We often want a new career because we don’t like where we are right now. We want to earn more money and have more freedom to do what we love.

Right?

But you will never be happier or feel more fulfilled and aligned with your values, if you don’t follow your life purpose.  

Let me tell you a story:

When I started out, I did what I was good at. What I knew. Which was leadership training and fire preventing. I earned a good deal of money on it.

But I didn’t follow my purpose. And what I did was not aligned with my values in life.

 So I started to procrastinate. I started being stressed out again, and I was on the same «train» I had been on earlier, working as a fire chief. I was going around in circles. 

What I figured out was this:

When you learn what your life purpose really is, you will go all in. You start to see the possibilities and not all the things that can go wrong.

You will not procrastinate. Trust me....

Ohhh... Today has been so amazingly good! I really can't describe it well enough! You know, it's been one of those days when you feel one thing after another turns out even better than the thing before.

First, let me get one thing 100 percent clear. Like the phrase «loud and clear» that I would have said on my radio if I was still working in the fire department and I wanted those around me to understand that I heard them perfectly:

This blog post is NOT made to brag. It's not to make you feel bad by lifting myself up high.

NO!

First of all: I'm not that kind of person. Secondly: I just had to write this to you today. Right now, before making dinner. I know that some of you really really need to read this today.

You see, I have done what I know so many of you want to do: I did what I wanted to do in life. I followed my dreams, my «why», my purpose when I finally found it after being a totally stressed out and angry woman diagnosed with PTSD.

...

I guess you have heard this phrase a few times before...

«If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It». It was Walt Disney himself that said those words, and he was the living proof it!

But, it's not like you just have to sit down, close your eyes, dream of what you want, and then *BOOM* you get it. Walt Disney didn't do that. He had a dream, a passion, and he went all in to make that dream come true.

It's the same thing with you and your dream. To make it come true, you have to do something... 

But, you can't just start off doing «something», not knowing what it is you really want to accomplish. What your goal really are. What you are here to do.

In that case you will only be going around in circles, not reaching your destination. Of course you will get something out of it. You will get results... But those results so often involve frustration and resignation.

Your Values

You have to define your values. If you do something that is not aligned with...

Don’t you just love positive headlines like this?

I do!

YES I DO!

Since I’m going to talk about something as positive as finding peace within yourself today, I got this positive and energetic feeling inside!

And with a positive feeling came a positive headline… A win-win situation!

Like attracts like, remember?

...Okay, let’s talk about today's topic.

About finding peace within yourself. About making a decision when it comes to your career, and not least: let’s talk about how your stress level will decrease when you finally make your decision.

Are you ready?

Let’s dive in!

...Think of yourself back then. When you had just turned 16. 

You knew there was a party next weekend, but you didn’t know if you got invited. That is something that was stressful, and a situation filled with a lot of different feelings.

Or you wanted to date a specific boy, but you didn’t...

But so often we don't. We stay. We stay right where we are. Even if we feel that we are being torn apart.

Why is that, you think?

Let me tell you:
It’s because the human mind is afraid of the unknown...

Even If we are in a job that drains us, we stay.

Not a smart thing to do. Of course not.
But like I said, it’s how the human mind works...

But what If...

...What If you learned what you need to learn?

...What If you knew that you can go the steps needed, without risking everything you have?

...What If you knew that you could scale, but in a safe way?

Would it be easier to find your life purpose then?

Yes... It would.

When you know that you have it covered. When you know that you are taking the right steps. Then you can lower your shoulders. Again: that’s how the human mind works.

I know that when you have found what you are here on this earth to accomplish, then you will go for it.

You will follow that path. It will be so much easier for you. You...

I was like that. That was how I felt.

At one point, the 3 words that could describe me the best was:… Stress, Anxiety and Anger.

Not the most positive words, right?

And being stressed out, anxious and angry was NOT ME.  It was not how I used to be.

You see, from I was a little girl I had always been the opposite. I had been a happy girl, the kind of girl (and later on the kind of woman) who saw my glass as half full. Not someone who saw her glass as half empty.

What happened? It’s a long story, so let me just give you the short version. 

It involved me getting PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), having a stressful work environment for years, before I finally «got my life back».

With getting back on track, I also traded my high stress level, my anxiety and anger, with joy and happiness.

You might think it sounds a bit «fluffy», but that was what it was. What it was for me.

STOP!...

Do you know the song «all you need is love» by Beatles? ...That is true for sure!

But we have to admit: Sometimes all you need is some clarity. Clarity so you can make that important decision on what to do with your career.

In Norway, we have a saying that goes like this: 

«Han ser ikke skogen for bare trær»
(«He doesn't see the forest because of all the trees»).

It means that there are so many trees in the forest, that the man can't find the forest itself...

To transform that saying to the subject of clarity and the words «dream career», «mission», «passion», «meant to do» and «purpose in life», it goes something like this:

If you have too much going on in your mind at the same time, and if you are trying to do it all, you will never get the clarity to see what you need to do next. You will never see what you need to do in...

Does this sound familiar to you?

You want to do «something else», but you are not sure what it really is you should be doing with the rest of your life?

Let me just put it this way... During these last two years I have been working with something that inspires me. I have been so blessed that I have found what I love to do. I have found that «something» that makes me excited just thinking of it. 

That «something» that makes me warm inside. Because I love it so much.

But when I first thought of doing something else, I had no clue what to do or where to start. I knew where I had my educational skills. I knew where it was «safe» to start.

But the problem was this:

One day I wanted to do something... The next day I wanted to do something completely different! I got exhausted! When I think back on it today, I feel that I was thinking 24/7 about what my mission really was. What I was here to do with the rest of...

 Do you feel like you are trapped in a hamster wheel?

The more you try to find out what you are meant to be, what your life purpose really is, the faster the hamster wheel keeps spinning?

You see, the «hamster wheel syndrome» (as I call it) is extremely stressful and makes you more and more anxious day by day. And you are not alone running that stressful wheel. Believe me. 
...It's just something that we don't speak out load in our every day life.
(I was running for a while myself)

So, why is it that someone seems to know what their purpose in life really is, while other people are spinning around, more and more tired and stressed out minute by minute?

There are several reasons for this huge difference. The difference that make some people stuck, while others have total clarity on their mission in life.

If you are one of those who are stuck in your own hamster wheel, you will find value from this blog post as we are...

One of my favorite games to play is the rocking-chair test!

When I’m making decisions, I ask myself – if I was sitting in my rocking chair as an old lady, close to the end of my life – when I look back on this moment, which decision would I most wish I had taken?!

It’s such an amazing perspective – and really helps in those moments when a decision can feel really scary. Because, deep down, we always know which decision we should make. But we can get very good at ignoring our own wisdom! Very good!

So use the rocking chair test – what decision would you make today, knowing that you wouldn’t regret it later down the road?