When I started writing online five years ago, I talked a lot about life purpose and finding the right career. My focus as a coach was helping people to find work that lit them up, and then helping them be brave enough to think they deserved to do it. But I’ve changed a lot in these past five years. I don’t really talk about these things anymore because I am no longer sure how I feel about them. I have been busy unpacking how capitalism, patriarchy, and the conditioning of hustle culture infiltrated how I thought about work, meaning, and “life purpose.” It’s a lot of unlearning. It’s been humbling. But there’s one thing that’s clear as I look in the rearview mirror…
Does Pain Always Have a Purpose? How to Feel the Burn of Being Human
Get Off the Wrong Life Path: How to Make a Change, Live with Purpose, and Find Your Truth
I know there’s a moment in your past when you KNEW you were walking the wrong way (in a job, relationship, creative endeavor, etc) but you just kept going because you’d already put so much work in.
You told yourself it was commitment (“I’m just working hard/staying the path/not giving up”) but you felt tired all the time, didn’t like yourself, and began resenting everything and everybody in this particular life arena.
And then eventually, things exploded anyway.
Guess what? You can learn from this. Today.
Showing Up Flawed: How to Train Your Brain and Ditch Perfectionism
You do not have to be ready, an expert, or always be sure in order to share yourself or your ideas with the world. Imperfect selves and work are how we get to be the people (and have the lives) that we want. You’re going to get things wrong sometimes. You’re going to stumble, screw up, or just generally look like an amateur. I am too, and that’s the only really brave way to live life. By showing up anyway. But how do we actually do that?