It’s Not OK to Feel Desperate at Work

When we spiritually awaken, our day-to-day jobs can become painful. The career goals we have accomplished can feel empty. Work that doesn’t feel authentic to our spirit leaves us unfulfilled.

I’ve experienced this personally, after three major life milestones: the day I graduated college, after my wedding, and the year I finished my master’s degree. All three events were expectations from society and family—and tied to my self-worth, too. I knew I was supposed to feel a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment, but instead I felt utterly depressed, unfulfilled, and like I was still missing something.

It doesn’t have to be this way. You can have both a meaningful career and spiritual fulfillment.

Throughout my years as a corporate leader and reiki practitioner, I have identified patterns in the work that must be done to realign ourselves to our soul’s purpose, and have guided hundreds of people in shifting their corporate careers to better suit their spiritual awakening. Here are the eight steps I’ve discovered that can empower you to create new opportunities, too:

Activate your path now.

1. Find out who you really are

There is a difference between who we were influenced to become and who we are at our core. There are hundreds of ways for your soul’s purpose to re-emerge. Human Design is one of my favorite methods to introduce to those looking to switch careers. Examining your favorite skills, astrological disposition, and communication styles are just a few methods to dive into.

2. Identify what you truly want and why

In my experience, identifying what we truly want is hard because we have all been striving towards what other people want. This step is about giving yourself permission to desire, and giving yourself permission to get out of the box that family, friends, colleagues, bosses, and society have created. A good starting point is to reflect on the quality of life you’d like to create for yourself, what your day to day looks like right now, and what skills you use daily. It’s also important to identify the specific things you want out of life.

3. Try shadow work

BetterUp describes shadow work as “working with your unconscious mind to uncover the parts of yourself that you repress and hide from yourself.” Carl Jung introduced shadow work to reconnect with the deeper parts of ourselves beyond the ego. We spend so much time hiding our dark emotional side that we start to ignore it within ourselves. The goal of shadow work is to achieve self-acceptance, self-compassion and self-love for all parts of yourself, including the parts that you judge.

Many forms of inner work require you to engage in an active dialogue with your shadow side. Many different psychologists offer ways of working with these different parts, including Jung’s Active Imagination, Yalom’s The Gift of Therapy, Stone and Winkleman’s Voice Dialogue, and Assagioli’s Psychosynthesis.

4. Practice introspection

Spending time with yourself and listening to your inner voice, inner child, and inner thoughts with self-awareness can bring magic into your life. There is no right or wrong way to do this, and I always recommend my clients try at least five ways, from walking meditation to journaling to silent retreats.

Practicing introspection can help you identify the aspects of your job that are most meaningful to you, so you can pivot to focusing more on doing what you love.

5. Try new activities

Once you’ve tried the above methods of getting deep, you can begin the real work of diving into new activities that match some of the results. For example, as a manifesting generator (Human Design) and INFJ (Meyers Briggs) and through consulting with my inner child, I have found that I enjoy connecting with people and empowering them. I have done many things with these skills, like becoming a reiki practitioner, counselor, coach, and entrepreneur.

This exercise requires research into different avenues of expression, and the most important part is to take action and give it a try. Remember that this step does not define who you are—it is the beginning of exploring the shift in your career. Converting your insights into action can help you develop new career skills that will encourage you to level up in areas of your work that matter most.

6. Clear resistance

We each have a limit on how much abundance, success, and love we think we deserve. This limit comes from the stories we tell ourselves, the experiences we have had in our lives, and our belief systems. Examining our limiting beliefs and creating room for abundance is an important step to the process of finding your career path. Breathwork is a unique way to clear resistance and a fast way to gain inspiration towards your career path.

7. Acknowledge the signs

It is not always obvious that we are on the right path, especially when we are in a state of getting to the next goal post. It’s important to stop and acknowledge how far you’ve gotten on your path. An attitude of daily gratitude opens our self-awareness to receive the signs that we are on our soul’s mission. It’s important to not overthink it. Instead, get grounded and centered by spending time in nature and actively listening to your inner dialogue; this will allow for some space to help you recognize the direction you’re headed towards.

8. Ask for guidance

This is indeed a personal journey we must all take and having an impartial perspective can provide some guidance. Create a team of practitioners that work for you. For example, my team includes my therapist, reiki master, hypnotherapist, and breathwork coach.

It can be daunting to start a new journey on our own. If you want to get a running start on exploring the eight steps above, join our free “Activate your Path” 3-day event to get a head start or book a free 30-minute consultation to get started on all the above. Follow Jassy on Instagram @crystalunavortex.