May/June 2009
dancing at your desk

Breaking free in a new world

Have you recently been laid off, fired, or downsized? Before you panic or fall into despair, think about this: this is not the end of your world. It’s the beginning of a much happier career and lifestyle that’s in alignment with what your soul came here to accomplish.

This great economic meltdown is a call from our collective unconscious. It’s an intentional global paradigm shift aimed at reconnecting all of us with our original purpose.

For too long, many of us have given away our happiness and fulfillment to jobs that didn’t utilize our true talents or help us live up to our great human potential. We collectively sold our souls for a paycheck and benefits, and for the idea of security. But we were unfulfilled in our jobs, and our lives, so we created a culture that comforted itself with excessive homes and outlandish shopping sprees. This behavior resulted in insurmountable personal debt – which kept us stuck in our miserable jobs.

This cycle of slavery to a paycheck and benefits is finally breaking. As in all great moments of history, people are mostly terrified of the change they see around them. But this change is a good thing; we’re ready for it. As a culture, we’ve evolved to a point where we’re waking up to the greater purpose of life. Many people have been ready for this shift for some time, but now the domino effect is causing it to broaden outward to the masses.

You’ve learned everything there was to learn from the “9-to-5 paycheck and benefits” lesson, such as loyalty, competition, cooperation, duty, and how to find brilliance in the midst of drudgery. Now, it’s time to discover your real purpose. Look around you. What do you see? There’s a new world of possibility unfolding right in front of you. Wipe the fear from your eyes and focus on the opportunities. The world is crying out for new solutions to old problems.

For example, alternative energy and green lifestyles have become mainstream; careers in that field are the wave of the future. New technologies are needed to march us successfully into the future, as are new health care paradigms. People are searching for health solutions that don’t require thousands of dollars worth of medical interventions.
Where do your gifts fit into this new world? What excites you? How can your talents help raise the consciousness of the world in this moment of transition? Whatever answer you get to that question, is the key to unlocking your next successful career.

There’s still great abundance on this planet. To tap into it, you have to be in alignment with your true mission.

1. Quit telling your sad story. Take a deep breath and recognize the gift in this opportunity to reinvent yourself. It’s not the end of your world, it’s the beginning. Quiet the fearful thinking, and tap into your higher, intuitive self where you’ll find guidance you can trust.

2. Be grateful for this opportunity to reinvent, and be honest about how unhappy and off-path you’ve been. Make a list of the secret career dreams you’ve stuffed away because you were so exhausted in your old career.

3. Remember who you really are. Chances are good that you haven’t been living and working true to your authentic self and what you came here to do, or you wouldn’t have hit this bump in the road. Stop hiding. Claim your real talents and gifts and realign your work so that you’re making a living directly from those talents.

4. Look around you at this new world and ask: What needs do I see in the world that inspire me to take action, think out of the box, and use my gifts to make a difference? (Whatever idea excites you most is a clue to your next career.)

5. Stop asking: “Who do I think I am to try to a new career?” Start asking: “Who do I think I am to ignore the work I came here to do? Who do I think I am to ignore the gifts and talents I brought with me? Who do I think I am to ignore the purpose of my life story?”

6. Focus on the baby steps: When you have a new idea, don’t get overwhelmed by the many stages in the process ahead of you. Take one baby step at a time and surrender the outcome. The rest will unfold gracefully.