Are Your Career & Life Goals Too Small?

Ep: 142

What do you dream for yourself and your life? A hassle-free day at work, fewer headaches, or simply a weekend free from checking emails or responding to work-related text messages? Perhaps even a job you actually enjoy and feel energized by (or does that seem too good to be true)?

Those goals are really just the tip of the iceberg of what’s possible. For so many women, they’re the goals we strive for on a daily basis.

But the truth is that most people don’t dream BIG enough.

We tend to dream or set goals within the limits of what we know or what we’ve seen. But, there’s a whole world that exists outside of what’s known, and that’s where real fulfillment begins to take shape and transform into something much bigger.

Today, Blake challenges you to consider the unknown: What if you dreamt a little bit bigger? If your goals include financial freedom, independence, career significance, and more time to enjoy life with your family, then what’s holding you back from achieving it is the gap between what you know and what you don’t know yet.

If all you know is hustle and unfulfilling work, then you’re simply missing the pieces that can connect you to what’s actually possible. Learn how to push past the fear and take the first steps towards transformation.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Why most people aren’t setting their goals high enough (1:50)
  • Blake’s personal story of seeking change (3:29)
  • The potential future you could be sacrificing because of fear (6:32)
  • Challenge your beliefs about what’s possible (8:52)
  • The first step on your path to transformation (11:09)

Favorite Quotes:

  1. “Most people’s career and life goals are so much smaller than what they can actually accomplish.”
  2. “If there’s anything in your life that you wish were different, or if there are things that you do because you feel like you have to or you should, or because that’s the only possibility for your life, I want to challenge you that that’s not true.”
  3. “Ultimately, that belief of what you think is possible for you is actually the thing that’s keeping you stuck.”
  4. “Every single day that you get up, that you’re not living life to the fullest is another day of regret, another day of lost time, and another day that you’re not able to be fully present with your family to really enjoy the life that you’ve been given.”

Additional Resources:

Rather than hoping the grass will be greener, identify what the RIGHT next step is.

We can help you do just that.

Get clarity on where you are on your journey to career fulfillment, where you’re headed, optional paths to get there, and the right next step to take.

Start your complimentary, Personalized Career Fulfillment Plan by going to www.thebridgetofulfillment.com/plan

Want free resources to set your job search up for success? You can get them by going to: https://thebridgetofulfillment.com/mistakes

Transcript

Blake Schofield 0:03 My name is Blake Schofield, founder and CEO of Connections Illuminated, mom to three, and former corporate executive who got tired of sacrificing my life for a comfortable paycheck. My mission is to change women’s perspectives about what is possible, empowering them with the tools to create greater impact at home and at work without sacrificing their health time family or income. This is The Bridge to Fulfillment.

Blake Schofield 0:30 Welcome back to The Bridge to Fulfillment. Today, we’re talking about are your career and life goals too small. And I really wanted to attack this topic because it’s been something really honestly we’ve been talking about kind of in ebbs and flows. For the last couple of weeks through many conversations that I’ve had, I would probably say eight or nine out of 10 women that come to me are fearful that what they want doesn’t exist or isn’t possible for them. I hear countless stories of people who are personally unfulfilled in their career in life going through the motions, and going through these cycles of telling themselves that they should just suck it up, or that it will get better. But then ultimately, right, it’s the 2am waking up. It’s the moment that we disappoint our kids, it’s moments when we see the disconnect, and having a conversation with her husband about how unhappy we are at our job. It’s the avoidance of going to events or talking about what’s going on in your life, because you’re not happy. I see and hear that all of the time. And what I want you to know is if you’re experiencing any of that, there’s so much more possibility for your life. I would say with rare exception, most people’s career and life goals are so much smaller than what they can actually accomplish. You know, we build our dreams and our goals based on what we know. And here’s the reality. And I certainly feel this way even more. So the more I learned, the more I realized how much I have to learn and how little I actually know, in the last four and a half years since I left corporate, I have learned more than I could have possibly imagined my eyes had been open to things that I was certain were truths, ways I had looked at life, I now realize were extremely limited, or in some cases completely wrong. And it was only through expanding my perspective by surrounding myself with people who had accomplished things that I hadn’t accomplished. People who had skill sets that I didn’t have are people who were really truly doing amazing things and truly fulfilled and happy in their careers and lives that I began to have my eyes opened to how small my goals really were. And how much more possibility and opportunity there is than I could ever capitalize on in this lifetime. And my hope and my mission is to change women’s perspectives about what’s possible for them. So I’m going to share a little bit with you about what I thought was possible for me several years ago, why I was stuck. And ultimately what I have come to learn in the hope that it will inspire you to realize so much more as possible for your life.

