30/09/2026
I was just doing my job.
Such simple words, heard frequently but loaded with so much more.
When did “just doing our job” become acceptable, when we know that for some people, they do so much more.
Which is why hitting submit on my The National Coaching Conference & National Coaching Awards award submission today feels so poignant (last minute I know but I have been ill with “freshers flu”)!
I hear it time and time again from professionals - engineers, directors, doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, teachers - all incredibly hardworking individuals who were “just doing their job”.
But they are so much more than that.
Their humanness makes them want to dig deeper and give more than just their job. Above and beyond the call of duty.
But to what expense?
What are they trying to prove?
It may be nothing, as they are simply following their life’s purpose.
Which is fine.
I believe when you are doing whatever it is you do for the right reasons and have a deep awareness of yourself, you know that it’s ok to acknowledge what you do is a good job and celebrate it, unapologetically.
But being humble and dumbing down your contribution to the world because you were “just doing your job” does nobody any favours.
It makes it acceptable to work yourself into the ground without acknowledgement.
Burnout becomes a badge of honour.
And for what reason?
Celebrating your contribution to the world is a deeply human response and we should stop feeling ashamed of it.
Somewhere along the way we forgot that there is a human behind the professional.
A human who has an important place in the world and needs to be celebrated for who they are, not just what they do.
You are not just the job you do.
And your contribution isn’t diminished because it happens to be part of your job description.
Because maybe the question isn’t whether you were “just doing your job”.
Maybe the question is:
What parts of you were doing it?
The human behind the professional.
The person who cared enough to go further.
Who questioned.
Who noticed.
Who challenged.
Who stayed late.
Who made a difference.
Who brought something to the role that could never have been written into a job description.
THAT deserves to be acknowledged too.
Not because you need another badge of achievement to prove you’re worthy.
But because celebrating your contribution is a deeply human response.
And maybe it’s time we stopped being quite so apologetic about being human.
So yes, I’m hitting submit today.
And I’m going to resist the urge to say, “It’s nothing. I was just doing my job.”
Because it isn’t nothing.
It matters to me.
It matters to the people I’ve worked with, especially those who nominated me.
And I’m allowed to acknowledge that.
Not because I need an award to tell me I’m good enough - I have 2 already (see below!)!
But because I’m finally learning that acknowledging my contribution doesn’t make me arrogant.
It makes me human.
Helena x
Pattern Breaker
Unleashing Inner Tiggers
