To whom it may concern:

You know what you’re supposed to want.
But it doesn’t feel right anymore.
Are you allowed to want something else?
Can people just change their minds one day?
Are you allowed to want multiple things at once—contradictory things for which no one, single job appears to exist?

A voice in your head says, yes.
But what if the answer changes everything?

This concerns you a great deal.

We creative types spend years giving other people our best stuff, helping to sell their ideas.

We’re good at our work. We even like our work.
And then one day, things change.
We’re suddenly required to sell ourselves.
We always thought we’d be somewhere else by now, but we haven’t arrived.
We thought we’d be more senior.
We thought we’d be happier.
We thought we’d have a job, or a different kind of job.

Figuring this stuff out is not easy, and it comes naturally to no one.
The belief that it should be easy is just making it harder.

Two choices under your consideration:
1. Taking the first opportunity that comes along.
2. Knowing when to hold out for something better.

Many of my clients begin to talk to themselves. The conversation goes something like this:

“This is not what I want to be doing.
I don’t know what I want to be doing.
Except for that. There is that.
That would be wonderful.
But in the real world…”

Does this concern you?

We may never meet in person, but I want to send a dose of reassurance.

The real world–much like you–is more fun and more open to wildly ambitious plans than many of its inhabitants can imagine, until they begin to see possibilities they didn’t know existed. I believe this kind of world could accept you as its citizen.

You are so much more than the sum of your skillsets.
The equation of you is always changing. You can never be reduced to a resume and cover letter.

So, first, let’s get you so clear on what you want so that not only can you get it, but you can start to see yourself. And to appreciate all of the accomplishments you actually have made. Before long, you’ll begin to value the experience of creating your own satisfaction. Not long after that, you’ll have some satisfaction of your own.

Meaning and adventure await. See how you can find your own satisfaction.