Who are you meant to BE?
I Challenge You to Design a Career of FREEDOM and PURPOSE
Who are you meant to be?
What are you meant to do?
Too often we leave our dreams behind somewhere in our teenage years, setting off on a path to please or on a path of rebellion, not necessarily checking in to listen to our inner wisdom.
From a young age, society programs us to believe that we are not enough, just as we are, that we need to BE somebody.
The result, it’s often hard to accept or believe that we are enough. As we grow the outside world is loud and our own inner voice harshly judgemental.
In reality, we know ourselves best, but all that outside noise and our inner critic make us afraid to listen to our inner wisdom.
When we come up with an idea or path a bit off the “beaten” career path, we often move straight from excitement into assuming “the worst-case scenario.”
When we take our ideas to our friends and family, it is all too easy to listen to external doubters, giving more weight to their opinions than our personal values, insights, and needs.
Add in unexpected events, challenging relationships or economic situations, and it’s no wonder that sometimes we find ourselves with a total lack of career direction.
If you sometimes feel like a sailboat lost at sea jostled to and fro, never knowing when life might bring the next big wave or storm, you are not alone.
Does Your Career Lack Direction?
A few years after the birth of my first son in 2007, I was lost in a sea of career confusion. My first big breakthrough came when I learned to make a distinction between activities I did because I believed “I should” versus because “I valued.”
I recognized that many of my career and life choices, even relationships, I’d made because society had “told” me that I should do them and I’d listened. The moment that I started to let go of “I should” and get reacquainted with “I value” I suddenly rediscovered a childlike enthusiasm for life and a sense of freedom that I’d not felt since I was maybe 8 or 9 years old.
Following my values led me back to school and into an experimental cohort with 6 other graduate students. Our “coach” as I’ll call him, Rich Male, led us through many interesting discussions and activities, but the one with the most significant long-term impact, was having us take the Gallup StrengthsFinder test (this is an affiliate link to Amazon; however I have no association with Gallup, only respect).
Own Your Story
I’d always been told that my “short attention span” for effectively solving problems and then moving on was a weakness. My parents wanted me to get a secure job and stick with it. When I did the Strengthsfinder, Rich said,
“Alison, you have the profile of an entrepreneur! You generate ideas and identify opportunities, you see the big picture and understand what strategy to implement. Don’t let anyone underestimate you!”
My life changed that day. Suddenly, what society told me was a weakness became a strength. I understood why I was so good at what I did and how to make that even better.
Knowing and understanding your strengths is crucial to long-term job satisfaction, as is doing work that lets you exercise your strengths, doing what you do best.
Take Action: Work with a Coach
One of the most powerful reasons that you can work with a coach is to find and set your career direction.
Unlike your friends or family – a good coach will not judge you nor try to sway your decision in any way – a good coach will instead ask the right questions and support you with the best tools for you to find and understand your own path.
A coach is your partner. A coach helps to keep you accountable. A coach is a guide. A coach will champion your inner wisdom and hold the space for you to show up in the world the way you want to be.
Not ready to work with a coach? That’s okay. You can still start this important work on your own.
Online Career Tool Box
I’ve designed a Tool Box (FREE) to challenge you to get over your career confusion starting TODAY. The desired outcome of this ToolBox is to provide you exercises and opportunities to reframe your view of yourself and your career options.
Work through the ToolBox as you need to build stronger sails for your boat; learning when to put down an anchor and developing confidence in directing your own direction.
Indeed, I like to equate knowing your strengths to
These short exercises and activities will help you to identify and engage your inner wisdom and celebrate your personal brilliance.
You will clarify your values, desires, curiosities, passions, and needs. You will align these with your skills, strengths, and experiences. If you need additional guidance or would like to work with a Career Coach, feel free to reach out to me at any time.
It is 100% possible for you to finally feel the experience of confidence and faith in who you are and what you do. This is totally DOABLE.
Meaningful work and a sense of purpose do take effort, but aligning your work with what gives you the satisfaction of being useful and having a self-selected direction, is immensely rewarding.
What is your goal?
Tell me in the comments, email me, or dive into the ToolBox and figure it all out!