What is a Good Life? #18
A Values Driven Life with Hannah Genton
On the 18th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast I am joined by Hannah Genton, who is a Co-Founder at CGL LLP, a law firm she established, a speaker on Innovation in the Law and Work Models for Mental Health, and a Death Doula.
I contacted Hannah for this conversation after reading an amazing viral post of hers that very authentically depicted the challenge of juggling the big law career and raising a baby. This experience proved to be the inspiration for setting up a law firm that accommodated other approaches to working in this industry (“I had the sense that work should adapt to life, not the other way around”- from the post).
In this episode we discuss Hannah’s approach to developing authenticity and truly living her values, setting up the law firm, her self-reflection practices and how they have affected her approach to life, her experiences of working with the dying, and what she is learning from parenting with regards play, curiosity, and letting go of fixed plans and outcomes.
The weekly clip from the podcast (3 mins), my weekly reflection (2 mins), the full podcast (51 mins), and the weekly questions all follow below.
1. Weekly Clip from the Podcast
2. My weekly reflection
In this interview Hannah mentions the significance that values and authenticity play in her experiencing a good life, and that this has been supported by a self-reflection practice of meditation and journaling.
For me this process was relatively similar. I don’t believe I was all that authentic to myself until I began my own journey of self-inquiry. Firstly, the time by myself (without further inputs or distraction) was absolutely paramount in getting to know and understand myself better.
While the self-inquiry offers the space and time away from other people’s opinions, our surrounding culture, our peers, friends, and family, which can really help separate what is ours and what is not in terms of our values. It provides us an opportunity to observe how we react and feel when reflecting upon our own behaviour and values in isolation, regardless of whether the surrounding culture deems them acceptable or not.
This is an age where people have never been so subjected to constant messaging, content, opinions, beliefs, etc., that it is no wonder that we sometimes get lost with both ourselves and our values in the vast sea of content that exists out there. Which is why time alone, and some sort of reflective practice are more important than ever.
Figuring out this authenticity and values piece may take some time, reflection, and accountability, and it’s a continuously evolving process (some values continuously shift at different stages of life), but it is most certainly time well spent in the context of living your own version of a good life.
3. Full Episode - A Values Driven Life with Hannah Genton - What is a Good Life? Ep. #18
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4. This week’s Questions
Name the 3 values that are most important to you. Can you give an example of when you made difficult choices or sacrifices to uphold each of them?
Where is the biggest friction or gap between how you live your life and your values, and where are you most aligned with them?
About Me
I am a Coach based in Berlin, via Dublin, Ireland. I left behind a 15-year career in Capital Markets after I became extremely curious around what life, myself, and existence are all about.
At the heart of all my work, is helping people to connect with and understand themselves, so that they can genuinely connect with, and understand, others.
I am offering Internal Podcasts to Leaders of fast growing scale-ups to help them build culture, role model authenticity, and to connect with, and retain, their people. While I also work with high-performing, individual clients, who have hit their material goals and are trying to understand what brings them meaning or purpose.
If you would like to work with me, or you simply want to get in touch, here’s my email and LinkedIn.