What do you perceive when you look at your current career? What do your most honest predictions reveal about your path? Did you choose this path, or did you simply fall into it? Is your career aligned with the truth of who you really are? If you were starting over from scratch today, would you choose this same line of work again? Do you have any regrets about the paths you didn’t choose?
To align your career with truth, you must ask these tough questions and answer them as honestly as possible. Accept your answers even if you don’t like what you see. Your’re always free to make different choices from this point onward, but in order to do so, you must unconditionally accept where you are. Never pretend to love a career that you know is wrong for you.
Truth is an essential part of career development. This means being true to yourself as well as being down-to-earth and practical. One practical consideration is that you must generate sufficient income to meet your needs. While it’s certainly possible to earn income outside your main career, for most people a career serves as the main source of income. Doing what you love won’t be very sustainable if you can’t pay your bills.
Another practical consideration is selecting a medium that fits your message. It can be very challenging to get this right on your first try. However, the good news is that you aren’t limited to just one attempt. You’re free to shift your medium over time as you become more aligned with the truth of who you are.
I (Steve Pavlina) don’t know of a good method for you to discover the perfect career medium on your very first try. However, I don’t think that’s really the point. Your career path is an ongoing journey, and it probably won’t be an entirely linear one. Find the right medium for your message is a continual process of refinement. Your choice of medium will evolve over time as you bring yourself into greater alignment with truth, love, and power. As you discover what’ most important to you in life, you’ll make better, more congruent choices. Don’t worry about trying to be perfect. Simply make the best decision you can, and then put it into action. If you make a bad choice, you’ll find out soon enough.
The most important element of choosing the right medium is whether it’s a good fit for your inner message. It’s important to stay true to that message, even if you must endure a substantial pay cut. In order to transition from game development to personal development, I allowed my income to drop significantly, and my family made some sacrifices to support my decision as we cut back on expenses.
Regardless of financial concerns, it was the right decision, and within a few years my income was higher than ever. It’s perfectly okay to go through a short-term plunge in your finances when you undergo a career transition. If the new medium is a better fit for you than the old one, then you should be able to earn even more income once you build sufficient skills.
Never allow considerations such as security, money, or fame to get in the way of truth. Real security doesn’t come from your job or position; it can only come from your alignment with truth, love, and power. The best way to optimize your income is to find a career medium that allows you to share your most important message. By sharing your message with others, you provide exactly the kind of value that can generate abundant income. And as for fame, if you do become famous, then let it arise from your alignment with truth, love, and power, not because of a false image you’ve concocted.
Truth will help you pick an appropriate medium for your message, but it won’t necessarily help you identify the message itself. For that you need to apply other principles, especially the principle of love.
* Source: Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina