On a career break? Here’s how Katherin used her time. And it changed her life.

On a career break? Here’s how Katherine used her time. And it changed her life.

4/27/2020

Katherine was a high-flying executive in a tech company in ?? Singapore. As a bachelorette, she only had work and a very active social life to focus on. This is not to say that she wasn’t busy. If anything, she ran only six hours of sleep on average, rushed her lunch at work often to attend back-to-back meetings, and to drive global projects to completion. In 2016, she approached me to ask if there’s anything she can do for Giving is Social. I gave her a list of options. After that meeting, I didn’t hear from her for a long time. ⁠

Then I met her again after a year. She said things got busy at work. She said she now has a bit of time and was ready to start doing something else other than work. She had great energy! She wanted to volunteer and raise funds for charity.

Then she was silent again. ⁠

Another year after that meeting, she contacted me again. I had to muster the energy to meet her. “What else does she need to know? She just has to do what she says she wants to do!” I ranted within. I had this little hope in me that this meeting will finally set her off on her giving journey. After all, I’ve met many other people who seemed like Katherine at that time—people wanting to give back. And their desire is usually prompted by an article they’ve read. These news can be about young women in Thailand being trafficked and sold for sex, babies in the Philippines being abandoned in the dumpsites, or a population struck by a natural calamity. ⁠

So, I sat there at a café asking about how Katherine had been. She said she had finally ended her stint in the tech company she was with for 12 years. She accepted an attractive redundancy package and finally had the time and even more resources to give. So, we drew up a plan. ⁠

A month after that meeting, she volunteered at a children’s shelter for abused and abandoned babies in Pattaya. When she came back, she immediately asked me to help her organize fundraising events for the shelter. I agreed. I had this renewed excitement because here now is someone who has actually put her words into action. In two years, she was able to help raise $12,000 for the shelter. She was a trailblazer.

As I write about her now, Katherine is looking for new ways to give back in her new home city. She understands now that giving back is not a seasonal activity. She’s come to understand that it is within her. She’s said many times over that she should have started earlier. She said she was very busy then though. I said, “You’re right. But you know what, I’ve learned something new. Giving back can still be done even if you’re back in your busy job. There’s a way and a right way to do it. If I had known then how to help you better, you could have started this journey without having to wait until you had left your job!”

Check out my interview with Katherine where I asked her about what generosity looks like for her.

Perhaps, you haven’t done any giving back, and you’re probably thinking, “Why am I not doing it?” It’s okay! There is a way to get started, like how Katherine did. And you can even start giving back now.

Trying to find time to be able to give back. This course will help you.