Finding your purpose

If you're interested in lots of things, it can be a bit hard to focus. At school I envied the single-minded people who'd always known they wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer or whatever. I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up and I still feel like I'm still figuring all this out.

During 2025 which has been very much about re-evaluating what I want to focus on in the rest of my career, having left politics behind me, I've finally gained some clarity about what matters to me and how I want to spend my time.

Reading about the Japanese concept of Ikigai was one of the tools that helped me get a bit clearer. Ikigai means 'reason for being' – iki (life) and kai (reason). It's about finding what brings value and joy to your life, whether that's people, work, or activities that matter to you.

According to the concept, if you can blend what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be rewarded for, you've found your ikigai.

Thinking through all this led me back to what I'm doing now. What I love is helping people navigate difficult decisions and see new perspectives. What I'm good at is coaching and creating space for people to think. What the world needs is more nuance in how we approach complex problems. And yes, I can be rewarded for this work.

Maybe this concept would be helpful to you? Happy to chat it through with you if you're at some kind of cross roads.

Useful links 🔗

A concerning report into disproportionate school exclusions against Black students from the Runnymede Trust.

By marginalising and traumatising Black pupils rather than supporting them, school exclusions reinforce patterns of poverty, criminalisation and disempowerment.

Day of the Week 📆

I found a trend on Tiktok that made sense to this Gen Xer!

It was about treating October 1st as an opportunity for a reset rather than waiting till the bleak, cold, tired times of January.

I made a little video about it for your enjoyment.

What am I reading? 📚

Henley Business School have sent me links to several coaching books to read for my course which seem only to work on my laptop.

Not sure how I'm going to be reading 400 page text books sitting at my desk 😬

What am I watching? 👀

Last night we watched Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home. It's hard to watch in places because we know how the story ends, but it's uplifting too.

What am I listening to?👂

Jane Goodall died this week and I listened to her 2003 TED talk, What Separates Use From Chimpanzees? where she speaks fluent chimpanzee and talks about her observation in 1960 that chimpanzees could make tools - a massive breakthrough at a time when it was thought humans were unique in using tools.

Joy-giving things 😍

Thinking about Jane Goodall reminded me of visiting Chimpanzee Island in Uganda in 2008.

We are 98.8% chimpanzee ❤️

Have a great weekend!

Lucy x

If it’s your first time reading this newsletter, find out more about me here.

I write this newsletter because I believe in sharing ideas that help us work towards a truly equal world, particularly in the workplace.

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ChangeOut is created by Lucy Caldicott. You can find more about my work at ChangeOut.org. If you’re looking to have a chat about culture, leadership, purpose, equity, or a facilitated team discussion about any of those things, get in touch. You can also find me on Bluesky, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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