3 reasons why you feel lost in your career path
The best advice for finding the work you're meant to do
If you know you have a big purpose…
And dream of getting paid for your truest gifts…
But aren’t sure what you’re meant to do, there’s a reason why.
Meanwhile, you’re probably really good at a job you don’t like, which is a special kind of torture.
Good money and a fancy title might make your parents proud, but if it’s not in alignment with your soul, it feels soul crushing.
You’re not delusional for wanting to get paid for your truest gifts.
You’re just honest about the vision in your heart.
The vision you’re meant to bring to life.
Purpose is about helping others, so it’s time to stop robbing the world of your unique gifts, and robbing yourself of the fulfillment and happiness you deserve.
Before we explore what’s blocking clarity, take this message to heart:
You always know your next career step. Your soul is always guiding you.
Yet layers of doubt, fear, past pains, negative self-talk and limiting beliefs play tug of war in your brain, creating confusion.
When I work with clients, we explore these threads one by one, cutting them loose until only clarity remains.
Without doing this inner work to understand yourself, you’ll continue feeling pulled in a million directions, never making progress.
Time does nothing to undo this knot.
Inner work is what creates clarity.
The root problem of not knowing the work you’re meant to do is a series of inner conflicts.
Inner conflicts occur when different parts of you want different things.
One part wants love and approval from your family, friends and society.
A second part wants safety and security.
A third part doubts your intuition, desires and abilities because of past disappointment or conditioning.
And a fourth part longs to follow your soul to freedom, abundance, joy and creative fulfillment.
This fourth part of you exists beyond your family, past experiences, and even past desires.
Your purposeful career path represents who you are now — not who you used to be or think you should be — and honors that you’re a unique soul with a unique destiny separate from your family and formative experiences.
Everyone obsesses over inner child healing, but by the time we’re 35, we’ve experienced so much more LIFE than our formative years.
This LIFE impacts us just as much, if not more so, than childhood.
How inner conflicts show up
You debate between career paths, but can’t choose.
You want to take action, but feel held back by something you can’t explain.
You sometimes make progress, but struggle with consistency.
You’re not sure what you’re good at, or what your dream career looks like at all.
You feel overwhelmed, unfocused, or maxed out in time and energy. (The truth is your inner conflicts consume all your time and energy, causing overwhelm. It doesn’t have to be this way.)
The 3 main inner conflicts
1. The desires for status versus fulfillment
This has come up for multiple clients and Journaling Club members recently. I completely understand this. I still honestly feel cringe telling people I’m a life coach, and usually say I’m a writer or have an online business.
A lot of you have been doing inner work for awhile and understand your basic unconscious commitments, which are beliefs taken on from family or society about what makes work respectable.
For example, you might have preconceptions that say:
You can’t earn money as a creative
Your natural inclinations are wrong
You need a specific job to be worthy
You’ll fail if you follow your heart
If you’re not sure of your mental programming, you need the Unconscious Commitment training in my Shadow work video workshop. It focuses specifically on career.
If you know the programs running, but still feel stuck, it’s incredibly frustrating.
That’s typically when people reach out to work with me, because I see things at a soul level, and can gently but swiftly guide you past your roadblocks.
Because the truth is, the desire for status is STILL an unconscious commitment.
You’ve signed onto messages about what OTHER people think is high status.
Defining status for yourself allows you to find validation from within, and live a meaningful, authentic life.
Mindset shift: I get to define status for myself.
2. The desires for validation versus authenticity
Purpose is about authentically serving others with your unique gifts.
Unmet emotional needs limit your ability to serve - and create success.
For example, my greatest gift is listening deeply to people and offering profound reflections and questions that change their lives.
HOWEVER, I’m always the one listening and asking questions, and used to feel like nobody truly listened to me in my personal life.
Without leaning into this growth opportunity and learning how to get my personal needs met, I wouldn’t be able to show up in a spirit of service.
I might focus on going viral instead of offering deep, nuanced ways for you to understand yourself.
Or sometimes people get into the trap of being inauthentically vulnerable, sharing painful personal experiences not to express or inspire, but to get attention and validation.
The beautiful thing about monetizing purpose is you get to share your truest gifts in a way that uplifts you while helping others AND getting paid.
