Why are you here?

Published on 21/05/2024
By Jason Light

It can also be pretty puzzling to know where you are and maybe put the pieces together. I love this question, if you’ll indulge me i’ll try and convince you why I think it’s the most important question that we should all ask more often.

I even ask myself it all the time and nearly always start with it when I meet new people professionally. This article could be epically long, one of the reasons why open questions are so magic is that you don’t know what people are going to say. For now i’m going to focus on what it could mean if people in this sector.

Picture of PACT Team with their B Corp plaque

Does here relate to my Purpose..
As PACT’s sustainable business geek, I run the business talks and very much focus this around purpose. Hopefully you’ve probably asked yourself this question a few times..

If your top reason is making money, then to me that’s a bit sad for most jobs, particularly when there are even bigger ethical issues when your ultimate client can’t advocate for themselves. That said i’ve never met anyone in this sector purely driven by money, even if someone said it to me I bet a few Why are you here?’s would unearth something deeper. If anything most people in the sector under charge for their work and could probably do with thinking about valuing themselves more.

The PACT Team try to embedded broad ethical purpose into everything we do, its was actually the main reason we all agreed all wanted to work together, to try and show there is another more positive way of working in the sector. We’ve just hit our year anniversary of being a B Corp (Benefit Corporation) and are about to publish our 3 year impact report, so hopefully still have our eye on our purpose (the previous 6 monthly reports can be found here).

When you are part of a team then the main why should be shared, but I’d say its healthier with some different nuances.
As one of the directors of PACT my why is maybe a bit different, i’m a sustainable business geek who is passionate about dogs and other animals.

If you ask any of us in Team PACT it may change from one day to another, but the most important interpretation of this question is purpose. Having this difference makes us a stronger team, coming at a problem from different angles helps teams form better outcomes, as long as our main why is shared.

I think I know where here is, but maybe not..
I had my mind blown when I went to a canine body language course about 15 years ago. Such was the influence it had on me I remember saying to Nat that it should be illegal to live with dogs without going on one. Whilst I appreciate the challenges with mandating a course such as this, it’s part of the reason PACT now run one that’s free to everyone.

I’ve hung around people dog training for years, and have lost count of the number of times I’ve heard a guardian say that they want one thing and even I know they need something else. That person wanting their dog to have the perfect recal when they’ve yet to build any relationship with them. Everyone has blind spots, it can be uncomfortable being moved out of one.

As the guardian of a dog you probably spend a fair bit of time trying to understand why the little monster in your life is wagging their tail... I also think it’s worth stepping back and thinking about whether the dogs around you understand the why. Not least as we are advocating for them.

Picture of Nat and Fish at an EV charger on the road to rescue Drax

Do I even know where here is…
If you think too hard this question can feel a bit too existential, and whilst I don’t think the world revolves around myself, my little bit of it probably should.

Hopefully you’ve not been bundled into the back of a van and carted off somewhere, but its very easy to loose site of where you are and how far you’ve come.

Just writing that down it struck me, how discombobulating it may be for our Doggy companions being carted around. When we picked up Drax from a rescue we took little puppy Fish with us, whilst the story of the Wolf is well documented, I’ll never forget the look of the little guy who’s senses were overwhelmed by the rescue centre.

The world is literally spinning, so its impossible to stay in one place without progressing, with the cost of living crisis in the UK its an achievement to maintain the same level of success from this time last year.

Maybe I shouldn’t be here…

If you are a dog professional, there could be several reasons for your response to be “maybe I shouldn’t be here?”:

• A client could be out of your comfort zone or professional standards and you need support.

• You could just be a be a bit tired and need a break and focus on your wellbeing.

• or maybe you feel the client isn’t a good fit for you and you don’t feel that you are the right person to help.

These are very good reasons to work within a community, even if you don’t think you are the right person it can be rewarding to collaborate with other professionals with a client.

All of these reasons are just as valid for me in the environmental sector or any other role, but there are more positive reasons to decided it shouldn’t be you there. It’s taken me far to long to recognise this, that me being somewhere may block an opportunity for someone else. The environmental sector is very white male, sometimes I need to step back and let others take up that opportunity.

Picture of Fish on a seat hiding from the rain with an old tennis ball

Maybe I should be somewhere else..

Now this is a response I miss all the time, by trying to please people I sometimes spend time doing things that I don’t want to and would rather be at home with the family.
This could also be about FOMO, I’ll had massive FOMO when the rest of the team were at the APBC conference recently... and i’m pretty sure lots of people will get FOMO if they can’t make it the PACT DOGx conference this October.

Yes to here, but maybe another time..

I’m writing this blog whilst hiding under a shelter in torrential rain with Fish and Bob. I’m grateful for where I am, but I would certainly have been happier at the field maybe 30 minutes earlier when the sun was out. If you are doing something and it doesn’t work out, that could just be unfortunate timing, it doesn’t mean you should necessarily give up.

Finally, If you’ve go to the end of this blog then maybe II’ve passed the tests for it being worth you being here, thank you for sharing your precious time with me. Hopefully i’ve won you over with my favourite question!