Have you ever looked around at your life and wondered, “Is this it?” or “Whose life am I living?”
If so, then you need to get curious and ask yourself “What if…”, so you can find your way to a life of purpose and fulfillment.
After nearly two decades spent climbing the corporate ladder, I found myself at a crossroads. Instead of feeling fulfilled and happy with where I had ended up, I was exhausted, uninspired at work, and extremely burnt out. It felt like I was slowly sinking deeper into a pit that I couldn’t climb out of.
It wasn’t always this way. For a long time, I loved my consulting career. I traveled all over the United States and even spent time in Germany and Australia working as a Technical Architect.
I was the go-to person for pulling projects out of the red zone and getting them back on track. I thrived on helping my clients solve challenging problems, implement new systems, and design better business processes. I also enjoyed training, coaching, and mentoring both client staff and internal teams, no matter what my job title was at the time.
However, the constant pressure of “dumpster fire” projects, the long hours, and the lack of self-care eventually caught up with me. I knew something needed to change, but I didn’t know how or what to change.
The truth is, if you had told me then that I’d end up as a yoga teacher and life coach, I would have laughed at you. In fact, I fought against that direction, because I didn’t believe in myself and what I had to offer. If you’re stubborn like me and you feel like you’ve been lost for a long time, don’t worry, you can still get there.
My journey from exhaustion and burnout to happiness and fulfillment began with a simple question: “What if…”.
I had taken a weekend to myself to think and rest. I packed up the car with food, my journal, and my little dog and drove out to the ocean. No internet, no cell service, and no responsibilities. It felt like the weight just fell off my shoulders, as I relaxed and rested for the first time in a long time.
As I wandered through massive driftwood piles on the far western shores of the United States, watching huge waves crash onto the beach, I randomly picked up two sticks and started drumming out a beat. This surprised me because I had been fired by my guitar instructor after only one lesson when I was 16. I believed I wasn’t creative and definitely NOT musical.
This moment made me think:
What if I actually COULD do something different and have a different life?
If I could unexpectedly create music, then what else could I do? It made me realize that our worlds are only limited by the things we think are limiting us. If you ask yourself “What if…” and you dare to dream, where might it take you?
This weekend was my catalyst and it catapulted me onto a far different path than I could have ever imagined for myself. The thing is, if you want to have that catalyst moment, you have to get out of your day to day routine, at least for a short time, so you can experience a different kind of life.
To start finding direction and purpose, you can start by making some space for yourself to experiment, play, try stuff and be bad at it. Just play and explore new things, without expectation. This can be taking a class, volunteering, experimenting with a new hobby, or just picking up a couple sticks and starting to make music.
Next, assess what you did and didn’t like about those experiences. How did you feel before, after, and during the experience? Make sure you have space to reflect, journal, and really understand your feelings here.
Finally, if at all possible, take a week or a weekend and get outside your normal day to day life. I’ve found that,
My biggest breakthroughs and fastest growth have been the times I put myself in a different space, with a group of like minded people.
I love retreats for this because they give you the opportunity to have huge shifts in a short amount of time.
The path to fulfillment isn’t straightforward. It’s about being open to new experiences, asking yourself “What if?”, and daring to dream. By giving myself a taste of something new and asking “What if…”, I was able to start moving from a place of feeling lost and directionless towards a life of clarity, purpose, and joy. And if I can do it, so can you.
