Follow your passion… No, follow what you are good at… Even better, follow the money!

What do your instincts say…

Our instincts send powerful messages to us on a daily basis. Sometimes these messages are subtle and other times they command our immediate attention. Nevertheless these messages are essential to how we assess and process the world around us and ultimately, the choices we make.

Let me take you on a career journey that is near and dear to me. This journey was one that changed the course of my career but more importantly, it was the day I finally acknowledged my instincts and for the first time, I heard the messages loud and clear.

Early in my career at Company “X”, I held a role that I was especially proud of. I was brought on as a member of the management team and knew this role could only lead to greater opportunities. With each passing day, I acquired more knowledge, training and greatly expanded my management capabilities. Oh, did I forget to mention that I also made pretty good money for someone in their early 20s. So on surface, things appeared to be great. Yet still something was missing. Each day, I would go to my car during lunch and other breaks. I would just sit there with the windows down, wind blowing and the warm sun reminding me of the best moments of my day – when I was not in the office. This was my Zen… my Peace… my Utopia, even if it only lasted a short while. In a moment’s notice, this feeling of happiness, peace and tranquility would suddenly disappear. POOF, I am now back in the office! What just happened here? This was my reality for many years and what I didn’t realize at the time was that my instincts were continuously sending me clear and powerful messages each day that I was simply not acknowledging.

Over the years, I continued to experience this same pattern – job after job and position after position. Until one day, it finally dawned on me…I am most happy when I separate myself from certain environments. It was time for me to reevaluate things and for once listen to my instincts. Otherwise my career will continue to run on replay. Guess what I learned?

  • The environment always win! Regardless of my role, the environment was most important to me and strongly impacted my career success. I did not care for rigid, inflexible and overly structured environments. These conditions simply drained me and sucked out every ounce of creativity. And, I often felt powerless and unsatisfied. Mostly importantly, it was not reflective of who I was.
  • My instincts applauded me each time I removed myself from certain environments. Each time I felt the sun on my skin, heard the wind in the background and was truly in a state of peace and calmness, were times when my actions aligned with my instincts.
  • Acknowledging instincts takes courage. Logic makes sense and there is always a plausible reason behind it. But instincts, well that takes GUTS!

So here it is in a nutshell, 3 steps towards trusting your instincts:

  1. Never downplay or dismiss instinctive messages, acknowledge them instead. Like most things in life, if you nurture your instincts, strengthen it and give it a purpose, it will eventually give you LIFE. What I mean here is that our instincts are like road maps, it knows who we are, what we desire and most importantly how to align the two. So give it life and it will do the same in return.
  2. Decide whether you are courageous to choose YOU above all else. If you are not, that’s okay. There’s always insight gained from every experience and in the meantime just simply being aware of the messages is a bold first step. But ohhhh, ohhhh, if you are courageous to act on your instincts, there’s no time like the present. One of the greatest joys in life in knowing that your journey has not been traveled before. It is unique to you and only you and it is the one constant that will bring your story to life.
  3. There is always a choice and ultimately it’s yours to make. Don’t follow your head, LEAD it. After all, you’re in the best position to do so!