Trust the process
I knew in my heart that I needed a change. Other than moving from Arizona to Oregon, my life felt pretty much the same every single day. Like most people, I was in a flow. My days looked and felt the same. I loved the consistency, but hated the monotony. I squeezed in an interesting destination or two for a vacation and I made a few new friends. But overall, each day I went right back to the same job. I took care of my circle of people and sometimes myself. Then I started it all over again the next day. It became so mind numbing that I felt like I couldn’t get off the train. Don’t get me wrong…I felt incredibly grateful for all that I had. However, I just knew that there was more that I wanted to do while I was here on planet Earth.
The flow that I was in was so rigid that I couldn’t see a single way to move. How could there be anything else that I could do? My limiting beliefs made it seem like the only option was to find a new job. That’s all it takes, right? So, I set out to do just that. I worked my way into a few companies and had several successful interviews. Yet something was off. I would walk through the building and look at the people. Using my “spidey” senses, I would scan the environment - the people, the lighting, the vibe. I would try to figure out if I fit. Did I connect with the people interviewing me? Would I fit in with the people around the office? Would I actually be inspired to work for this company? Was this really my next step?
I spent so much time prepping for each interview. I scoured the internet learning about each company, their employees and anything else I could find that would help me show up as the top candidate. I would interview with the recruiter, the senior leaders, and the executives. I would assess them as much as they were assessing me. Despite my passionate efforts, I received decline letters for each job.
What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t they see that I was the one they needed on their team? How could they pass me up? I needed them to hire me so I could have a better life. I was devastated. Deflated. I questioned my whole life. Maybe I actually wasn’t smart. Maybe I actually didn’t know how to be a strong leader. Maybe I actually didn’t know how to build loyal customer relationships. The list went on and on.
I was convinced this new job would fix my life. How could there be any other path leading to my happiness? Well…I’m here to tell you, I was completely wrong. My relentless focus on simply finding a similar job to replace my current job was NOT what I was supposed to do. All of those declines, including the postings that were ignored by the recruiters, were the biggest part of my redirection. My doubts were louder than the messages I needed to hear about where I was headed.
Fast-forward several years into phase two of my journey. I’m still in awe of all that has shifted in such positive ways. Thanks to Linda (my therapist) and Rosie (my coach), I started to unravel the web of limiting beliefs. I had buried certain abilities and dreams that I had almost forgotten about.
Looking back, the key to my success was trusting the process. Simply stated, I believed that no matter what came along, the process would teach me what I needed to learn as long as I was willing to listen, patient enough to pause and able to trust that something good would come out of the chaos.
You can do the same!