At a recent dinner with a friend, she expressed that maybe after 20 plus years of working in her field perhaps she wanted to do something different. That it would energize her and be fun to explore another side of life both professionally and personally. But how would she reinvent herself? What would be the steps? Of greater concern, how would she replace the income she had become accustomed to?
Another professional colleague asked a similar question over a cup of coffee. At 15 years in her chosen field, was she actually doing the work she was meant to be doing? How would she know? What she did know was there was a question in her mind, prodding and pushing her to begin exploring.
That is how it started for me, the little voice inside saying “there is something more for you to do.” The voice, urge, push or unease that we have is the first attempt to look at our lives, careers and self differently. Perhaps it comes on Sunday evening as we anticipate the week ahead, knowing that it will be a close repeat of the week prior. Or driving to a client meeting and projecting out to see ourselves doing this 10 or 20 years from now. These first few “silent” pushes are easily ignored as fantasy or simply zoning out while driving.
Yet the voice or the push keeps coming back into our conscious over and over again. At some point, we share the thought out loud and it becomes something more, or not.
Have you given your inner voice a real voice yet? Have you shared your concern, unease or need to do more with someone else? You may find a new and exciting adventure ahead, a project for exploration, or confirmation that you are exactly who and where you need to be. Any of these are better than the alternative of waking up many years from now wondering “how did I end up here?”