We could be heroes

For the last few years, health workers around the world have been celebrated as heroes. I know it sits uneasily with many. It can be hard to feel heroic when you’re burnt out, stressed from overwork and workplace issues, and regularly faced with incomprehensible pain and loss.

Yet healthcare for most is a vocation, a calling or a wish to help others along the lines of the Hebrew phrase tikkun olam – heal the world. This feeling of purpose and direction can light the way during the darker times, burn even brighter on the good days. There are many professions we can think of where this sense of service to the wider world applies.

And then again, a lot of us do not have that clarity. A lot of us would struggle to define a clear personal purpose or a defined way forward. For some, not having such a succinct mission statement will be troubling. Simon Sinek often talks about the overwhelming pressure younger generations in particular can face to come up with and manifest their own vision.

One way forward can be to look around us and see who inspires us. Who are our heroes? Famous or not, successful or not, who are our shining lights? Once we’ve identified these, we can then work on determining exactly what it is about them that sparks us. These beacons don’t need to be human or even real. They could be literary or cultural figures. They could be organisations, charities, teams, even committees – let’s be open-minded – that inspire us. What is it about their work that leads us to admire them so?

Clarifying, picking through, distilling, and reflecting on these heroes’ stories, their values, their visions, their endeavours, and all the rest can help us define our own way forward. And yes, we can steal with pride if their vision authentically talks to us and where we could go.

For my part, I see inspiration in loads of heroes. I get a sense of dedication to a noble cause from sociopolitical figures like Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, Tank Man, the #MeToo movement, Peter Tatchell, and others less well-known. The love for what I do from my English teacher Charity Scott Stokes and many other coaches. The vision from numerous writers. The positivity and drive from many cancer survivors….We all have our personal heroes.

It could be said that anyone living their life to the fullest in service of something bigger than themselves is a hero. And the brilliant thing about heroes is that they’re everywhere. In every workplace and every family. We simply need to understand what makes them heroic to us. Self-awareness and self-leadership as always.

We could all be heroes. For a lot longer than just one day.

Julian

I help people lead their own way forward