Share your experience

[Anna E]

I am wondering about values vs. areas of life. I think I am confusing them. I value: freedom, creativity, learning and growth, adventure, wellness and connection (not comparing just yet those to the values I came up with based on the triggers I have had).. These aren’t necessarily values (rules?), though, right? Just things you prioritize? And then if you look at area of life in the Desire Map, it has creativity and learning as an area of life….

[Kristen W]

Hi Anna,

It makes sense that you might be getting these things confused (values, Core Desired Feelings, areas of life, etc.). Since I know you’re currently in our PPVE program, I’d suggest that you might want to press pause on your Short Course experience here so can first focus on the PPVE process. The PPVE is a LOT to take in already, so trying to combine it simultaneously with the Short Course is bound to feel overwhelming! You can always come back to what you’re learning here in the Short Course later on, of course.

I would recommend listening to the recording of the “PPVE Week 2 Live Hangout” (if you weren’t with us live) because we start off describing the difference between values and CDFs — I think that might clear this up for you. And remember, the terminology of all of this is WAY less important than the fact that it’s all leading you to the same place: greater awareness about who you are and what you want, both in your career and in your life in general. You can’t do any of this “wrong,” and it’s all meant to help you get out of your logical brain for a bit and access your feelings/emotions.

Hope that helps! 🙂

[Anna E]

Thanks, the PPVE week 2 live hangout definitely helped a lot in clearing that up 🙂

[Kristen W]

Awesome, glad that helped, Anna!

[Gennelle R]

Hello!

I’d just like to thank you so much for putting the course and the whole program together. I’ve always struggled with knowing what my passion was and kinda of knowing what it was but not wanting to do it for a career in fear that I would come to hate it. I always thought something was wrong with me or that I really didn’t have that one “THING” I should be doing in my life.

I took the quiz and I got Thriver – aha! It all made sense to me now. I love being free to do what I want to do even if I don’t get paid for it. I also identify with the Side Hustle profile too since I like variety and having multiple income streams and tend to get bored easy.

I took the short course over a year ago and every time I feel that feeling like I don’t know what I should be doing with my life, I revisit my profiles and the course and feel at ease once again.

Again many thanks!

[Kristen W]

Hi Gennelle,

You’re incredibly welcome, and thank YOU for sharing such valuable feedback! I’m so happy to hear that the Short Course was so helpful and validating for you. There is nothing at all wrong with not wanting to combine your passion with your career, and most of the Thrivers out there will totally understand what you mean by that! I love that you keep coming back to your profile and this course when you need some reassurance and a reminder about what’s most important to you. That’s awesome! 🙂

[Christian V]

Lightbulbs, left and right! So glad I have put in the time for this course. Listening to the content, and coming back to it once a week, have really helped to keep me inspired (and consistent).

My most recent “aha!” moment came from your, “Look at your boss, if you don’t want her job, or anyone else’s job in your company… maybe it’s time to go.”

As a Thriver (and #2 Tribemember), there are very few people whose “work lives” I’ve admired. I usually take a look at various job descriptions and think, that would be cool to get involved in, without considering the values of the job. Not in government contracting, not in a small business, not in a massive company, not even in a medium-ish company have I ever looked up to someone and said, that’s what I want my work-life balance to look like.

This is a whole new method of career planning that I never considered!

When I think about it in this light, “What does my work life look like in 10 years?”, the only people whose work lives I admire are: my wedding caterer, my interior design color expert, my personal stylist, and the happiest girl I know: Kelsey.

Kelsey is not a professional anything. She pet-sits, house-sits for various people in the wealthy neighborhood, makes artistically-designed plantings for flowerpots, and is the favorite shampoo girl at our hair salon because she is an incredible (but not-professional) masseuse, The rest of her time is spent biking, doing yoga, and leading her youth group. Any job where you drop everything, show up, and focus really hard work for a few days on a project for one client instead of a group, and then move on to the next project sounds AMAZING to me.

From here on out, I’ll only be looking for jobs that center around my own hard work and flexibility!

[Kristen W]

Hi Christian! I love that you’re having lightbulb moments all over the place. 🙂 It’s smart of you to keep coming back to the content each week to stay inspired and remember what’s most important to you. It’s awesome that you’re doing that!

You’ve obviously gotten extremely clear about your top values in a workplace (flexibility being #1!), which is HUGE. You’re right, it’s an entirely different way of career planning that most people never understand. But now that you’re thinking more about the values you want to find in a great workplace, it’s going to be MUCH easier to recognize the right environment when you find it.

I’m really glad you took to heart our suggestion of looking for people whose work lives you admire. There’s so much valuable info in paying attention to who you admire/are jealous of! It leads you straight into the heart of your desires. So if you really admire Kelsey and her pieced-together working life (it sounds like she’s done an awesome job of seamlessly integrating her work with the rest of her life!), then clearly you want some version of what she has. The next step is giving yourself permission to desire that, even if it’s seemingly not “normal” or conventional. You’re allowed to fund your life in any way that feels good to you, so give yourself full permission to explore whatever career options sound fun, flexible, and particularly interesting.

Thank you so much for sharing your many shifts and “ah-ha” moments! You’ve clearly learned tons about yourself and what you want, and you’re absolutely on the right track to finding a job (or maybe a collection of jobs, like Kelsey) that align with your values.

