In the ever-evolving times of the future of work, I hear a lot of people grappling with the choice between a full-time job or building a business.
Another challenge is when you may have started the journey of building a business you love, but it hasn’t fully developed into sustaining you financially. Or perhaps you’ve even been given an amazing job opportunity that may tick some of the boxes for career fulfillment.
There are pros and cons to choices we make. As Mark Manson, the author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck says…
“What flavour of shit sandwich would you like to eat? Everything involves sacrifice. Everything includes some sort of cost. Nothing is pleasurable or uplifting all of the time. So, the question becomes: what struggle or sacrifice are you willing to tolerate?”
It can be a pressurized decision to make when a lot seems at stake. There can be uncertainty in each choice. If you chose to start a business, you could lose finding a dream job that gives you more security. If you persevered towards the dream job, you could lose having the autonomy over your time and flexibility of lifestyle choices working for someone else.
Here are some questions to bring more insight to your heart if you’re facing this crossroad today…
1. There are no right or wrong ways to create a pathway that’s right for you.
You can release the pressure valve about making a mistake with the wrong decision. Embrace a sense of pure curiosity rather than making the decision feel so permanent. You’ll never be out of “doors” to open, and you can always choose different doors in various chapters of your life.
Your ideal pathway may not be black and white.
Many of my clients, including myself, have chosen the nuanced approach to creating the work life we want.
You can choose something temporary to fulfill obligations and needs for right now, and while doing that, you can also choose something different when the timing and season is right.
Focus on what’s “right for right now”.
2. Will the choice you make support you in shaping the future life experience you want to have?
Thinking about the experience we want our lives to have (physically, mentally, and spiritually) in the future helps us to identify the important choices we want to make today to set the wheels in motion towards that destination.
Safety and security is necessary, but growth and expansion is also what our souls crave.
Who do you want to become? What risks are worthwhile taking on? How do you want to share the story of your life with your loved ones? What decisions can support you in planting the seeds to live out your values as you truly see them?
3. Which decision helps you to share your biggest gifts and create the impact you want to make?
In different points of you life, you may have a realization that you’re evolving into a different identity, purpose, and calling. You’re not having an identity crisis. It’s a natural evolution of what it means to be human.
If you choose to remain at a job or find a new job, will this decision support you to show up authentically in your gifts, skills, and impact you want to make?
If you choose to start a business, can this choice give you the opportunity to do the same?
How will each option allow you to develop and express new gifts growing within you? Which one may give you more accessibility to fulfilling work and meaningful contribution?
4. Can it be an “and” rather than an “or”?
Sometimes we grapple with a decision because we believe it’s either this or that. What if it can be both?
Would it also be ideal to keep your job and work on a side business sustainably? Are there opportunities to negotiate your corporate role to allow more time flexibility to work on your dream business? Is there a way to build financial security at a job temporarily before you jump full-time into a business?
Sure, this may also mean that you’ll need to make some changes in how you spend your time and energy to do both.
But it can be beneficial to try on new habits, learn how to be productive, and create healthy boundaries in your personal life to make room for bigger things.
5. Would it benefit you to create spaciousness right now to gain calm and grounded perspective?
There’s a big difference between making decisions with Anxious Action vs. Inspired Insight. One feels pressured and heavy. The other feels light and easeful.
When our minds are jumbled with busy schedules and back-to-back commitments, it’s hard to see the forest from the trees. We need to create spaciousness so that we can breathe, feel, and think effectively.
A big gift you can offer yourself in times of change and uncertainty is to create a necessary pause so you can lean into these important questions about your life with a whole heart.
It may look like releasing a timeline of when you believe you have to make this decision. Or taking more alone time for walks in nature to bring your anxiety down. Or allowing yourself to play with different ideas without it leading to very specific outcomes.
Inspiration needs air to breathe. It doesn’t come from a forced feeling or anxious energy. The solutions and answers come to you when you’ve made space for fresh perspective with a grounded state of mind.
Ultimately, I want you to know that you can trust your heart.
You can trust the things it’s making you more aware of. You can trust the feeling when it instigates a new desire for what you want for your life…even if you don’t have a fool-proof plan on how it all develops in detail.
May your decisions come from a place of authenticity, love, and honesty. And I hope that taking this reflection with me today has brought some clarity to your life.
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