The most important job on Earth.

How I went from feeling unfulfilled to finding the most important job of my life. And you can too.

A future temperate rainforest. Created with Dall-E using a prompt generated by ChatGPT

I have been searching for a long time. For meaning. For impact. For making a positive difference that matters. For most of my life, this search was just a hunch. A diffuse feeling that something else is there that I need to find. For many years I didn't know what to do about it. So I travelled a lot to far away places. I felt alive and energised on these trips. But it never translated into something that lasted in my day-to-day. I was 34, had a successful corporate career, lots of money, and just got engaged and about to become a homeowner. You could say I was leading a successful life. Yet, this feeling was not going away. Surely, this can’t be it? It was that question that made me sign up for an undergrad programme in Psychology and on to a Master’s in Positive Psychology straight after. For 7 years I learned about the human mind, about the importance of positive emotions that make the human experience worth living - and how we have forgotten to cultivate them. I learned about evidence-based strategies that have the capacity to change individual lives and the lives of many in organisations, schools, communities - and around the world.

I was excited! Here I had found the holy grail of positive change! Why is this not common knowledge? I went into action mode and grew my coaching and positive psychology at work practice from zero into a sustainable business in just under 2 years. What a ride! I created a lot of impact - every single day. My work felt meaningful like never before. But that diffuse feeling was still there. I was still searching.

Until one day, all the million puzzle pieces started falling together. It wasn’t this one moment that changed it all for me. It was slow. It worked away in the back of my mind. That life I created once I stepped away from the hustle of corporate life, this new, calmer life allowed my brain to make new connections and my heart to see things for what they really are: we have created a mess of a world. A world that looks shiny on the surface, but is suffering and dying underneath.

You don't need to be an environmentalist, a sustainability expert or a scientist to see that the way we live in this world is slowly taking away the foundation that gives life to all things on this planet: nature is disappearing, rivers and seas are polluted, every day we are losing species that once populated our gardens, forests, waters and lakes. Many people don't know anymore what clean air is supposed to smell like. We are creating endless mountains of rubbish with the daily click online that brings us yet another delivery of something to the door. Most of us are disconnected from nature, and disconnected from once thriving communities in our neighbourhoods. Instead, we are rushing through work and life chased by an invisible force, breaking away by aimlessly scrolling on our devices.

This is no way to live. This is not how life is meant to be.

Life is meant to be joyful. Life is meant to have time for play. Time for meaningful connection. Time for that random chat with your neighbour. Time for rest. Time for letting your mind wander and wonder. Time to share a meal. Time to explore. Time to be creative. Time to read. Time to draw. Time to do nothing. Time to just be.

Now that I see and now that I know, my heart is heavy sometimes. As a Positive Psychologist, I know that we have bucketloads of strategies that help us cultivate these beautiful things in life. From strengths-based approaches to work and leadership, to creating playfulness and inviting joy, to cultivating gratitude and compassion, to teaching optimism and hope. It’s all here.

And then it hit me. You see, I tend to get my best ideas when I garden. Working the soil with my own hands creates amazing epiphanies for me. While preparing the soil for the next season, my brain finally put all the puzzle pieces together:

My job is to support the people who change the world. I do that by teaching them resilience, strength, optimism and hope.

Changing the world is no easy task. It is also not a task one person can do alone. Changing the world for the better requires billions of changemakers across the globe. Our world needs climate action on all fronts. Everything, everywhere, all at once. Changing the world is our most important job on Earth. It is mine. It is yours. It’s that one job that unites us.

So now that we know, how do we go about that?

It turns out, there are countless people already making that happen! There are people of all ages, of all cultures and in all places driving positive change. People creating community-led change projects to reduce plastic, to improve soil quality and way of life. My old friends in the tech industry are creating solutions that help people change their own behaviour, but also encourage a recycle-reuse-and-repair mindset. Scientists are working together with entrepreneurs to bring us plant-based food, to make housing greener and transport sustainable. There are now global online communities like Terra.do, Work On Climate and ClimateEU, dedicated to connecting impact-driven people to climate companies to help you find your climate dream job. On the learning and communications front, there are initiatives informing people about the power their pensions and other investments hold by choosing green banking instead of your money sitting in a bank that directly supports the fossil fuel industry. Farming is another big area for positive change with projects already happening at large scale to rewild, reforest and introduce regenerative farming practices in all countries. One of my favourite projects is the Great Green Wall in Africa, an ambitious project to plant a 9-mile thick native forest across the continent from east to west, bringing jobs, wellbeing and community to the people now and create new lungs for the Earth for the future. I find new projects every day - because I started looking!

There is a lot happening. And it’s inspiring.

To help us get everyone, everywhere work on climate, we need one important ingredient: we need mental fitness. Mental fitness describes a positive, healthy state of mind that allows you to think clearly, feel well and be your best possible self. I have worked with over 600 people since I became a Positive Psychologist and Coach, and over and over I witness the beauty when a busy, rushed and worried mind finds ways to calm down, connect with the heart and breathe. People blossom when they are mentally fit. It starts with a few tentative smiles on their faces and then it grows into wild creativity, unstoppable confidence, and feeling a great sense of empowerment to use their skills, talents and strengths for the most important job of our time: creating a positive world for all living beings.

I am a Positive Psychologist. I help you create and sustain impact by leveraging resilience, strengths and active hope.

This job did not come to me. Nor did it come with a job description. I had to create this job myself. It combines all my lived experience, with everything I have learned about human psychology and my love for this planet and all living things that share it. Many other people around the world are creating their most important jobs too. Your most important job on Earth might already exist. Or you might be the one creating it. Start where you are and ask yourself: what can I do with the skills, strengths, talents and passions I have, within the role I hold or in a new role, to make a positive difference?

Everything matters. Start from where you are. Bring what you already know.

This is a journey. Your role in this global transition to something better will change, grow, evolve and flourish over time. Make the first step. And see where it takes you.

Sometimes we need a little help finding that first step. Sometimes we also might need a little help in the middle of the journey. Wherever you are in your impact journey, if you feel like you could use a little help I would love to work with you.