311. When Corporate Life Soured, Life Coaching Brought Her Full-Circle

Jodi was enjoying her senior executive work with a mutual fund, inspiring the staff to maintain high standards of corporate quality. “A large part of the strategy that I adopted with my team was to make the work environment feel like working with your family and friends, so everyone wanted to do their best to make life easier and support each other.” But after her firm was acquired twice, each time by larger corporations, the corporate culture changed. The emphasis on quality and family feeling decreased, and Jodi sensed the time had come to move on.

As her job at the mutual fund became less gratifying, she began hearing about life coaching, sensing its connection to an earlier calling in life. As a college student she had earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and almost completed work on a master’s degree in counseling psychology. The main options for that pathway were in social work, “So, that’s when I pivoted into an entry level position in corporate, that actually worked out great for me.” When the corporate world began to lose its appeal, “I started meeting coaches and talking to them about it. Coaching was everything that I loved about psychology. Everything started to come together. The coaching certification program I wanted to do started in two weeks, so the timing was absolutely perfect.”

“Though it sounds kind of corny, ‘Follow your bliss’ is an expression that makes perfect sense. Follow what interests you, what gets you excited, where you want to make a difference in the world, doing work that lends itself to your strengths, talents, and interests. That’s where you’re going to hit your sweet spot.”

1. Find communities of like-minded people and consider joining a formalized networking organization like Business Networking International.

2. Pay attention when life is spiraling you around full-circle. It’s an opportunity for self-discovery.

3. Make sure that you’re doing work that makes a difference for yourself and is in alignment with your values.

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, by Eckhart Tolle

The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness, by Jeff Olsen