More Than a Steady Income
2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all you need, you will abound in every good work”.
We work to earn a living and to get personal fulfilment in the process. Nevertheless, a job also offers life lessons and teachable moments that you can take with you to your life outside of the workplace. Many people learn some of their greatest life lessons in the workplace and I consider myself privileged to have learnt some lessons, which have been transformational in my life. Being open and willing to learn these lessons and grow from them has been key to both my personal and professional development.
At a stage in my working life, I felt stuck and resigned to doing things the same old way. It almost did not feel exciting coming to work. Then I realized what the problem was – Stagnation! Stagnation is often an unavoidable part of a job, and it can affect even the hardest-working individuals. Times of stagnation can happen for several reasons, such as becoming too comfortable or doing repetitive activities.
As I was looking for ways to break out of this stagnant season, the Country Director introduced a very interesting way for our quarterly departmental reports, which he named Titus-in-Crete. I thought to myself; how differently could I report my work? One day, I sat up all night, and subsequent nights after that, going through the edify database. I wondered to myself, what could I do differently? I did a thorough data analysis on the implementation of lessons by the schools in my region of operation. This enabled me ascertain the number of trainings conducted for schools in the region, schools that received a follow-up visit, those yet to be trained, those assessed and the results of their assessment, etc. As I did this, I found out that trying to find new ways to report my work brought new life and enthusiasm to what I do and this took care of the stagnation. It also gave more significance to my work each step of the way.
Not long after this task, there was an opportunity for staff development, which I embraced. I took up an MS Excel course to upgrade my data analysis skills. A valuable life lesson I learnt doing this is that those who always strive to learn more and continue to, are those who succeed. I had a noble opportunity to share this experience with the Edify global team inspiring others to consider similar ways of improving their work. This, for me, is not only an impact on my life but an experience that has transformed others too.
Challenges offers us all an opportunity to learn. Stagnation pushed me to acquire knowledge; to identify that everything starts with a firm grasp on what generates value and what does not and to review the current situation at work that presented the need to systematize solutions for effective application.
I have been encouraged to always keep learning and improving myself. Being in a challenging situation does not mean you should resign to your fate. How you combat a period of stagnation depends largely on you. You could learn a new skill that has always interested you. The impact of learning this new skill will greatly improve your work and open you up to more learning experiences. Your career can provide you with far more than a steady income, an on-the-job experience which is always an opportunity to explore life’s lessons and abound in every good work.