Your right career may be the one that earns you the most personal satisfaction or the most money or contributes most to others. It would help if you decided on the balance between different pay-offs of your work, and that choice is yours. This piece focuses on the decision to do work that you are passionate about, whether in the end, that becomes the whole of your life or needs to be balanced by doing other work that meets different practical needs.
I spent a long time searching for the ‘right’ thing to do with my life, and all the time, what I wanted to do was staring me in the face. I even read ‘do what you love type self-help books that told me it was probably staring me in the front and continued to ignore it completely.
It was just too obvious that I would become a life coach. The ego part of me also thought that life coaching sounded a bit cheesy, so I had to get over that as well so I could wind up doing this work I love.
I left teaching as I was constantly moving with my husband’s career and was looking to find what my new ‘perfect’ career would be. I studied for a second degree in Art History and Creative Writing and took courses in photography, floristry, and interior design. All of these were a lot of fun, and I know I was fortunate to be able to invest the time and money in them. The bridge between a hobby course and a new career seemed enormous, and I had no idea how to bridge it.
It took me a long time to admit that my right career was coaching. It took even longer to realize that the bridge to making that happen was not going to be something that would come quickly. I was looking for a simple leap into making my passion my career, and the jump wasn’t a simple one for me.
Do you know those water obstacle shows where someone always falls short of leaping and plunges into the deep water below? That was me in the ‘finding your right career water obstacle show.’ (not sure its ratings are that high, maybe you haven’t heard of it?)
Sure, you will read loads of internet marketing about how sure people will leap your new passion-filled career straightforwardly, and if there are people who are making this work quickly and easily, then a whole load of good luck to them.
I’ve invested a lot more time and money into making this passion work, and the more I learn, the more I see that it is about consistently turning up as yourself in all this and claiming what you want, even when it isn’t an easy path. Leaping to a career you are passionate about is deciding to climb the mountain; it isn’t climbing it. That comes after.
My coach mentor, Sas Petherick, said this journey to your right career or a thriving coaching practice is like climbing a mountain.
So if you are brave and some might say fool-hardy enough to do, you know, what you want to do with your life, here are six steps to help you get there. They won’t get you all the way there, but they are a start. Look upon them as trail snacks on your forthcoming mountain journey.
1. Admitting what you want in life.
Is there a passion you have ignored because it is just too obvious? Have you been blocking it because the ego part of you does not entirely approve of your idea? What do you talk about that lights you up? What kind of books are you always reading? What magazines do you always pick up? Passion leads to clues. Imagine that you have become a detective of your own life and are looking for where your power lies. Make notes, keep files, and be on yourself.
2. Owning your talents.
So you have the passion, but now that sneaky little voice inside you is saying, ‘well, sure, that sounds great, but you’re not as good at balloon modeling/diving / historical research of the Tudor period as you think you are. Part of this is the ego that is trying to keep you safe. You are only in the exploratory phases of what your true life’s work is going to be. You don’t have to have the ‘right’ answer.
3. Not expecting the complete picture of your future to form straight away.
This is where it gets messy. You try a new direction, and you fail, or you have to find a way to mix your life passion with your day job, which gets messy. You think thoughts like ‘maybe I’m wasting my time,’ or ‘this is never going to work.’
4. Allowing the messiness of transition.
This is where allowing comes in. Allow yourself not to know, not to have it all together, not to know all the steps, not to have a brilliant answer to the cocktail party question ‘So what do you do?’
5. Finding support for your dreams.
On your mountain trail to your new passion-filled career, it’s great to have a mountain guide. Find one you resonate with and trust. Ask for referrals. Talk to various guides/mentors/coaches and find out who you click with. Clicking with a guide, mentor or coach is more important than being impressed by how fancy their website is or whether they guest post on Life Hack.
6. Tortoise steps, not hare leaps. (from coaching tool created by Dr. Martha Beck)
If your next step seems too great, break it down. If the step after that one looks too great, break it down again. Find the degree that does not bring up all the resistance that stops you from doing anything. You’ll never know that you couldn’t find work in what you truly love unless you take the first step of genuinely listening to what you want by stopping to ignore what is obvious.
Attribution: Some of the ideas in this piece have been influenced by and relate to my understanding of the book ‘Finding Your Own North Star’ by Martha Beck. (Piatkus, 2003) This is a great book to have alongside you if you are trying to climb this mountain, the summit of which is having work you are passionate about.
