You Can't Think Your Way Out of This One
I'll never forget the moment I witnessed the supreme intelligence of the body.
I was coaching someone struggling with whether or not to make the long drive to visit family for Thanksgiving.
In addition to the visit being fraught with the usual holiday dynamics, she had intense shoulder pain. The pain was intensifying and radiating down her arm, so she was concerned about spending hours sitting immobile in a car.
We reasoned through the options. There were solid arguments on both sides, and a litany of repercussions and feelings to consider. She was torn.
Then I asked what her shoulder would say.
Her response was firm and immediate, "My shoulder says to stay home."
In a fraction of a second, her body answered decisively what we could've spent hours debating logically.
When we listen to our higher intelligence—our feelings, physically sensations, and intuition—we get answers. Why then, do we so often ignore these clues?
Many of the people that come to me for career help also suffer from physical pain, sleep issues, headaches, stomach aches, exhaustion, and burnout.
Their jobs are literally making them sick.
Sometimes it's due to workload and long hours. But there's almost always an element of stifled autonomy and longing for bigger purpose: the existential struggle of knowing they're capable of so much more than they’re currently doing.
We work so hard for so much of our careers to get there, only to arrive and think, "Is this all there is???"
It’s exhausting to feel like there's more yet live each day with less.
We FEEL, deep down, this isn’t all there is. Our bodies KNOW we’re meant for something greater and send us increasingly urgent warning signals.
Meantime, our brains are grinding away, working overtime to figure it out--without results.
It's where we thinkers really get tripped up. We've relied for so long on logic, reason, and our "intelligence" to give us the answers.
Yet in the process of career change--as in any transformation--there's so much we can't think our way out of.
I’ve suffered from crippling headaches. I’ve burned out twice. I've felt the emotional pain of working on stuff that didn’t really matter, the spiritual pain of knowing I was meant to do different work, and the mental pain of using only 30% of my potential brain power.
It was only when I stopped giving so much airtime to my brain and started listening to how I FELT that things really started to change for the better.
I decided that life is too precious to live with pain of any kind.
Now my job is helping others find their own answers about what they truly want in their career and life.
If you know you're meant for something bigger and ready for more autonomy, purpose, and answers to up-level your career and life, email me for a complimentary strategy session.
Here’s what we’ll do together:
Laser in on what you really want
Understand what’s keeping you stuck
Map out a plan for you to get out of your head and into action
These sessions are precious and space and time is limited, so don't overthink it. And please, only email me if you're serious and ready for a big shift!
I can't wait to dive into this with you.
Author Bio:
Before becoming a coach, Caroline worked in management consulting and financial services. She's made it her mission to help people grow, contribute, and get wherever they want to go.
She’s also a tennis fanatic, aspiring Minimalist, FIRE (Financial Independence and Retire Early) enthusiast, and Aloha Spirit seeker 🤙. She loves to share stories from her unconventional life and career focused on freedom, creativity, fun, health, family, and community. If she can do it, you can, too.
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