Duty: how do you balance daily your duty to your clients, shareholders, staff?
to your family, to yourself and beyond that, to your community or what you believe in?
What is duty?
noun
1. 1. An act or a course of action that is required of one by position, social custom, law, or religion.
2. 2. Required action or service: synonym: function.
3. 3. Active military service.
Duty is a word that peppered the many commemorative editions of newspapers recently upon the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
Duty is something that was very much the bedrock of values for my late mother and father and I was reminded about the duty that soldiers in World War II gave when I was on my weekly beach walk yesterday.
I was stopped from my normal route as there was an incendiary device. Upon enquiry, it seems that an unexploded WW2 bomb had been found in the sand dunes I was only strolling along last week.
So, I turned around and went a different way.
On this route, I spotted a Pillbox. Picture below 👇
They dot the entire Lincolnshire coast and waterways still.
Whenever I see one, I think about those soldiers on cold, miserable nights in those square fortresses, their guns pointed out to sea knowing it was their duty to stop an invading enemy.
So, what of duty today?
I’m sure you work daily to do your duty to many.
So many duties.
How do you get the balance right?
I ask myself this regularly.
Where is the line between my duty to my own mental and physical wellbeing and my duty to others?
It’s relatively straightforward. I’m grounded, directed, held in lane by my moral code and values.
By the hard-earned knowledge that balance comes from the 5Fs (faith+fitness+friends/family+finance+fun).
I see it as my duty, during the 20 Minute discovery calls I have with potential clients to tell them if needs be that I’m not the therapist or coach for them.
That if they’re looking to be ‘fixed’ and not put in the work for themselves that I’m not the one they want to work with.
Some years ago, I had a client terminate her programme early.
She felt let down by me because she felt it was my duty to hold her accountable to the actions that we agreed for her each week.
I didn’t.
Now my terms and conditions clearly state this.
I’m not an accountability coach.
I work with grownups who hold themselves accountable, but I will give them every bit of guidance and support and help to allow them to do their duty to themselves to make that change.
Below is me on the beach. 👇
Balancing my life with fresh air and freedom.
Plus, the Pillbox.
Thanks to those brave soldiers who did their duty all those years ago.
What’s your definition of duty?
What do you feel you have a duty to do or to whom?
Want to explore if your values are supporting you? Book that 20 minute call and discover if we a fit and take away a blueprint for balance here: bit.ly/306cVJK