To be nobody but yourself in a world doing its best to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human can ever fight and never stop fighting — E.E. Cummings

By Will Wiebe

In Carol Pearson’s book, “The Hero Within” she says “Heroism for the age we are currently living requires each of us to take journeys, to find the treasure of our true selves, and to share that treasure with the community as a whole – through doing that, we become fully who we are as human persons.”

In my years as a professional life, career & transition coach and in my own personal development, it is perfectly clear, life is not static and it is in process of being created all the time. We are all creators of our life experience and the more courage we have to be ourselves the greater chance we have of living an authentic life that will have a positive effect in all aspects of life/work.

I firmly believe, it is only in giving of ourselves and our unique gifts to the world that we can find true happiness and satisfaction and to the extent that we can do this, both our lives and the world we live will be transformed.

It is especially true today, as many individuals are in process of change, specifically in career transition, whether you’re facing being bumped out of your latest job, or just completely bored to the screaming point by work that used to be so gratifying and life giving.

Transition… just the word itself can be intimidating. So, here is the deal…. there are a number of things you can do to ease and manage the anxiety and or stress of transition.

1. Stay in the reality of what’s real.  If your in a situation where you can map out a well thought out plan for your transition, take the time to do it and integrate all aspects of what you will need for the time frame by you want to be in your next career or job.

2. Identify your most important 5-8 work related values.  In many cases, far too many people route their career paths based on either what they’ve done already or what they imagine various jobs/careers to be like rather than on real desires and knowing what their innate talents and strengths are.

3. Identify key elements you currently or in your past work have truly liked. (being with people, team, collaborative approach, leadership etc)

4. Identify elements you would love to have in your career that you haven’t experienced in your day-to-day work experience.

5. Identify elements that you do not want in your career, i.e. negative and or toxic work environments etc.

6. Ask yourself, how much money am I committed to making?

7. What’s the legacy you want to leave in your work/life?

As you work and reflect with these key questions, your response will lead to a list of things you value in your work/life and it will help to lay a wonderful foundational approach as you begin to explore, discover and make your final decision regarding your next career/job.What does it mean to be authentic or have integrity in my career?

As I listened to one of my coaching clients recently, he shared with me the following about what authentic meant to him.

“I feel at a gut level that I’m not living up to my true potential… and not using my gifts in the most effective manner. To me that is the essence of in-authenticity. Sometimes the work I can do can be very interesting and engaging. On many occasions, however, I just want to say Who cares about this stuff??? I’d rather be helping people directly…not just in some indirect way by how I succeed in promoting their company or product or
issue. I’d rather be engaging people on a much more personal front and seeing how I can help them with issues that really matter—like their emotional and spiritual health. I realize that I have become the “resident counselor” for many at my job because I am open to listening, and easily approachable…people feel comfortable confiding in me…that’s when I really feel useful at work…when I’m connecting with people one-on-one.”

As I listened to my client, it was clear that his situation is fairly common in corporate America. My client didn’t want to just stay stuck like many people do for an entire career/lifetime. He had the courage to listen to his gut or intuitive self and find a way to be himself.

Authenticity is vital to the experience of listening to your intuitive self, which is the very core or essence of who you are. It comes from a feeling of integrity and connection between what you think, feel and do. To be true to yourself, you must be willing to express yourself honestly and act in accordance with your highest life/work values.

Lastly, by living an authentic life, we attract to us what is meant to us. Being true to ourselves connects us to the resources and opportunities that will help us fulfill our true potential. Finally, it is so important for individual’s who are in career transition to learn to trust themselves and their own gifts and as they do, they will grow more comfortable and confident in who they are.

Exclaiming “Yes” to our true selves opens us up to the abundance of living happier, healthier, more creative, interesting and prosperous lives.The one true test of an authentic life is by asking oneself, does it bring you joy? If it does, life/work becomes its own reward.