Finding that beautiful balance requires you to give from a place of wholeness rather than trying to receive from lack.
Mindset shift: When I move from a place of wholeness, I live my purpose.
3. The desires for freedom versus security
Creative women aren’t meant to work 9 to 5 jobs.
We need time to rest, think and be. We need flexibility, not rigidity.
We also do the lion’s share of home tasks, and rather than pretend there’s a different reality, it’s important to acknowledge the amount of work we do at home. Leveraging time and getting out of the hourly rate, employee mentality is key.
This allows us to care for our selves, homes, families and clients or customers from a place of joyful service and overflow rather than depletion and overwhelm.
However, security still matters. Financial freedom is just as important as creative freedom. You can make smart choices.
The trouble is, a lot of women undervalue their gifts and don’t make the money they deserve.
A lot of creatives play by broke artist rules and don’t make smart financial decisions, not realizing they can make their own rules.
When you believe in yourself, value your gifts, and re-write the rules for how life works, everything changes.
Mindset shift: I don’t have to choose between freedom and security. I can have both.
How to move forward and find the work you’re meant to do:
1. Resolve inner conflicts.
Freeing yourself from inner conflicts so you can find (and monetize) your truest gifts requires self-understanding. This is the core of how I support clients.
It’s a process of becoming intensely curious about the stories you tell yourself about who you are, what you want, what you should want, and what’s possible for you.
Once you do this, your direction becomes clear.
Your soul is literally screaming your next step at you, but there’s so much gunk over top your inner wisdom that it’s hard to hear.
2. Take the next right step.
You don’t need to figure out your whole life. You just need to take the next step.
Give yourself permission to try something new without putting pressure on it to be The Thing. You never know which Next Thing will turn into The Thing.
If you’re in a job you hate, you probably want a rapid exit plan, but the truth is that forcing things only slows you down. You can always find a transition job if your current position is killing your soul.
3. Commit to a little-bet goal for 90 days.
You don’t need to quit your job tomorrow, or take any other crazy risk you’re not ready to.
Instead, commit to a little bet for 90 days.
A lot of people struggle to stay consistent because of self-doubt. Doubt in your choices or abilities might cause you to switch directions when you encounter an obstacle instead of double down.
Learning to double down in the face of setbacks is a key personal growth opportunity, especially for sensitive creatives like us who often struggle with self-belief.
And yet, finding your path requires experimentation. That’s why I like trying new plans for 90 days. Along the way, I work through inner obstacles like self-doubt and outer obstacles through learning new skills.
This is how realizing your purpose is also the process of becoming the best, most confident, capable and self-expressed version of yourself.
The vision in your heart for a wildly fulfilling, abundant career is waiting on you to believe in it.
Any struggle and confusion you feel was never meant to hold you down, but only help you grow.
I’ve overcome an incredible amount of doubt, fear and insecurity along my journey to create a successful business aligned with my purpose and unique gifts.
And that’s the point. I decided long ago that I’d never be limited by what I’ve been through, but instead become who I choose to.
And I’m committed to helping you do the same.
If you want to monetize your soul’s truest gifts, I’m looking for two women ONE SPACE LEFT, to guide through my 3-month 1:1 coaching program, Creative Genius.
If you are:
Creative, ambitious and hard-working, meant for more but doubt your vision and aren’t sure HOW to bring it to life.
Feel pulled in a million directions, debating between ideas, projects and plans, never making progress which makes you doubt your dream
Struggle to stay consistent with your efforts, mostly because you compare yourself with others and it makes you doubt yourself.
Sometimes make progress and get in a groove, but get knocked out somehow and have difficulty locking back in.
And you want to:
Build a business or otherwise make money as a natural extension of your soul
Identify a clear, simple 90-day plan that gets you into consistent action while creating measurable results
Use your true gifts to create something iconic that outlives you
Make your inner child super proud and happy because you’re living her dream
Then Creative Genius is for you!
My special gift is seeing the unseen so you can explore the parts of yourself you’ve neglected or avoided. Loving these parts of you opens the door to freedom, abundance and possibility!
My purpose is to help others understand themselves so they can live their purpose. If you’re feeling called, trust your inner guidance!
Respond to this email or DM me for a no-pressure convo. 🌹
Only two ONE space available! For those done wasting time waiting.
All the love,
Suzanne