in my career. There was so much teaching and educating as we were building our idea, selling our idea and training new people for the company. I used it as a leader and manager. I knew the core skill was valuable and transferrable so I transferred it and used it every chance I got.
My central value in teaching and educating stayed the same even though it took many different forms in various environments.
This is true to most people in most environments. Even if you are not in the perfect job or environment that facilitates your values and interests, find every excuse to put your spark moment skills into action.
It’s okay if it looks different/non obvious. These values become central to who you are, if you let them. That’s the key. You are the catalyst here.
You may not know how the value or interest fits into your future exactly, but if you discredit it, it will guaranteed never be your future.
Time to wake up
Take some time and reflect on the times you felt authentic, proud and fulfilled with what you were doing. What were you doing? What skills were you using? Now, do those things more and create more time doing those things.
Stay away from that snooze button Sleepyheads
Until next time 👋
Jennah
Loved this one