[Kimberly H]

I just finished the short course. It was very enlightening. I know I suffer from burn out and learned what I need to do to prevent that from happening with any position, including my current one, because I know it will. As a thriver, you hit the nail on the head. My passion is flexibility that will allow me to do what I enjoy in life. My passion is not necessarily my job, which I have always let define me. I have also come to realize that a more rewarding career for me is variety, which may be more than one position. I am considering revisiting a past job-type that may be a better fit at this time in my life than it was when a did it a decade or so ago. Thank you for the help. I do believe that something better is on the horizon, although I don’t yet know what it is!!

[Kristen W]

Kimberly — I’m happy to hear that the Short Course was so enlightening for you! Sounds like you’re finally giving yourself complete permission to NOT let your job define you and to have passions that have nothing to do with your job. That’s a huge relief for most Thrivers! It can also be tough for some people to admit that they want a variety of positions/jobs because that’s not aligned with the “traditional” idea of a career that many of us have been taught. But I’m glad you’re open to that, as well! Timing can play a huge factor in how fulfilling a particular job is, so it might be worth looking into a past job that wasn’t a good fit then, but might be perfect for you now. I hope you’ll come back to share what ends up working out for you! 🙂

[Stephanie L]

I got so excited knowing that I am not confused and that I am multi-passionate person who thrives as a side hustler. I am now going to embrace my many passions and not pick just one to pursue whether it is paid or unpaid. I found another multi-passionate person in Marie Forleo and have signed up for her weekly videos and lessons. I like now that when people ask me what I do for a living I can say I am a multi-passionate entrepreneur. I am so excited that I finally get to start going in the right direction because I know what I value.

I know I am going to find what my passion truly is and I might explore my possible overlapping profile, Firestarter. I can’t wait for what the future brings. Thank you Rachel and Kristen to pointing me in the right direction.

Stephanie

[Kristen W]

Hi Stephanie — I’m so happy to hear that you’re finally embracing your multi-passionate self and no longer trying to fit yourself in a box that’s too small for you! Once you give yourself permission to be passionate about ALL of the things that interest you, without trying to pick one over the other, I think you’ll find that they all blend together beautifully in your life. I love that you found Marie Forleo to inspire you as you pursue your multi-passionate entrepreneur ideas! She’s so amazing, and she’s a great example of a very successful Side Hustler / Firestarter combo.

I love your energy, enthusiasm, and belief in yourself! Thanks for sharing how much this program helped you clarify your values and dreams so you can pursue them wholeheartedly. 🙂

[Jeanie T]

Hi Kristen and Rachel

Thank you for this work that you’re doing! It is inspiring and eye opening!

Reading my Fire Starter profile was like BAM! YES! this is me. I may also be a Thriver.. Or could just be burned out from working for a company for 9 years!! Yes 9 YEARS.

I have been “numbed out” for so long AND a people pleaser, it was really hard to dig up, uncover, any resemblance of my actual values and possible passions, in fact I had to remember that I was a Fire Starter essentially and what I think, lol. The other piece of my story is that I have a need for health insurance and I let limiting beliefs about that stop me from pursuing another line of work as well as what you mention in your recent blog post “The Danger of living a life that’s OK but not Great” that, “without any sort of big incentive to change, you can find yourself stuck in a no man’s land — where life isn’t getting worse, but it’s not getting any better either”.

The up and down side is that I am now super uncomfortable at work (was a bit uncomfortable and that’s why I found you ladies) and I keep finding other things (working to uncover what it is exactly that I can do that would really fit me) to do during me work day besides work… I am going to adjust my work day to 9-5 and ask to work from home a day a week.

So needless to say I am super excited about your Virtual Course and have been waiting for you to start the sign up! So glad the open enrollment date has been announced!

Really Grateful,
Jeanie

[Kristen W]

Hey Jeanie!

I love that your Firestarter profile resonated so instantly and deeply for you! That’s awesome. And you’re right, the “Thriver” part of you might be authentic OR you might be feeling that way because you’re burnt out after spending YEARS working in a job that doesn’t align with your Profile. Once you change your situation, it’ll be easier to tell which is true.

It’s SO normal to numb out after years of feeling “off” or discouraged, so you’re definitely not alone in that. And once you’ve gone numb, it’s tough to dig down and examine how you’re feeling and what you value. But I’m so glad you’re doing it anyway! It’s almost like working out a muscle that hasn’t been used in a while — you still have the capability, but it’s going to require more consistent practice. And it might feel worse before it feels better, which was part of the message in this week’s blog that you referenced. But it’s SO much better on the other side of toleration and stagnation! I can tell you’re right on the cusp of making some big changes, but you might need some clarity and courage and a big push to get there.

I was actually going to mention our upcoming Virtual Experience to you, based on how you were describing your current challenge, and then I saw that you’re already excited to sign up later this month, so that’s awesome! I really think that’s going to help you springboard into the Firestarter lifestyle you’re so craving. Can’t wait to see you in the next course! Now that you’ve gone through this Short Course, you’re going to be even more ready to dive into the Virtual Experience, where we’ll explore WHAT you’re passionate about and what to do next. Can’t wait to get started in a few weeks! 🙂

[Karee V]

Thank you is not enough for opening my eyes to what a Thriver is. I now have a clearer picture of why I’ve been floating from job to job, never feeling it was the right fit, and never understanding why. It feels so good to know that nothing is wrong with me. For years, I’ve also struggled to find hobbies I thought I could be passionate about, and knowing that my desire to just enjoy life was was ok was like having a huge wright lifted off my shoulders! I have two teenagers and would love for them to understand their passion profile so the don’t have to struggle with these same things in their lives. This has been so valuable so far!

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