Redefine Your Career Path with Intentional Adjustments
“Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it.”
— Gautama Buddha
One of the biggest sources of suffering I see in the clients I work with, especially those in corporate roles, is the sense that they cannot fully be themselves in their professional lives.
I am deeply familiar with this struggle, as I experienced it firsthand early in my career.
I started my professional life in a big multinational company in my early twenties. Everyone around me celebrated (and even admired) the job I had just landed, yet I felt completely disconnected from what truly mattered to me and the life I wanted to live.
I felt trapped between external expectations and my inner sense of purpose and authenticity.
Over the years, I’ve learned that the tension I experienced in my early twenties wasn’t unique to me.
Despite being high-achieving individuals with successful careers, many of my coaching clients share a sense of unfulfillment and disconnection from a deeper sense of purpose.
What causes this underlying dissatisfaction, even when the conventional conditions of success are present?
The Tension Between Social Acceptance and Individual Purpose
This struggle stems from a clash between our need for social acceptance and belonging and our sense of autonomy and individual purpose. From an evolutionary perspective, this “default social awareness” made sense for early humans, as individual survival depended on being accepted by the group.
However, focusing too much on social expectations can leave us feeling disconnected from ourselves and our sense of purpose.
Many of my clients struggle with the tension between who they feel they need to be to meet organisational expectations and who they truly are. This often shows up as overthinking, self-doubt, anxiety, or imposter syndrome. Over time, it can lead to feelings of inadequacy and burnout.
If any of these experiences resonate, it may be that your current circumstances are not aligned with what is most important to you.
The Path to Authenticity
In my case, the first (of many) steps towards authenticity began with quitting that “ideal” corporate job and moving to Paris on a one-way ticket with a dream of becoming a photographer!
That was a disruptive move in my early twenties (which makes for a good story). However, as I made other transitions later in my life, I realised there were smoother and less drastic ways to make progressive changes, and I came up with five steps to help you realign your life or career without needing to drop everything:
1. Notice and Validate the Misalignment
When there is a misalignment between your external circumstances and your inner values, you will likely experience discomfort, a sense that something is “off.” This might show up as unpleasant emotions or uncomfortable physical sensations, like tightness in your chest, tension in your shoulders, or a knot in your stomach.
Instead of ignoring or resisting this discomfort, notice it with curiosity. Focus on these sensations without judgment and explore what they might be trying to communicate.
For me, the discomfort in my early career showed up as anxiety, overthinking, and imposter syndrome. Getting curious about the underlying message in those feelings helped me understand that the issue was a misalignment between my career, values, and interests.
Identify an area of your life that feels off. Observe any physical or emotional sensations that arise without trying to change them. By welcoming the discomfort, you may gain insights into what might be causing the misalignment.
Try this out and let me know what you notice.
2. Connect with Your Core Values
The previous exercise may have shed light on how your current circumstances are misaligned with some of your core values—your non-negotiable principles—without which you cannot be truly authentic.
To identify some of your core values:
Reflect on your peak experiences—moments when you felt the most fulfilled or proud—and make a list of those values.
Alternatively, consider recent frustrations or conflicts at work or in relationships. Identify the underlying values that were compromised in those situations and write them down.
Once you have a list, prioritise your core values by importance and focus on the top five. If these values are not present in your life, consider what shifts would bring you into closer alignment with what truly matters to you.
If you need inspiration, here is a list of examples of core values.
3. Create Your Support Network
Envisioning change is difficult when you’re surrounded by people who reinforce your current circumstances. If you’re unhappy in your career and only spend time with work colleagues who love what they do, thinking about alternative career paths will feel impossible.
Instead, seek out people who share your interests and values. Surround yourself with individuals who support your dreams and aspirations. Look for mentors, like-minded peers, or even strangers with experience in those areas—you will be surprised by the connections available within your social network, often just one or two degrees of separation away.
Connecting with like-minded people will bring new ideas, suggestions, and resources to inspire you to take action.
One of my clients dreamed of using his passion for cooking to start a business. After talking to restaurant owners in the area, vendors at local farmers' markets, and community members, he found practical support and inspiration, helping him launch his homemade supper business in just two months.
Who can you reach out to within your network for support and inspiration? This includes people and resources on social media.
Research the topics you are interested in—you will be amazed at how many ideas, resources, and groups you’ll find.
4. Make Small Changes
Big transitions can feel overwhelming, so start with small steps that build momentum. One of my clients, a project manager working in tech, wanted to become a software engineer but had no coding experience.
She enrolled in a coding course while continuing in her role as a program manager. This small step gave her the skills and confidence to eventually transition into a more technical role.
When reflecting on your own transition, what small steps could you take to bring more clarity and inspiration?
For example, you could enrol in a training programme, ask for alternative opportunities at work, block out time to create an action plan, or reach out to people in your desired field.
These small steps build up over time, feeding inspiration into shifts, opening new opportunities, and creating a sense of agency through action.
5. Set a Transition Timeline
Sometimes making a big transition in the short term is not feasible for a variety of reasons. In those cases, setting a timeframe with clear milestones can make your action plan more concrete and bring purpose to your current circumstances.
Remember when I dropped everything and moved to Paris in my twenties? The dream was big, but I had no plan, milestones, or support system! I learned my lesson, and a couple of decades later, before transitioning to my full-time coaching practice, I created a timeline with clear milestones to make the shift smoother.
Having a timeline provided something to look forward to and made my role at the time more manageable, knowing it was part of a larger plan.
Give yourself a timeframe for the change, then break your transition into smaller milestones. Identify a realistic timeline and consider what key milestones would make the shift feel more achievable.
If you are willing to explore what needs to change and follow some of these steps towards a life that is fully aligned, you’ll be rewarded with a deep sense of fulfilment, enhanced well-being, and genuine connections.
What would that life look like for you? Which of the five steps do you find most helpful?
Feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts. I’d love to hear from you.
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