(*) Personally, I base this (on-going) learning on living in very different cultures (urban and rural US, Spain, with the indigenous Shuar and Achuar of the Ecuadorian Amazon, in an ashram in India, etc.) and observing who I become in each...and on being in intimate relationships with drastically different types of people and watching how I show up and how they've shaped me...while simultaneously noticing how I feel about who I see myself being/becoming...and how all of this affects my life experience.
Similarly, I've monitored who I became while designing software and microprocessors as a computer engineer in corporate environments as large as IBM, in mid-sized companies like SGI, and at a start-up of less than 80 people. After transitioning out of engineering and into teaching, I was immersed in many different environments here and abroad: technology, military, energy, non-profit, virtual, spiritual, wilderness, schools/education...and noticed the influence of the underlying values of each of those settings on myself and those who worked there full-time.
Changing careers again, this time into career/life coaching, I've further honed these perspectives via working with people to discover/create careers/lives based on what they love and are most passionate about (1 year in the True Work Circle and 3 months in the True Work Coaching Seminar). I've also integrated my professional experiences of working with incarcerated adolescents in the San Mateo County Juvenile Hall system, assisting them in their struggle to define themselves and create lives that truly work for them.
On perhaps a more mundane level, I'm an ever-curious and supportive student of the lives of my dearest friends, watching how they've been molded by the different relationships and micro-cultures they've entered/left over the years, and noticing when they were most deeply fulfilled, "alive" and "lit up by life." Finally, I'm reading a great book right now entitled, "What Should I Do with My Life?" by Po Bronson, who went around the country interviewing people who've answered the question in the title. The stories of the people in the book have been validating my own experiences and deepening the learning within them. It's a wonderfully written and fascinating book--one worth checking out! :)
Back to: "What to Do with Your Life?"
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Note to self: It's time to sign your name on this time with your life. Really. It's why you're here. So, get to it already. You know that nothing is more important than that, so let's start treating our purpose here that way, ok? You know you don't want to die with your music still in you...and, look around: The world so desperately needs your music right now!
My music is to make sure you don't die with your music still in you...
Rich Raffals ~ Awaken the Magic Coaching
Committed to Your Success
415-295-7267 /
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