As the hype of the New Year comes to a close for many, mine is just beginning as I complete my first two weeks in a role I have long dreamt of. After the most beautifully, chaotic year last year travelling the world, you can imagine my excitement when I heard I had been successful in my interview as a Flight Centre travel consultant. The timing worked out perfect as I commenced my training the first week of the New Year after returning home from my concluding trip of 2018 to Hawaii the week prior.
Throughout the 4 weeks training, I was instructed to complete an online training module. Little did I know just how significantly this module would affect my whole perspective. The module was called Finding Your Why. To complete the module I answered questions like:
Why did you choose to apply for the role?
What do you love most about what I do at work day-to-day?
What do you love most about what I do at work – longer term (month/year)?
What do you love doing outside of work?
How do you want your customers to feel when dealing with you?
I want to add value to my team by being:
After I had answered each question it put all my answers into a sheet and asked me to summarise it all into less than 12 words, generating my Why at work.
My Why: …to link someone’s story to the opportunity for a broadened perspective
It wasn’t until I took a step back at the Why I had written that I realised for the first time in my life, my purpose in my job aligned with something I value most in my life as a whole.
From that girl in the cycle of feeling stuck after university- not knowing what to do with my life or where I was going. To now being in a role where for the first time in my life I am doing something I am actually passionate about.
…A week after I had moved overseas last year I was on a balcony in San Diego, I was on the phone to a girlfriend and I said firm to her that I was not returning home until I had some direction or more certainty within myself on what I wanted to do with my life. I refused to come home feeling like I was back where I started. Though it took a shorter time than I anticipated (and about a billion things ‘going wrong’) I now know that all the road blocks and detours of last year were redirecting me home to place me on the path that I am on…
Flight Centre was the only role I applied for before I had even returned home. To be honest I had no interest in any other role, nor did I find out I was successful in getting an interview until after I was already home. Though I had never felt like I made the wrong decision coming home, it’s only human to question whether it was the ‘right’ choice.
That was until the moment I realised that my Flight Centre Why is exactly the reason I write White Scarf; It is exactly the reason I travel; and it is exactly the meaning I take to every conversation, interaction and relationship I have. For the first time in my life the reason I do my work transcended just a job, but reflected in every other element of my life.
I want to stress that your Why is never on the surface of what you’re doing or who you are! So many people sarcastically say to me “oh wouldn’t it be great to get paid to do something like fishing/ travelling the world/ playing my favourite sport”… the list is endless. But maybe it’s more than that. Maybe it’s the tranquillity and patience leading up to the thrill of the final result you want. Maybe it’s the speaking to a diverse range of people or the freedom that comes with a lack of structured routine you love. Maybe it’s being a crucial part of a team with significant value on relationships with those around you that you need.
Ultimately travel consultants sell travel. That is the surface of the role. But I can honestly say that selling things is not what brings meaning to my life. I do however value the deeper interactions of the role and not only being a part of someone’s journey to see new things, but them being a part of my story and what they have to offer me. So I will continue to do this role as long as it serves me and move on if at any stage it no longer does. Knowing that I am just as excited about my long term goals/direction as I am open to the stepping stones on the road to getting me there, is a pretty surreal feeling. And that first stepping stone is Flight Centre.
Now as I conclude this post I ask of you two things: 1. I want you to go back to your goals you have written for yourself for 2019. Why do you want to achieve that goal, and dig deep, because if the reason you want to achieve it isn’t strong enough, I can guarantee you will struggle trying to achieve it. Knowing your Why can be SUCH a powerful tool for achieving success.
2. Ask yourself the above questions and figure out exactly what it is that motivates you to do what you do every day. Write your Why in 12 words or less. Does it align with what you value? I want to reiterate this doesn’t have to be a paid position either. Answer the questions according to the position you’re in, whether it’s a stay at home parent, a student… anyone.
Where you have a day that your Why is strong enough, you will lead a life of meaning, purpose and ultimately joy. It is up to you as to whether you search for or recognise that meaning. So now I have attached my Why to one of my favourite photos overseas and it is my phone wallpaper so I can look at it every, single day and remind myself of exactly the reason why I-and every one of you guys- should be excited to have a purpose greater than yourself for getting up each day!
