Making peace with career confusion & a portfolio path

In my ongoing mission to relieve purpose-angst and career-confusion, this post from the newsletter archive is a guide for making peace with a bumpy career path or wondering what you’re meant to do. 

(SPOILER ALERT: There is good news…. )

{NOTE: This is an archived version of my Creativity Newsletter from 22.4.22.

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Finding what you love to do

I hope you’ve had a lovely Easter week.

My garden has been filled with family and foodie fun – I’m so grateful for these sunny Spring days! 😎

During one of our get-togethers, I was chatting with my dad about the joys of loving our work and he reminded me of one of his favourite sayings;

“Find a job you enjoy doing,
and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

MARK TWAIN

And it got me thinking…

When I first heard that phrase years ago, my response went along these lines;

Imagine never working! Then we’d be free to do what we actually want to do!!

These days I have a different reaction.

It’s one of my greatest joys that I can (finally!) relate to the idea of work not feeling like work – because it’s such a pleasure, something I’m so grateful that I get to do, rather than something that I have to do.

As a result, the prospect of not working is no longer appealing – because I LOVE to work! 😍

Not working is no longer a route to happiness for me.

Doing the work that feels like play is my path to happy. (And, I believe, the path to a healthier, happier world for us all.)

The benefits of a bumpy career path

I also got to thinking about the first half of the phrase; find the job you enjoy doing…

These 6 words sum up the greatest mission of my life, since my career odyssey began in 2013.

It’s been quite a journey, with many many joys, but also many bumps in the road.

Happily, (hopefully!), the greatest trials are an increasingly distant memory.

But I’m no stranger to the tears of frustration when nothing seems to work, or the soul-angst of feeling unable to live the life I know is meant for me.

For example, some of the jobs I’ve done on my way to my Dream Career would not have been on my Dharma-Vision Wish List. 🙈

(The less said about my brief stint in the realm of car sales the better…)

And yet, looking back, I can see how they helped me, how they were actually a key part of the mix.

What I felt at the time were less-than-ideal jobs were actually providing a vital grounding in key skills that I’d need later in my real dharma work.

Making peace with where we are

While I’ve made peace with the detours that got me to here, I do sometimes wish I’d been able to embrace them more positively at the time.

And to that end, I’m releasing a new free sample extract from Your Creative Dharma, in the hopes that others can find more calm and faith in their current work lives if they seem a long way from a Dream Career.

Because even though I believe that finding and doing the work we love – the work we are meant to do – is a key marker for living our best lives, I feel more strongly that enjoying the journey matters most.

So in this new post, I offer you some insights on how a bumpy career path can be a perfect training ground for dharma joys to come.

And that not only is it possible to find more peace and acceptance with the present imperfect scenario, but this might be the healthiest, happiest way to navigate it, and maybe even accelerate your progress.

Besides, our dharmas are not a box to tick, they’re an organic and dynamic process of continual refining and redefining.

So if we’ll never reach the finish line, we may as well find ways to enjoy the race. 😌

And what better time to begin that practice than right here and right now?

So, if your dharma feels a long way off, or your career path has been a little bumpier than you’d like, I hope this idea will bring calm, hope and a degree of contentment to your fulfilment-seeking heart;

Introducing… The Dharma Journey Career Blend

My mission to relieve career heartache was the driving force behind Your Creative Dharma – I desperately wanted to help others move beyond the angst of career confusion or the ache of an unanswered calling.

But if there was one tip I could share to help others not only find the work they love but also to make peace with the present as they do, it’s a single idea that I’ve christened The Dharma Journey Career Blend.

I share this concept at the end of the Your Creative Dharma online course, but it occurred to me that it might be more helpful at the beginning of a dharma-discovery process.

So, in line with my own dharma – to support the creative people I feel most called to help and assist them in finding their most joyful work – I’m sharing this extract from Your Creative Dharma over on Creative Well:

DISCOVER THE DHARMA JOURNEY CAREER BLEND

It’s the route I took to finding my own joyful work, so I can vouch that it can lead to the life we know is meant for us.

A life where work feels like play, but more importantly, a life where we feel we have found our groove, our place in the world.

I wish I could bottle the deep sense of peace and fulfillment that comes with this feeling. ✨

This feeling is, I believe, the true definition of dharma – and it’s a joy I wish for everyone, especially lovely creatives like you.

So, if your soul is craving the peace, joy and fulfilment of your unique creative career sweet spot, you can learn more about this momentum-building idea here.

I hope it will help you in crafting your Dream Career, as well as finding more joy and appreciation in where you are right now.

Because that way, so much soul-satisfying magic lies…

Danielle

“Your detours and misalignments are absolutely essential to the depth of your forward motion.”

~ RICK JAROW

Imagine if what you love to do

is what you’re meant to do……

Discover your sweet-spot of creative fulfilment, commercial success & life purpose.

EXPLORE YOUR CREATIVE DHARMA

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FROM THE NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE: 

DANIELLE RAINE

creativity blogger, online course creator & holistic creativity coach