About this time one year ago, I made one of the scariest decisions of my life. I left my stable, full-time DREAM job...
It was September 15th, one day before Mexican Independence day (coincidence? I don’t think so).
So this half-Mexican was let loose into the wild and had to decide between taking time off, traveling the world, or building her dream. What did I do? All those things. AT ONCE.
What a DREAM. Right?
Well yes, but now that I’m done travelling and diving in full-time to this wonderful community of dreamers, it’s even better.
But this time of year still reminds me of the nervousness I felt back then - a pretty even blend of joy, fear, and anxiety that had me going to yoga every day just to be able to breathe again.
“Inhaleee…..and exhaleee.....WHAT IF IT DOESN’T WORK OUT…..inhaleeeeeeee…..exhaleeeee….GAH HELP ME……”
Do you ever feel like your potential is just waiting to burst out of you too?
You're not alone. It's one of the most common things I hear among our generation.
But we feel limited by ourselves or others. And having to fit all your potential in a metaphorical or physical box (hello cubicle), makes us inert. Numb. Less passionate about life.
This can manifest in all kinds of sneaky ways, like low physical energy (a symptom that you're uninspired). Even self-medicating in the form of drinking, overeating, or overspending.
These cheap forms of borrowed happiness may give us momentary relief, but the larger issue remains:
You're not fulfilling your potential, and it might be time for a change. Here are three signs that this is the case for you.
1. Your work is stunting your growth like giving coffee to a three-year-old.
Do you ever wake up ready to throw your alarm clock (aka phone LOL) at the wall? Do you have days where it’s hard for you to keep a smile pasted on your face throughout the day?
Someone once said, "If you're not feeding your mind, you're falling behind."
And if your job isn’t stretching you, pushing you forward, making you better, you’re probably less fulfilled, and therefore less happy as time goes by.
Are you constantly expanding your skill set, potential, and knowledge base?
If not, what could you change, either within or outside your work environment, to continue growing? Personal growth is one of the keys, after all, to a thriving life.
2. You've been thinking about a change for a while.
When you go to bed, when you brush your teeth, when you drink your morning tea.
Your dream is hard core STALKING you!
Yeah, it’s desperate and obsessed with you (definitely not a good quality for a relationship BTW) but making a change and giving it even a couple puffs of CPR can breathe it to LIFE.
Sounds too dreamy, right?
Yeah I thought so too. I mean, my LinkedIn profile says I used to be the director of an amazing nonprofit. I already HAD the dream job.
But in my head — and to the people who really knew me — I was a coach and teacher. As time went by, it was harder and harder to maintain what felt like a betrayal of who I knew I really was.
So when I turned 25, I made the commitment to finally build my business from the ground up...
My focus on my dream naturally grew because it kept popping into my head.It was my #1 fan. My only stalker (thank god). And I knew that it was ultimately my destiny to bring it to life.
... less than 12 months later, I still think it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. It was scary as ALL GET OUT at the time, but so worth it.
If you've spent a long time thinking about doing something else, consider it a MAJOR sign.
3. You feel out of alignment.
Are the books you read, the subjects you love to talk about, and the topics you research aligned with your work?
These are all big signs of what interests and motivates you.
What I know from experience is that when we do meaningful work, we access energy we didn't know we had. That's why side hustles are so rapidly on the rise: they're passion-fueled.
When we're not activating the special gifts within us that want to surface, our soul knows it. It's like a quiet, unsettling voice that won't be silenced. So listen to it.
A new job, career or side hustle beckons if even one if these apply to you. Because your talent (and your life!) is too important to squander.
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