What you will learn from this blog:
- The real reason why we end up in jobs we dislike and find it hard to break free
- How to change your thinking to find your innate value and attract abundant opportunities
As therapists, we see many clients who feel stuck in jobs they dislike and are afraid to pursue work that is fulfilling to them. Common challenges we hear during emotional therapy and mental health counselling are:
I am interested and good at something BUT…
- Someone else is better than me
- What if I fail? What will people think?
- How to pay my mortgage and provide for my family?
- What will my family think? Will they think I’m selfish?
Why we find it difficult to break free
We have been conditioned to squeeze ourselves to fit into a box defined by society.
When choosing a field of study and career, we focus on whether there is a demand for it; whether the pay is high; whether it is respected in society – without thinking if this is something we would enjoy.
We confine our minds to fixed career pathways. For example, if you are a teacher, your highest goal is to be a principal. If you are a lawyer, your highest goal is to make a partner. And when we get there, we ask ourselves, “What next?”, “Why am I still not happy?”.
This is something we see in many of our clients who come to us for mental health counselling and emotional therapy at Intracresco.
In the process of trying to mould ourselves to ‘fit in’, we lose sight of what we are naturally interested in and good at.
This is something we knew innately as children – we naturally gravitated towards what we liked, immersed ourselves fully in it, and wanted to do more of it.
How to break free
The path to finding fulfilment in life starts with connecting back to our unique interests and finding ways to express them in our day-to-day life.
Here are three steps we share with those who come to us for emotional therapy so they can get started on rediscovering themselves:
- Identify what your unique interests are. What makes you feel alive and excited is a good indicator.
- Identify what you are naturally good at. This may be something that others find difficult but you find easy to do, or something that people often come to you for help in.
- Be curious and explore ways to incorporate these into your daily life.
For example, you may be a teacher with a passion for nature and you may find a unique way of teaching using nature that no other teacher is able to do.
You may be a fitness coach with a passion for dance and you may find a unique way to help others get fit through movement and dance.
Remember – there is no one in the world who can do exactly what you do, as long as you express your authentic voice and marry it with your creativity.
Just as there is no redundancy in nature, every person has unique gifts and talents that are needed in society.
When we operate from the assumption that there is no wastage in the universe and every person has innate value, we start to realise that it is not about making ourselves valuable. It is about uncovering the value that already exists within us.
Conclusion
In our (Kavitha and Kester) journey of creating Intracresco, we have had to remind ourselves many times not to just “copy” what other therapists and coaching businesses are doing, but to find a way to uniquely express our gifts and life experiences.
You did not come here to fit into a box. If you are a doctor, know that you are so much more than a doctor. Along with your medical knowledge and skills, you may have a way of empathising with your patients that no other doctor without the same life experience as you can. You may bring a way of seeing things that no other doctor can because of your unique interests and gifts.
Do not let a job title define you.
You are here to find your own unique path and express yourself in a unique way. And when you find it, fulfilment will naturally come. We are happy to support you in your journey of finding fulfilment.
