Hayden Humphrey : Drop The Script

My guest today is Hayden Humphrey and our topic ‘Drop The Script’ is about his journey to recognising that the life we live is greater than the goals we set ourselves.

Like many young people Hayden started his career filled with a passion and drive to succeed, to be the best in his chosen vocation. But when he recognised it was tearing him apart, he had the foresight to turn his life around before it destroyed him completely.

Hayden’s Gift

What Hayden brings to the podcast, is a beacon of light that can support others to make the switch before falling into the trap that many don’t recognise until it is too late.

Many of my guests talk about Life Transitions which sadly come about due to serious illness or unforeseen circumstances. I often describe this as the Curve Ball because it appears to come at us unseen and out of the blue. Retrospectively most recognise the signs that led up to this momentous event, and that ignoring the warnings is what caused it.

Hayden Humphrey is different. He had the wisdom and the tools to turn his life in a direction that supported his well-being before it was too late. What’s more, he also uses his positive outlook to support others in making the switch in their lives.

“I am so grateful to be where I am right now and having the experience in life that I am having, and I want everyone else to experience this”

Hayden empowers people to drop the script of how life is supposed to be and build a life, and career that is authentically aligned and joyful.

Hayden’s Script

As a child, Hayden imagined becoming a zookeeper or professional Hip Hop dancer. Yet when it came to choosing a career, he took a different route entirely. One that ultimately led him into a prestigious sales role with LinkedIn.

As we are well aware, the Sales industry is highly competitive with targets that must be met to stay in the game. Hayden’s crunch point came in January 2017 when he found himself in a situation with no bookings and limited prospects. Being optimistic and knowing he had the resources to pull through, he pushed himself to the limits to turn things around. This required long hours, gazillions of calls and a huge amount of stress.

“It was very difficult for me to have any sense of peace or calm the whole month.
I was this walking bundle of nerves!”

Although he almost made it, he fell short of the quota and faced a meeting with his manager to explain why. The meeting went well, with a productive conversation covering what happened and how to ensure he could be better prepared in the future. But the alarm bell had been rung and Hayden had the foresight to see that this is not the way to live. He found himself asking:

“Why is this totally arbitrary number, that doesn’t really mean anything, having such a profound impact on my ability to be in connection with myself and others”

Exploring What’s Important

The amount of stress, toil and long hours were not worth the outcome. Hayden recognised the stress was entirely self induced and that he was running a script that did not serve him. He wanted more freedom and more control over his time and his interactions with others. It was time to drop the script and make the shift.

Now this is where it gets interesting. The reason Hayden could see the script so clearly is because he already had tools in place that enabled him to recognise the warning signs. 

Being a natural introvert who was comfortable with identifying feelings and intuition, gave him the required self awareness. Keeping a regular journal strengthened this trait and gave him the opportunity to fully explore what is important. So instead of pushing forward in the direction he was headed, Hayden asked himself…

“Why is this happening in my career and life right now?”

Whilst Hayden didn’t know where life was taking him, he was confident enough to know he would figure it out. So he quit his job and took the time to allow his inner compass to guide him.

Crafting An Unscripted Life

In addition to his inner resources, Hayden had the support of family and friends who had taken their own steps to build independent, fulfilling careers. His parents and several relatives were self employed, so conversations about starting a business came easy to them. This enabled him to try out different things before jumping straight into something new.

Hayden used this free time to reconnect with some of his earlier passions and explore different avenues of work. He created a successful photography business and started a conscious clothing company as well as considering several other options.

Eventually his direction became clear. Having found coaching beneficial during this time, he decided to take a professional training course to become a coach himself. Following this he gathered his experience and life skills together to support others in crafting their own Unscripted Life.

What Hayden Has To Offer

Given the last 18 months, I am sure the questions Hayden faced will be familiar to a lot of listeners. If it’s done nothing else, COVID has certainly forced many people to take time out to re-evaluate their life.

I have interviewed a lot of coaches on this show, and what strikes me about Hayden is that he’s not afraid to be vulnerable. This capacity to see things clearly and share his experiences openly with others enables him to demonstrate how to drop unhealthy scripts and create a healthier lifestyle.

If you are interested in working with Hayden, he runs a quarterly eight week program entitled ‘Unscript Your LIfe’. He is also offering a downloadable quiz to discover how scripted your life is. 

Links to both of these are available along with his other links below.

As we work in a similar field you may also be interested in some of the Life Passion & Business links below.

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