A few years ago, I was working as an events manager. Working really long hours, travelling around the country, hardly at home and not at all happy. Yet I couldn’t stop.
It wasn’t until I was having lunch with a friend when she honestly (and politely) said “You know, you are replaceable.”
I sat there silently for a moment, letting the penny drop.
I was replaceable.
“We are all replaceable” she went on to say. “We can all be replaced in pretty much any job we do.”
Presidents, Prime Ministers, CEOs are all replaceable. It doesn’t matter if you have been voted in by the majority or if you have spent years building up an organisation and created it yourself from nothing, you can still be replaced.
Lance Armstrong built the charity Livestrong whilst he was recovering from cancer treatment. He helped the organisation raise hundreds of millions of dollars, broke records with the sale of the famous yellow wristbands, spent 15 years building the brand and leading it and having his name associated with everything to do with the charity. Yet he was told to leave, he was bad for business. He lied. He had doped. He had to go. He was replaceable.
My friend said the only time we are not replaceable is with our loved ones. Our family and our friends.
She said our job on this planet is to be a good human being. That’s the most important role we can ever take on.
Hearing that was a lightbulb moment for me.
She was absolutely right. Why was I spending all my time and energy doing a job that I really didn’t enjoy that much? A job that was taking me away from my family, missing out on doing more things that I loved with the people I loved.
So I made a change. I decided to do something different.
I thought to myself, if I am replaceable anyway, I might as well try to carve out the role I want. The kind of role that allows me to slow down and do my most important job: being a good person, especially with my family.
It did mean saying no to some opportunities at work, it did mean awkward meetings and conversations with those around me and it did mean taking a financial risk. But ultimately it meant saying yes to precious family moments, time and opportunities I won’t ever get back.
And you know what? I don’t regret any of the business meetings, overnight stays, promotions and events I missed, because I was doing my other job, my most important job: being a good human to those that matter the most.