Most of us spend nearly half of our waking hours working. That’s too big a swack of time for you to put up with being unfulfilled. If your work is dragging you down, it affects everything: your relationships, your health, your overall sense of well-being. 

I saw my dad make this mistake. He was a great provider for his family and he seemed to like to show his love through money. So, he worked long hours and took the stresses of the job home with him. My dad was caught up in old school thinking: you find a good (i.e. stable) job at a good (i.e. sturdy) company and you put your head down and jam out 30 years. Then the company gives you a retirement package and you’re set. 

Your satisfaction is not relevant. You shouldn’t expect to be fulfilled. You are getting paid, after all.

My dad couldn’t see how his dissatisfaction and stress affected everything around him, like a black hole sucking up all the energy around it. He couldn’t get the perspective he needed to think it through, to imagine something different for himself and his family. When he retired, he became a different person: relaxed, fun to be around. Where was this guy all my life? I thought.

My mom didn’t follow her dreams either. She had been an artist her whole life, creating a mural in her parents’ basement when she was 11 and producing comic books at that same age. She was in art school when she met my dad and traveled alone in Italy at age 19 to see the world’s best art.

But she dropped out of college to get married. She stopped making art and settled in to being a housewife and then a mother. 

There has always been this sadness, a sense of regret, about my mom. She knew what she loved, yet she let herself be derailed from it. She fell into the expected role of a woman at that time. I think it crushed her spirit.

At some point, I came to realize that I was at risk for making the same mistake, albeit in a different way. I held good jobs with good companies. I was making great money. Yet something was missing.

I wasn’t consciously directing my path. I did what was expected of a MBA and then as a corporate employee.

So, I started carving my own path, exploring the elements of my bliss.

Along the way, I worked in another corporation, made an unexpected move into a completely different functional area, left my corporate job to create my own business, and collected a PhD. 

And you know what? I’m not going to tell you that I’m done yet. I’m still considering exactly what I want my own gig to look like or even if something completely different is on the horizon.

But the shift is that I’ve learned to make these decisions by design and with intention. I’ve learned to get in touch with what I want at a really deep level, to understand how I can best contribute, and to know who I can best serve.

Now, I find my joy in helping other people love Monday. If you’re someone who finds yourself dreading Monday or struggling in your own business, you’ve come to the right place. Have a look around. Read my blog, and if it moves you, set up some time to chat with me.