My clients and I talk about unicorns a lot.
Not the magical horses with a golden horn (well, if they want to talk about that kind, that’s fine by me), but career “unicorns” … you know, the kind of job that you would absolutely LOVE going to every day. The kind where you wake up in the morning and are so excited and ready to bounce out the door. The kind that makes you so happy, it almost defies belief.
And that’s the problem for most of my clients, at least at the beginning of the coaching process. While they really want to believe they could be that fulfilled by their work, they’ve never experienced it before, so they can’t really buy in to it. The idea feels too outrageous! Most of them tell me, “Well, I guess I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Case in point, one of my clients (we’ll call her Ella) and I were having her very FIRST coaching call last week. She’s where you would expect … frustrated and stuck in a job that she doesn’t love.
I asked Ella to vent a little about her job, and she said:
“The hardest thing about going to work is feeling like I let myself down in taking this job. I was so eager to leave my last job that I took this one because it was safe. It was convenient, and I didn’t envision anything better coming along. I had no idea what I wanted, so I didn’t know what to wait around for, or what to look for, anyway.”
On the same day I talked to Ella, one of my former clients (we’ll call her Carrie) emailed me. I love the timing of the Universe, because what she shared so perfectly counter-balanced what Ella had shared with me:
“Hey Rachel! I wanted to share something with you that I was texting my best friend from college (she and I talk careers a lot) the other day. These are the words that came out of my mouth:
‘I didn’t know it was possible to be this happy at work.’
Thank you for making that possible.”
CARRIE USED TO BE EXACTLY WHERE ELLA IS RIGHT NOW
In fact, I’ve rarely had a client who didn’t start where Ella is. And I’ve rarely had a client who didn’t end up where Carrie is.
They all go from being highly skeptical of the “career unicorn” to firm believers. Heck, most of them have thrown a saddle on and are straight up riding the career unicorn.
So how does a person go from non-believer to believer? From stuck in a rut to “I didn’t know this kind of happiness was possible”?
To answer that, I’ll give you the 3 most important things that Ella, Carrie, and many of my other clients have had in common:
- They assumed it was possible. That doesn’t mean that they weren’t slightly skeptical. Some of them were! But at their core, they remained convinced that they weren’t meant to suffer indefinitely. They presumed that life isn’t supposed to suck, on the whole, and that if they didn’t settle, eventually they would be happy. (This sounds obvious, but I can’t tell you how many people have resigned themselves to the “truth” that “I’ll never have a job that I love.” Well, you won’t … as long as you believe you won’t.)
- They regularly questioned the status quo. None of my clients have been the kind to take things strictly at face value. They’ve all gotten used to questioning “the way things are” and whether or not they have to believe what they’ve previously bought into. They’re willing to question almost everything … from their own fears, to what other people think, to taking risks. They’re OK with not going with the crowd, if it means being happier with themselves.
- They took a lot of action. Every one of my clients who’s reached “unicorn status” (and there are many of them) has been willing to stop wishing life would change and actually do something about it. They invested in coaching, they spoke up at work even when it was hard, they had challenging conversations with loved ones, they took on new projects … whatever they did, they were willing to do it consistently. They’ve all had a deep understanding that if you want different results, you’ve got to be willing to do something different than you’ve always done.
When you believe it’s possible to find fulfillment, and when you regularly question the status quo, and when you take a lot of action … how could you not end up in a career you love?
TAKE THIS INSPIRATION AND RUN WITH IT
If this has been enough of a boost to get you moving in the right direction today, then I have done my job extremely well! If so, I’d love to hear how this has helped you in the comments.
But if you want more guidance about finding your career fulfillment, then we’re doing something special today (and for the next 48 hours).
A couple of months ago, we created an online course that serves as the first step you must take if you want to figure out the intersection between your career and passion.
It’s called the Passion Profile Short Course. And today through Thursday, we’re giving the first fifty people who want to do it a $50 discount code.
We love this course because it’s short (as its title suggests). It’s all DIY and audio-visual … you could sit down and do it in as little as 1 day, if you wanted. Which, when you’ve spent years trying to get clear on your passion, feels like a major relief!
Want the code? Cool! You can use the code PPSC1 for $50 off the one-payment option, or PPSC2 if you’d like to divide the discount between two payments. Here it is, in visual format:
Use the code PPSC1 for $50 off the one-payment option.
Use the code PPSC2 for $50 off the two-payment option.
And here’s what a few PPSC-ers have had to say about their experience:
“It’s crazy how I’m listening to you describe my Passion Profile, and it’s like you’re reading my life summary.” – Terri
“The best thing about this, so far, is the fact that I finally feel like I’m allowed to have a career (and a life, too, because this goes so much deeper than I thought) that feels good to me … I honestly didn’t think, until right about now, that I would ever enjoy working. I had kind of resigned myself to being semi-happy, but never fully happy at work. But I’m pretty sure that’s about to change.” – Samantha
“It’s weird (and by weird I mean … a massive freaking relief) how this all fits together. Hearing you guys explain how to align your career with your passion is actually way simpler than you think it’s going to be. I straight-up never expected that.” – Jamie
Remember, this is only for the first fifty people. The PPSC is a course that’s available 24/7, so there’s no pressure to do this right now if you know that it’s not currently a good time (there just won’t always be a discount code).
We hope to see some of you (well, 50, to be exact!) in there. 🙂
Much Love,
Rachel {+ Kristen}
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