A ritual that I live by, even if I only get 2 minutes to do it, is to wake up (but lay in bed a few more minutes), say thank you and ask “how can I serve today?” And let me tell you, that question is answered almost immediately.

While I love encountering those lucky folks who absolutely love their professions I think a lot more people work in the liminal space between deadlines and daydreams.

From my own experience I know that when we sit with ourselves and answer these questions we create an opportunity to build a career in a way that we are seldom encouraged to start from.

We change, our lives change, our skills change, our self awareness changes and therefore our careers may also be asking to change. Sometimes the change is clear in our face. Sometimes the change needing to be made is not so clear but you may be sensing that something isn’t working for you anymore.

And how to move through it. This topic begs repeating because I came across a few more people recently in my own professional community that are struggling with this. I first wrote about it here.

I highly advocate for sharing your ideas, goals and ambitions with a few others. Even if they feel foolish to admit or totally out of reach- there is great power in getting these hopes and dreams out in the big wide world.

So if you have a project or venture in mind that absolutely must get off the ground, gather the right support, don’t hide it from others until it’s ready. Start telling those closest to you about what it is you are envisioning. Create your launch team and get moving!

Sometimes you just have to sit with an idea, hum-and-ha it over for a bit, even if it seems you may never come to a solution.

A lot of what I learned over the years as I navigate a creative career is the skill of adaptability. Staying flexible, open and less rigid for me has literally allowed me to learn a ton, expand my career beyond anything I could have possibly dreamt up when I started.

Looking back at my career journey over the years I can certainly admit that trusting the process was and often is a challenge. Work needed to be done.

Ok so I don’t know if I’ve mastered this skill but I certainly have gotten more comfortable doing it over the years.

Have you ever tried to make something work for so long all the while yearning for for something else?

I was on the fence about the title of the post. While it does sound like click-bait, I assure you it isn’t and I promise to share the advice, what I did with it and how things have been going since then.

When creating a new path for yourself leads you to very clear and helpful information that your approach is wrong, then it’s always best to pivot. Here’s my story…

This started after a morning of deep contemplation in the gym sauna (where I spend most mornings after school drop off). I thought seriously about which moments in my day light me up the most. What experiences bring me the most joy and excitement?

Surely we cannot rewrite much of the past. Maybe we can reframe the way we always thought about the past when we review a memory in our head or share the memory verbally with someone in conversation, but what stories do we have now about ourselves can we start rewriting today?

I really believe in the power of personal projects. In my own experience, the personal projects I have launched have taught me so much about my own capabilities. They’ve opened doors and opportunities beyond my own imagination.

Although the year had its fair share of challenges, I equally had so many beautiful experiences of pure stoke. What is stoke exactly?

It was this time last year that I was swimming through the depths of remote work loneliness and was actively in pursuit of a way out. Zoom meetings with the camera on were not helpful. Interactions at coworking spaces were minimal at best. I needed community but that felt a bit impossible as I live in a rural neighborhood and it seemed like more things were available in larger cities.

As I sit down to write, I realize it’s nearly 11 pm. This is usually not the hour I feel the most reflective nor inspired to share a story, however, this night I felt compelled to do so. Those of you who are at the mercy of creative energy know exactly what I am talking about.