Navigating Your Career Path: 3 Ways to Uncover Meaning, Regardless of Challenges or Achievements

Watch the video version of this blog here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58f9SyPzNAs

We all sometimes wonder... is my story valid? How can someone with my experience (of overcoming a lot of challenges with not the same amount of achievements to balance it out, and often times feeling imposter syndrome), validate my experience to now help others, serve others, offer XYZ to others? These are all very natural ways to feel as an entrepreneur/solopreneur. Often times, we feel like we're failing when often we are simply taking baby steps toward a larger reality waiting for us on the other side of transformation.

How do we deal with feelings of purposelessness, or feelings of invalidation, imposter syndrome, or simply feeling like our story isn't enough to attempt what we desire? I've been here. I've been that girl staring aimlessly into self-help sections of bookstores, looking for that secret. The key that nobody tells you, but maybe this person will. There was a time in my life when I was so scared that I would amount to nothing, simply because nothing spoke to me. Thinking about a future of office buildings, commuting, and a predictable day-to-day life felt hollow to me. But I also felt an unconscious, and false belief that what I truly desired wasn't exactly possible for me either. To have an opinion in the matter, or to have personal taste, means that we have a purpose, and I didn't realize that this concept would be the catalyst for me becoming an entrepreneur myself. I can explain this further

Looking back now, I think all of us can agree that we know what we like and what we dislike. But hidden in our "opinions" and "taste" is actually our truth. The fact that I was really interested in the seasonal cycles of nature experienced in New England is a pure example of this. One, in their 20 year old mind, may echo the voice of society when thinking about their truest desires, and this was definitely me. I thought that I was interested in genetics, when really I was interested in astrology. I thought " Oh, I'm just somebody who really enjoys nature", when really I wanted to study it.

Here are 3 ways to uncover meaning, or purpose in your path regardless of where you're at- because no matter what it's valid.

• Notice what you lean into, engage in, or find happiness with in moments of no expectation. There is something about expectations that in turn, makes us express ourselves through a filter that isn't always true to our hearts. This is important to observe and even reflect deeper on when it comes to navigating something that takes a lot of our precious time. Finding where you go, what you enjoy when there is no responsibility or expectation can be difficult to figure out sometimes because as much as we might hate to think about it, all of our lives hold some form of expectation. It's nearly impossible to get away from this construct in our society. So it's not an easy task, especially if you find that you're so busy that your free moments are taken up with relaxation because that's all you can really handle. In this case, think in simpler terms. The conversations you have that light a fire in you, the aspects of life that draw your attention the most. What shows up the most on your social media feed? Is it art? Conversational content? Music? All of this can give you clues into what you lean into when there are no expectations.

• Think about what you have always gravitated towards (over the course of your life), even the things that don't make sense in the context of a career path (for example: a concept). For me, I ALWAYS gravitated towards technology, I literally created music videos and skits with my friends as a hangout sesh. It is no surprise that this is what I went to college for, but believe it or not, there was a time where I had no idea that looking backwards would lead me on my best path forward. When we look back on our lives, we enable ourselves to understand a perspective that may not have been obvious in the moment. But the more we can reflect on the nuances of our lives, the common threads and themes that have stayed with us all of our lives, the more we can give it meaning as we grow. And the more we grow, the more our past interests, hobbies, and other themes consistent in our lives tend to make sense through the passing of time.

• Our experiences in life can hold with them lessons, and this can speak directly to our values when reflected upon. Out of every experience you've had along the path of your work, identify one positive thing you've learned and how it directly impacted your next move. This is where the value comes in. An experience we wouldn't have otherwise had and experienced is now a learning, an instance that allowed you to take something and make a more informed decision from. If we really felt inclined, we could say that almost every single life experience of ours taught us some kind of lesson. I'm definitely one of those people that believes that there is a reason for everything, but this concept I find is most valuable when considering your career path specifically. In our careers, we are always consciously moving upward and into newer positions that align deeper with where we want to go, and that's why looking back on your career path and identifying at least one positive thing you learned from each experience is valuable. This positive element to your experience more than likely lit the path to where you placed your next foot forward, and THIS is why it is so important to identify, reflect on and understand.