The long and windy road to figuring out a career path

A friend recently asked how I figured out what my career path should be. We are not talking about any plain old career, but an authentic soul-satisfying way of life that somehow serves the greater good. I told her that the simple answer is to do what you love. However, for many of us, life doesn't usually work out so easily. The reasons can be complex, varied, and multilayered. So, here is a more complete answer designed to address the intricate, and often circular, nature of pursuing our passions.

First of all--and this will be a no-brainer for most people--if you are looking for a career you love, it is important to know what you are passionate about. What do you really, truly care about in life? What is the one single theme throughout your life that your heart has always gravitated towards?

Don’t let your inner naysayer block you. You know, that part of you that says, “Oh, that doesn’t count because….” Let yourself be limitless and allow what you really love to shine into your heart. If you need to, tell your mind to take a break and let your heart decide what it would do as a career if it could.

Now that you know what your one true passion is, you may be saying, “Yeah, but how do I translate that into some kind of paying job?” As a transformational life coach, I generally like people to find their own answers. However, in the case of finding a career based on life purpose, I tell people to just focus on following their heart and healing themselves until the career starts to fall into place.

I know. This is probably infinitely frustrating to hear. It is our inner most desires to be our full selves in this world. I truly believe that we need to be our fullest selves before we become who we are meant to be. This means taking action from where we currently are, while keeping the higher intention alive.

Our heart is our inner guide. It is the link to our true nature as we navigate a world that tries to pull us away from who we really are. Do what you are passionate about in this moment, even if it doesn't seem to have anything to do with a career. Follow your gut feeling. Life has a way of leading you to the perfect situations when you follow your heart and trust in the universe. We never know the higher purpose of why we might be led something, and what that will eventually lead to.
Healing ourselves leads us to wholeness and fulfillment. When we are healed, we no longer look toward external things in life to make us feel good or complete us. In addition to this, we are of better service toward others when we are whole. Healing our wounds removes limitations--such as fears, doubts, and defenses--that not only keep us from functioning fully at what we love to do, but could also unintentionally harm others we attempt to help.

I believe the more healed and whole we become, the more things fall into place. Anita Moorjani, author of Dying To Be Me, says that when we learn to truly love and except ourselves, our life purpose naturally unfolds for us. Healing fills the gaps within, allowing love to flow more fully in our being.

Don’t fall into the trap that there is only one type of healing, such as energy work or therapy. Life itself is our healer, and can come in the form of friendship, nature, art, music, or any life circumstance that ends up teaching and transforming us. We delve into new life situations for our own reasons, but there often ends up being another higher purpose that facilitates our growth. Just because you are not where you want to be, it doesn't mean you aren't where you are supposed to be for reasons you aren't aware of yet.

When we are whole and aligned with our true passion, we become inspired into action. Something inside you might "click" into place. Or maybe you feel a special zing in your heart. Before you know it, you suddenly understand what your exact next step should be.

If there is struggle, if there is something holding you back, or if things are not going smoothly, then there are unconscious blocks to work out. Perhaps you will not be ready for your next step until you grown in certain areas. Or perhaps you know exactly what your blocks are and need to learn to push forward in the face of these fears. There could be a lesson within the journey of pursing your career, as there was for me.

It took me many years to be ready both emotionally and intellectually. And to be honest, I am still growing into my ideal career. It is an ever-evolving process.

Personal and spiritual growth was my passion since the age of 20. Psychology was the closest field I knew that fit this passion, so I got a degree. However, I did not pursue the field for several reasons. First of all, the clinical nature of psychology never sat well with me. Secondly, I still suffered from depression and social anxiety disorder. It didn’t make sense to me that anyone would attempt to heal others without first healing themselves.

Years later, after working in unfulfilling, dead-end jobs, I wanted a more stable career and enrolled in graduate school. I decided to become a librarian because it combined two areas that I loved: research and helping others. This was my way of creating a safe and stable career for myself. But it was not my passion. What is the difference?

My decision to become a librarian was based on safety and security. My passion is based on an undeniable heart-felt pull that has driven me to be a seeker for most of my life.

Don’t get me wrong. Becoming a librarian was right for me at the time. Not only was it a drastic improvement from my previous dead-end jobs, but it also led me through several necessary life experiences. For example, my first job in a public library was a very healing experience because of the positive environment and the people I worked with. I would not have been able to move on to a career that I am passionate about without this experience.

As of this writing, I am still happily working as a librarian, but part-time. This is intentional so I can focus on building my coaching practice. I might not be rich, but I am comfortable, fulfilled, and able to pursue the things that really matter to me.

Psycho-spiritual growth and healing is my true passion, but I did not know how to translate into a career. In fact, for a long time I didn't even think a career having to do with psycho-spiritual growth and healing was possible. For many years I considered becoming a life coach, but was still not sure this was the answer. Then an opportunity came.

A recent graduate from a school I admired offered free coaching sessions. I jumped at the opportunity and was blown away at how powerful the experience was. Soon after, I realized my heart was calling out for a more heart-centered line of work. I was stuck: should I pursue the safe and logical career as a licensed therapist, or should I pursue the freedom of following my own path as a transformational life coach? I decided to take the plunge and quit my full-time job to get a masters in Transpersonal Psychology and become a transformational life coach. It was the scariest thing I had ever done. I felt like all the security I’d built up had been destroyed. I got panic attacks.

However, attending the school led to growth and transformational experiences that I never would have had otherwise. It led me to another, very dramatic and transformative stage in my life that I would never have expected in a million years. This resulted in significant healing and wholeness that prepared me to assist others in the way they deserved. My theory that the healer should first be healed themselves was well founded after all. All these years, my heart had been leading me to the most healing experiences possible in preparation for what I am now pursuing in my life.

Out of all the decisions that I made of my life, I RARELY got exactly what I came for. Instead, I received what I needed for my own highest good. And there is a point I am leading up to with all this: I focused on the essence of my true life passion all this time while following what felt true to me. I didn’t choose a safer career or a more traditional school. I didn’t stay living in the same area or working for the same job just for the sake of it being more convenient. I focused on my healing journey and my spiritual practices, and I did what made my heart sing. Things are not perfect. Life never is. But I use areas of struggle as signals to look within and as opportunities for grow. And somehow, using this formula, my career is falling into place.