It has been very busy the last few months, and  though activities kept me from writing, I discovered some valuable things about myself.   Some insights are new, and some have been strongly reinforced.  While this post is off the grain for what I intended this particular blog for, I am going to open up and share them with you.  This is a big window into who I am.

I love to help people

While I have known this from a very young age, I have finally come to accept that as okay.  There was a period in my life when I allowed myself to feel guilty about this; I was told my happiness shouldn’t rest on my ability to help others.  Okay, that makes sense.  It is still a huge feel-good rush when I’ve been able to help somebody in some way.  This is part of who I am.  I am unable to not help people.  This year in particular has been big in supporting and helping others for me.  Looking back, I’m astonished at what I took on.

I am passionate about facilitating learning in others

I do not believe that the educational system as a whole is helping people learn in the best way possible.  I enjoy creating experiences that people can learn in, and extract the learning that is most valuable to them from those experiences.  The next ‘aha!’ was that I am pretty good at it.  I have set up and facilitated a number of workshops this year in the testing, software, and people-skills domains.  I also allowed myself the opportunity to learn from the best in creating experiential workshops at a workshop in June with Jerry Weinberg and Esther Derby.  Now that was a learning experience!

I am a coach and a mentor

I realized that I have been for years! I thought for a while that I was simply working my way towards being those things, but upon reflection discovered that I already am.  One of my strengths is working with people to help enable their success.  I am filled with energy in doing this.  My best days at work are those in which I spend the majority of my time facilitating learning experiences, coaching, and mentoring.

I enjoy helping people, teams, and organizations be successful

Currently this is specific to software and software testing domains, as that is the field I work in.  I would enjoy doing this in most fields I believe though.  This year I have focused a lot of time and effort into helping an organization make the transition to Agile, and through the ongoing adoption.   It has been quite a learning experience, and a lot of fun.  I also engage in improving testers skills in testing software more effectively and comprehensively, organizational processes, and software engineering practices.

I am passionate about health & wellness

I have a wealth of information in this domain.  Due to my own health problems, I have researched in many domains, and tried a lot of things.  I have been coaching others in health & wellness, and am thrilled when that has helped others find better balance and health.  This year I have slowly started building a side-business in this field, so I can better share and support others in their journeys to better health.  Part of that involved becoming a certified personal trainer, and becoming better-educated in nutrition.

It’s all about balance, and experiences!

“Work hard, play hard” has been my motto for years.  This applies to work, projects, family, personal interests, hobbies, and more.  We are here to enjoy what life has to offer… for me that means doing the things I love as much as possible.  I spend time reading a variety of topics, with family, with friends, creating new recipes, attending conferences and workshops, learning, traveling, gardening, photography, educating, coaching, mentoring, supporting, exercising, volunteering, laughing, and living.

What’s next? Keep an eye out for new blog posts to come more frequently on some of the topics above.  For other topics, you’ll have to find your way to one of my other blogs sometime.

To life’s experiences!