It’s no fun to feel stuck in work you hate.

But there’s always a way out. Always. It just may not be what you envisioned. But sometimes, you have an inkling of it.

That’s the case for my former client, Marie-Florence Tieu, who, after completing her MBA, took a job in search engine marketing. And she felt bored, unfulfilled, and frustrated. While that’s obviously  not the only job for MBAs, something was nagging her on the inside. She couldn’t figure out what she wanted to do next, but search engine marketing wasn’t it. She went to career coaches who gave her assessments and tests. And those only confused or frustrated her.

Marie-Florence ran into a common shift that makes it so much easier to find or create work that fits. If you want work that truly fits you, that feels really congruent with who you are and what you care about, you can’t figure it out. You need to feel it out.

In the face of uncertainty, most of us go into mental overdrive, trying to get our logical brains to frame their quest for a new job as a problem. Then, they try to analyze the situation and end up with an elegant solution. Only there’s not really a problem. Or there’s nothing really to solve. I recommend a focus on intentions instead. In other words, that you get clear about what you do want, rather than focusing on the problem of work that doesn’t fit, or in asking yourself, “How will I figure out what to do next?” That approach relies way, way too much on your head. Most of us have wily, crafty brains. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. It’s just that we miss out on listening to our hearts. And our guts. And the wisdom that lies below our necks.

You wouldn’t choose your spouse by reading their resume, would you? Not if you wanted to have a passion-filled relationship. Then why do you think that you can lay out the facts about your talents, and somehow come up with a picture that uplifts and inspires you? If that’s what you’re trying to do, I’m here to suggest that you turn the equation around. Start with what uplifts and inspires you, and then lay out how you’ll get there. Or, better yet, create a vision of what you want, take one step at a time towards it, and see what you discover.

But don’t try to have the whole career change mapped out all at once. Don’t. That’s not only a headache. That’s not only unrealistic. That’s not only hard. That’s impossible.  Yet too many people think that’s what they need to do, which creates unnecessary turmoil.

In our work together, Marie-Florence discovered how to “take the elevator down,” as I call it, moving from the head to the heart, gut, and whole-bodied wisdom. Too often, we suffer through work that drains us, with the hope that it will get better. And we mentally convince ourselves to stay and stay and stay…until we move from stress to burnout. And then we feel stuck. Yuck.

When she learned to listen to her body’s signals, Marie Florence got clear about work she wanted to do. It’s almost like it was in her bones. Even as a child, she cared for people, like her brother, who is mentally handicapped and autistic. She explored a few potential paths, including teaching tennis, but ultimately got totally excited at the thought of going to nursing school and becoming a nurse. She’s completing her prerequisites now, and will attend UCSF for nursing school starting June 21st!

I briefly interviewed Marie-Florence about her transition from marketing to nursing. If you’re considering a shift in your career, you may find her story, in the recording below, enlightening and inspiring. And you may get an idea of why learning to “work from within,” and trusting the innate instincts and impulses in your body is so vital to making positive change.

Click here to listen to the recording of my interview with Marie-Florence.

Celebrating change,
Susan

PS – In this posting, I’ve shared one of seven shifts to work that fits: If you want work that truly fits you, that feels really congruent with who you are and what you care about, you can’t figure it out. You need to feel it out. If you want to discover HOW to make this shift in your own career, and learn six other shifts that will help you have work that fits, please join me on Wednesday, July 7, from 6:00 – 7:30 pm Pacific (9:00 – 10:30 Eastern) for an interactive webinar “Seven Shifts to Work That Fits.“  You’ll also get a workbook, time for Q & A, and a video recording of the webinar that you can download and watch again and again, whenever you like.

There’s only room for 24 participants, and those places will get snatched up quickly…so grab your space by registering now. Isn’t it time you had work that fits you?