What’s Next? A Great Question A Woman at 22 or 52 can ask.
I had a conversation with a young, college graduate recently. She told me she was furloughed from her first “real” job out of college last month. It was a job in her field of study, it gave her hands-on experience and it even covered multiple disciplines of her industry! Her disappointment was palatable, but I was pleasantly surprised by her attitude about the whole experience. Actually, it left me excited for her future. One would think a young 22-year-old that thought she had made it and on her way would be devastated and possibly side-lined.
Instead of getting stuck in disappointment, she took the moment and evaluate differently. She was able to see the parts of her experience that she did not enjoy so much. She began to wonder if the furlough is a gift in disguise. A gift to a new opportunity! I was excited for her, because she is learning to see life in fuller view and ask the question –
What’s Next?
Speaking from personal experience, this attitude will take her a long way in life by itself. However, I am wondering if the question, as good as it is may be, is the best question for her to ask? The better question might be –
How do you position yourself to find what’s next?
It’s the question Phil Cooke, a nationally recognized storyteller and author of One Big Thing, asks his clients, conference attendees and writers.[1] It feels more empowering. At 22 years old, she has so much life in front of her. She can do what they tell startup CEOs like me to do — “move fast and break things,” a quote made famous by Mark Zuckerberg. Your 20’s are a great time to see who you are, go where you dream, and discover what your superpowers already are, along with what your gifts and talents are to become. You cannot really mess up. Simply gather as much experience as you can during this time. That was the first part of my advice at the end of our conversation.
The second came in the form of inspiration. She will have to be brave and have vision-keepers in her circle. The National Association of Women Business Owner’s 2020 conference theme “Brave Is” encapsulates the essence of what every woman will need along her journey.
Brené Brown sums it up best in her book Daring Greatly with the, ever famous, quote by Theodore Roosevelt.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” — Theodore Roosevelt
Bravery cannot happen unless you are able to see it in others at some point. What’s next? or How do you position yourself to find what’s next? is not just questions a young woman at 22 gets to ask. What’s next? is a question that a woman at 52 years old will have the opportunity to ask, too. Only now, the query of a 52-year-old has access to a reservoir of experiences, good and bad, higher risks to consider, dreams achieved and some dreams released or left behind.
Seeing the example of a 52-year-old woman asking these questions and putting things into action can be exhilarating for the 52-year-old and very inspirational for the 22-year-old, too. The 52-year-old would have more life behind her than in front of her. Her focus is impact, and her courage to move towards that impact would be exponentially more visible. “How can I make the biggest impact in the world, in my business, in my relationships?” It is an opportunity to watch an older woman reimagine who she is, the world she can impact and bravely answer What’s next?.
How do you define brave? When was the last time you were brave? What did it feel like? Was it a feeling you will cherish and look for the next opportunity to feel it?
I gave this 22-year-old young woman an example of being brave. It was exemplified in the life of my great-grandmother, Jennie A. Richardson, an African American woman living life during Jim Crow and overt discrimination. She was an entrepreneur from the mid-1930’s until the mid-1960’s. I recently discovered more about her life in the newspaper archives of the Baltimore Afro American, the only publication she could be featured in during her time. There my great-grandmother, Jennie A. Richardson, was mentioned for her business, her charity, her service and for her friendships. How brave she must have been to move against all of the forces set up to keep her small! I also, wondered about the friends and family who she had to surround herself with to cheer her on. One example had to be her husband, Arthur Richardson, who was an Amtrak porter, a hard worker and I am sure her biggest supporter!
How brave she was as an African American married woman! What about the women in your family? Is there a woman in your life that inspires you to be brave and embrace the question — What’s Next? or How to position yourself to find what’s next?
Secondly, we all need supporters, but more than supporters, we need vision-keepers. Vision-keepers will allow your dreams, your fears, your big and small steps to be a part of normal conversation. Vision-keepers do not flinch when you cry, yell, or want to give up. Instead, vision-keepers ask the hard questions, pass you a Kleenex and repetitively remind you of your dream. They ask “what are you going to do next, in order for you to position yourself for What’s Next?.”
Who are the vision-keepers in your life?
Here are a few ways to identify the vision-keepers in your life:
1. They are completely for you. No matter what. No. Matter. What.
2. They extend grace to you, withhold judgment and offer wise counsel.
3. They, themselves, are brave and have taken steps to see their own dreams come true.
4. They value vulnerability, and the highs and the lows of their own lives.
5. They remind you of your vision. Over. And over again.
6. They remind you to be brave when they see you navigating away from your vision.
7. They lend their faith and belief in you when you get weary.
These are just a few ways to identify the people in your life that can help you explore What’s Next?. So, whether you are 22 or 52, What’s Next? is a great question to ask and answer with bravery, courage and while daring greatly.
[1] https://www.philcooke.com/the-answer-to-the-question-whats-next/
