If you are exploring a career transition, the #1 question on your mind is likely “What’s next?” Answering it takes more than analysis – it takes the courage to follow your heart.
There are all sorts of different ways to approach this question. Most involve exercises that play off the Japanese concept of ikigai (your ‘reason for being’), which invites you to explore the intersection of what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs and what you can be paid for.
While this can be a great starting point, it doesn’t go far enough (in my opinion). Why not? Because it encourages us to stay in analysis mode, rather than learning to access deeper, more meaningful sources of wisdom.
One of my teachers said that change happens when the dream is big enough and/or the pain is real enough. Analysis can tell you what makes logical sense, but it doesn’t usually add enough oxygen to fan the flames of our dreams.
Real career transitions – the ones where you step away from work that leaves you feeling drained, uninspired, and questioning your life choices into an alternative that is life-affirming, where you feel content and have a sense that you are doing what you were meant to do on this earth – takes more than intellectual analysis. Real career transitions require a tremendous amount of courage. And the root of the word “courage” is the Latin word cor, meaning “heart”. For real career transitions, we have to follow our hearts.
“People with high levels of personal mastery cannot afford to choose between reason and intuition, or head and heart, any more than they would choose to walk on one leg or see with one eye.” – Peter Senge
My first encounters with heart-thoughts
I learned this lesson early in life. When I graduated from Boston University at the age of 22, my friend’s father gave me a book called Finding The Open Road (which sadly now seems to be out of print). The authors of the book interviewed a number of different people about finding happiness and a sense of purpose in their careers. While the stories were all different, to a person the lesson learned was to “follow your heart.” Cliche? Yes, maybe. But also, true.
My first job after college was basically a scam. We were ostensibly there to ‘produce a television show about investment opportunities in Dubai’, but really, our goal was to sell advertising slots for a program that would air once on paid programming in the middle of the night. Needless to say, it wasn’t very inspiring.
As I read this book, I found my heart started speaking to me. I would literally wake up in the middle of the night, heart racing, with a message echoing inside of me: “THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU’RE MEANT TO DO. GET OUT. GET OUT.”
Within four months, I had quit my first job and found a new one as a paralegal. For the next ten years, I made many career decisions by choosing the option that made my heart feel expanded rather than contracted: foregoing a career in law to join McKinsey as a consultant; leaving the consulting track to create more breathing room in my personal life; moving from Dubai to London for a fresh start. Yes, I could give you the logic behind those decisions, but the truth is, I was following my heart.
For years, this worked well enough. I became great at sensing early on when I was off-track, and confident enough to leave that track for a new one. But still, I felt directionless, not quite sure what I was aiming for. When I was in my early 30s, I met Michael Rennie, then a Senior Partner at McKinsey. This is going to sound a bit out there, but Michael taught me that, beyond checking how my heart ‘feels’ about a decision I had to make, I could actually consult it more actively in envisioning my future.
Well – no wonder I felt like my career (and life) was in one massive holding pattern. I had no idea what I wanted – I’d been reacting to what my heart knew was NOT for me, rather than moving towards any clear vision of my future. I had spent so much time trying to intellectually analyse my options that I hadn’t even considered there might be another way.
When you’re stuck in analysis paralysis, try consulting your heart
It’s that simple, and that difficult, all at the same time. And almost everyone I’ve worked with looks at me like I’m crazy when I first suggest this, before being amazed at discovering this source of wisdom they had previously overlooked.
You see, most of us are not in regular contact with our hearts. Drowned out by the cacophony of thoughts in the mind, the heart can be hard to hear. We need to create some spaciousness and a sense of grounded stillness to hear the whispers of the heart.
Our hearts speak to us in different ways. Mine uses words, same as my mind – the energy behind them is just more settled, grounded, and clear than the energy of my frenetic mind-thoughts. Other people I work with receive heart-thoughts as images or colours, pointing them in a direction they might not have previously consulted.
Here, in brief, are the steps I take my clients through as we consult their hearts about the question “What’s next?”
- Connect with your heart center. We have to first be able to actually feel where our heart resides. Try this and see what happens: Close your eyes, put your feet flat on the ground, put one hand over your heart, and take a few deep breaths. If you have a lot of thoughts swirling in your mind, imagine drawing that energy out of your head and sending it into your heart-center. Keep breathing and let everything around you become still. What do you sense? What do you feel?
- Learn the language of your heart. Once you’ve made that connection, say “hello” to your heart. See how your heart responds. Perhaps it says “hello” back to you, perhaps you feel a surge of energy or see some sort of image or colour. Suspend your disbelief and see what happens.
- Ask your heart a question. If you feel like you’ve got a good connection, try asking it a question. “What should I do with my life?” is a great one. So is “What’s my next step?” or “What am I missing?” See what happens when your mind is quiet and your heart has your attention.
Depending on your experience with these types of activities, it may take some time to cultivate that relationship with your heart. That’s natural – especially if you are stressed or have an overly-active mind (hence my posts on creating space). If you’re finding it difficult, just start with the first step, taking a few moments each morning or evening to put your hand over your heart, take a few deep breaths, and see what you notice. With enough attention and time, your heart will start to speak.
And once you hear it – once you can feel the rightness of a direction – you’ll find you have access to the courage you need to take that first step, and then the next. After all, the journey of a thousand miles begins not just with a single step, but with knowing which direction to walk.
