Checking in with a great friend the other day, I heard a familiar tale. She'd just landed her dream job, a role she'd been working towards for at least a year.
Success was sweet! Joy filled the air!
Until it didn't.
Strange but true, dream jobs can really press our buttons.
She was anxious and unfocused.
What the hell was going on? Isn't this meant to be amazing?
Why aren't I content now I've got the job?
I wont pretend there is one reason for this. There are a million reasons why it may be the case.
Let's go through a few 'whys' and their solutions.
- Your inner mind garbage is piling up: Thoughts like 'This wont work out', 'I'll stuff up somehow', 'when is the other shoe going to drop?' and 'Pretty soon they will realise I don't know what I'm doing'. You end up anxious and paralysed.
- Solution: Monitor your inner garbage and call for garbage collection when it's piling up. Firmly and with love, thank your mind for it's precautions and reassure it that you have got this covered, you are worthy and you can manage whatever comes your way.
- You need to update your goals: It can be strange to get what you've been working towards. Anti-climactic even. I think it's partially because of the loss of the goal. A solid goal is a wonderful thing to work on.
- Solution: Brainstorm some new goals, whether work related or not. Go big! Choose something that feels amazing in your body. Celebrate, really celebrate what you've achieved and then embark on your next journey.
- Oh oh, you don't actually want it! This is a real kicker, but sometimes we need to get the dream job to really get that we don't want it. Not a fun thing to realise, but damn useful.
- Solution: Make your job as good as you can (amp up any aspects you love, delegate what you don't, dump what you can and love yourself sick!) while you dream and scheme for a job that you will be excited about.
- You are too exhausted to enjoy it. You worked so hard to get it that other parts of your life went off the boil. You have been eating crap, mostly sedentary and haven't experienced much joy in a while.
- Solution: Move that booty (even if you are tired), eat like you love yourself (for fuel and pleasure), SLEEP and sprinkle fun through your day. Adults need to play as much as children.
Making good career decisions is one of my obsessions so I've made a free video series for you all, to help solve this problem. It's called Five Steps to Career Clarity and it will come to your email, complete with new tools and insights for you. Just sign up below, after the intro (you can click on it to see yours truly introducing it)!
