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Unlock Your True Potential
How to Find Career Satisfaction by Embracing Your Identity
Lex Gonzales
November 03, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes
MISSION:
Career Ladder helps motivated professionals grow their career and income twice as fast by providing proven frameworks so they can stop wasting time and money.
What if the key to a fulfilling career isn’t about climbing higher or working harder, but simply being more you?
Most people miss this, chasing someone else’s version of success.
But when you embrace your true identity, career satisfaction isn’t just possible—it’s inevitable.
Ready to grow your career? Dive in!
In This Issue
Takeaway: Start standing out by being unapologetically you.
Today’s Ladder: How to find career satisfaction
Career Bytes: Does office temperature really increase productivity?
Resources: Books and newsletters that can help you find the purpose of your career.
Takeaway:
When I first started my career here in the US, I tried to mold myself into what I thought a “successful professional” should look like. I followed the rules, kept things polished, and fit the mold.
But something always felt… off.
One day, after yet another day of feeling disconnected from my work, I asked myself, “What would happen if I showed up as my true self?”
No more playing roles—just me, fully embracing my own strengths and quirks.
It wasn’t an overnight shift, but little by little, I started aligning my work with who I truly was. I spoke up more, pursued projects I genuinely cared about, and let my personality shine.
The surprising result?
Not only did I feel more fulfilled, but my career began to soar.
This week, I’m diving into how embracing your identity can unlock levels of career satisfaction and success you never thought possible.
It’s time to stop fitting in and start standing out by being unapologetically you!
Today’s Ladder:
How to Find Career Satisfaction
In an exclusive ‘Fast Company’-Harris Poll, more than half, of middle-income American workers said they wish they could do something different with their careers.
Yet, the problem isn’t a lack of opportunity—it’s that we’re often chasing the wrong goals. True career satisfaction doesn’t come from a title or a paycheck.
It comes from aligning our work with who we really are.
The Trap of the “Shell”
Think of it this way: our resumes, job titles, and achievements are the “shell” of our careers.
They’re visible and measurable, but they’re also restrictive.
Many people get so attached to these labels that they lose sight of what really matters: the “yolk” inside—the core of who you are.
This yolk holds our real…
motivations
dreams
values
To find fulfillment, you have to break free from the shell. It means shifting from focusing on “What am I qualified to do?” to “Who am I at my core?”
I’m telling you, when you get to be that person—your true self—your work naturally becomes more satisfying.
Gif by pudgypenguins on Giphy
Your Blueprint: What Truly Matters to You
Everyone has a unique “life blueprint,” a mix of dreams, experiences, and values that defines what truly matters.
Our dissatisfaction often stems from ignoring this blueprint and clinging to external achievements instead.
The Courage to Evolve
I used to have a clinician in my staff named, Nikolai (Hi, Niko!)
He had checked every box: climbed the career ladder, reached his goals, and found financial success.
But he still felt empty.
Then he started reflecting on what he loved as a kid—magic tricks and awe-inspiring balloon sculptures. Nikolai realized there was a common thread in his passions…
He wanted to create a sense of wonder.
So he made a big shift and launched his own party entertainment company. Today, he’s found his purpose, inspiring that same feeling of awe he’d always chased!
To find career satisfaction, you have to break the shell and ask, “Why am I doing what I’m doing?”
You’ll often discover that your true path is more about who you get to be than what you do.
Gif by ImACelebrityAU on Giphy
The World is Waiting for Your Unique Contribution
Envision a future where you don’t suffer through unfulfilling jobs but understand that your work is an expression of who you are at your core.
“Dreams don’t have to be fixed—they can change form and still hold meaning.”
Career satisfaction doesn’t come from what you do—it comes from who you get to be while doing it.
It’s about evolving with your dreams, peeling away the shell, and allowing the yolk—the real you—to shine.
In a world where so many feel lost in their careers, this could be the key to not only career satisfaction but also a more fulfilled, authentic life.
You got this.
Career Bytes:
Curious career facts to feed your curiosity!
Do you want to increase your team’s productivity? Pump up your office’s temperature!
Cornell University researchers conducted a study that involved tinkering with the thermostat of an insurance office and found that when the office temperature was cooler (68F), employees make 44% more errors and are less productive than when temperatures are warmer (77F)!
Resources:
Refind.com - saves you time online by letting you pick only the best articles, tailored to your interests!
Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation - “Is the life I am living the same as the life that wants to live in me?” With this searching question, bestselling author Parker J. Palmer begins his insightful and moving meditation on finding our way toward meaning and purpose.
The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to Do - This is a book about discovering your life's work, that treasure of immeasurable worth we all long for. It's about the task you were born to do.
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If you’re curious why I want you to succeed twice as fast, here’s why.
To your success,
Dr. Lex ✍️
Let’s Connect!
If we aren’t already connected, come say hi on LinkedIn.
If you have a career topic in mind that you want me to write about, you can message me at [email protected]