By Mary Ann Faremouth,
The Fifth Step of the Faremouth Method is “Be a Hunter.” I truly believe there are times in our lives when we try desperately to hunt for meaning and purpose of an experience, especially at a time when things and events around us don’t make sense. An experience that might not always have been a pleasant or enjoyable one. An experience that may have caused us challenge and sometimes emotional and/or physical pain. I’ve just had one of those experiences. At a time when all of us are trying to deal with the challenges of Covid 19, I’m trying to search for the deeper meaning of this experience to be able to come out on the other end with more understanding, growth and expanded awareness.
It was a Tuesday afternoon. I was in my 6th floor office working on job searches that had to be filled in a rather timely manner. It was raining hard, thundering like the angels may have been playing an aggressive game of bowling in the heavens when all of a sudden I heard a strong booming crackling sound. The lights in the adjoining office went out and then about 5 minutes later my own office lights went out. I opened the door to the darkened hallway and people were scrambling for the stairs, frantically yelling, “FIRE!” – there is a FIRE in the building! We need to get out FAST!” The hot flames of fire outside the window shot up faster than a trio of lightning bolts as we all raced to the door of the stairwell. I hurried down the six flights of stairs to the outdoors just as the firetrucks arrived. The sirens were blaring repeatedly and I felt like I was on the movie set for a thriller in production.
I was told while standing outside with the other tenants of the building that the severe lightning had hit a transformer in the building causing a fire and sending blazing flames everywhere.
I thought to myself, how many times in our lives have we had our own “lightning bolt” hit our own ‘transformer of self” and it caused some kind of fire or flame to ignite within us? Usually when the metaphorical lightning hits it’s not always a welcomed event but the aftermath of the event often does “transform” some part of the self and light a spark within us.
We always have choices in how we chose to respond to change. We can resist by kicking and screaming or we can choose to respond in a more constructive way.
When I think of the fear that goes along with a traumatic experience like this, I am reminded of the quote by Cus D’Amato:
“The hero and the coward both feel exactly the same fear, only the hero confronts his fear and converts it to fire.”
Does the fear of this scary event force the hero to light a fire inside himself? Does the fear spur him to do something significant and allow him to ignite his own passion and tune in to his own creativity in the midst of destruction and transformation? This is a time to dig down deep into our psyche and attach to our courage to go through this transformation and change with determination. This courage is what can separate us from success or failure. We have to own the courage to walk through the flames of fire to invoke that change towards success.
In many ancient teachings throughout the ages, fire was an obvious subject for contemplation. Wherever there were people, there was fire; whatever change people wrought in the world, they did it with fire. Fire is fundamental to the world and essential to any process of change. Fire is clarity. Fire transformed woodland into garden, clay into pottery, and ore into swords. As the philosopher Gaston Bachelard mentioned, “the hearth fire was no doubt for man the first object of reverie, it was certainly an object of inquiry. Around campfires, before hearths and beneath candles people talked, children learned, scholars read, poets sang…….”
Most ancient philosophies credited fire as an element. Anything emanating heat, light or change (for humans, passion), could be classified under the doctrine of universal fire. The analogies to life were particularly powerful.
We all have the fire of passion within us and sometimes even a destructive and challenging force like Covid can help us ignite that passion that may have been dormant and force us to TRANSFORM ourselves into a better version of who we are for the new work world. When we come to that fork in the road, if we choose courage, we ignite our own personal flame in order to become a better version of ourselves.
Passion comes from the heart. Don’t expect anyone else to light the flame for you. That ultimate responsibility is yours. Everyone has to find their own source for their personal flame. You alone must take responsibility for stoking your own fire.
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. If the thought of a change in venue for applying your skills and experience makes you uncomfortable, that’s good. Often, with new and untested territory comes renewed passion. Embrace the uncomfortable.
To rekindle passion, redefine it. What motivated you earlier in your career is not necessarily what will motivate you now. You are not the same person you were before Covid for many reasons. You are who you are at this very moment and your priorities have changed from earlier times. You must now respond with today’s passions for yourself and how to direct your new personal flame to create that necessary change.
I am happy to report that everyone in my building fire was able to get out of the building safely without harm, but that experience is forever embedded into my memory. Perhaps the meaning and purpose I gleaned from going through this experience is that we all have our own “personal fires” to be ignited. Those personal fires are becoming who we are going forward as we pick up that imaginary lightning bolt or torch, ready to exercise our courage to change and transform our new work world with new vision and purpose as we reignite our purpose.
According to Faremouth’s company website, “Mary Ann is the founder and CEO of Faremouth and Company. As a leader in the national recruiting community and a placement specialist since 1982, Mary Ann knows what it takes to get the job done. She is 2016 President of Houston Independent Personnel Consultant Group, is a member of the NASPD, NAPCA, the National Association of Personnel Consultants, and is also a highly regarded speaker and writer. Her articles can be found in various industry related publications. She founded Jobs: Houston Magazine in 1997, one of the most popular employment magazines in Texas for over 7 years.” She is the author of the critically acclaimed and multi-award winning book Revolutionary Recruiting.
Mary Ann Faremouth is the founder and CEO of Faremouth & Company and a highly regarded recruiter, career consultant, speaker and writer. She has been a placement specialist and a leader in the national recruiting community and has placed thousands of employees since 1982. She was the 2016 president of the Houston Independent Personnel Consultant Group and is a board member of the NASPD (National Association of Steel Pipe Distributors) and Authors Marketing Guild. She specializes in recruitment of professional, clerical, and temporary placements, with a variety of industry specific positions in various fields. Her expertise is in matching quality applicants with the right job, serving companies ranging from thriving independents to global conglomerates, tailoring each engagement to the client’s needs.
Mary Ann holds a CPC (Certified Personnel Consultant) credential, was certified by the Board of Regents of the National Association of Personnel Consultants in Washington, DC, and was awarded an Advanced Communicator Bronze, Advanced Leader Bronze Awards by Toastmasters. She cofounded Jobs: Houston magazine in 1997. Mary Ann maintains affiliations with professional organizations in various other industries, including oil and gas, financial, construction, IT, and structural, mechanical, and civil engineering. She has a keen understanding of the marketplace and its specialized needs and requirements.
Mary Ann brings a wealth of expertise to clients looking for the right individual to maximize and empower their team. As a consultant she is available to assist both the applicant and the client to quickly adapt to the New Work World. She also offers virtual and in-person workshops to guide individuals through personalized self-discovery to find new career paths. She continues to build her affiliations with recognized leadership organizations to best serve her clients and applicants by creating a network of highly professional contacts throughout the world. She utilizes her platform as a writer and speaker through her articles and affiliations to reach those in need of help, offering hands-on guidance to navigate this uncharted territory. (More information on www.faremouth.com)
Mary Ann’s award-winning first book Revolutionary Recruiting has been listed by Book Authority as Number #1 of the Best 100 Recruiting Books; #1 Best Seller, Non-Fiction by Amazon (2019); Top 20 Recruiting books by Recruitics; Readers’ Choice finalist (2019) by Houston Literary Awards; Best Non-Fiction (2018), Best Cover (2019), and Best Self-Help (2018) by Authors Marketing Guild. Her books support individuals and corporations, teaching them how to tap into each candidate’s unrealized potential to find the right person for each job, maximizing both employee satisfaction as well as the employer’s bottom line. Mary Ann also showcases her expertise of the recruiting world on a monthly podcast for The Price of Business and weekly articles for USA Business. Mary Ann lives in Houston, Texas.