Blake Schofield 3:29 If you’ve been listening for a while you know a little bit about my story. I knew I loved people and understanding people when I was really young. I went to college and got my degree in psychology to become a marriage and family psychologist and my junior year, I began to see some really large disconnects and really began to feel like wait a second, I don’t know that this is the right path for me. But I didn’t know what was the right path. And everything I looked at was scary and felt risky or like a pipe dream or something that I would never be able to afford and or my parents might kill me after spending all that money putting me through college. And so I ended up going into human resources because quote unquote, that’s where people who like people go. And I spent a couple of years there and there was a lot of unrest for me during that period of feeling like there were things that I liked. And there were a lot of things that I looked at that I just didn’t see myself doing for another 30 years. Ultimately, I considered going back to get an MBA went so far as to actually take the test, learn about and go to the school that I was going to go to I was going to go to SMU and go into the MBA program and ultimately ended up transitioning and going into merchandising where I spent 16 years building growing and turning around, you know, 789 figure businesses and I went through these fits and starts of being fulfilled and happy at the beginning of my job every time I got a new role the honeymoon period to then feeling unfulfilled again, and ultimately the last 10 years of my career really emotionally challenging a lot of time and energy reading books, trying to figure out what I should be doing feeling trapped, moving cross country multiple times trying to figure out how I could do challenging and fulfilling work while also right being able to be present in my life with my family. And ultimately, when I hit my breakdown moment, when I got to the place where I just could not do it anymore. I believed that what was possible for me was that I could have better balance. And I could do more fulfilling work, but I had to sacrifice my income in order to do so. And ultimately, that’s part of why I was stuck for so long. I believed in my life, I couldn’t have at all that it wasn’t possible. And so when I left that corporate job, I left that job making $210,000 a year. And I thought to myself, well, if I can just make $75,000 a year, and I get all these other things than I will be happy. It wasn’t till I went along that journey that I ended up finding some coaches to be able to help me build my business, that they shifted my perspective, what if it was actually possible to do more fulfilling work and have better balance without having to sacrifice my income, and the lifestyle I’d worked so hard for in my career. At that point, it opened the door to what might be possible for my life. And that door ultimately, has become a foundation for the work I do every day. And I’m so grateful for that. Because I did not know it was possible. I had a lot of beliefs, and a lot of perspectives that were keeping me stuck and trapped in a life and a career that was far less impactful than I wanted it to be. My dreams and my goals were far too small. Because that’s all I thought was possible for me. Through the last four years, I’ve invested hundreds of 1000s of dollars and worked with a lot of coaches and consultants and surrounded myself by people who are achieving success in all facets of their life. Not just successful in their career, but successful and happy and fulfilled in their life as well. And what it has done is opened up infinite possibility for me, that girl who left that career, worried that she wouldn’t be successful or happy doing something else. Worried that she had to give up and sacrifice financially and their for her family wood to today. When I left, I thought well if I just run this business and make $75,000 a year, I’ll be happy.

Blake Schofield 7:34 Today, I run a multi six figure business, I have a team of people who helped me bring this to life, I have been able to accomplish things I would have never thought possible, working 20 to 25 hours a week, being able to not work nights and weekends being able to go to my kids events, truly waking up energized and passionate excited about what I do every day to be running a business that’s in the top 14% of US businesses for sale in just four years, to be able to work alongside be mentored by and learn from some of the most talented and inspiring people I’ve ever met. And to realize that I haven’t met my goal is not even by a longshot. What I have accomplished in my life today is far beyond what I would have ever thought. I have support in ways I would have never imagined I have freedom in ways I could have never thought was possible when I was sitting in that corporate job feeling trapped by how successful I was, and by the image of what I thought my life goals could be. And so I want to challenge you today, as somebody who has far more blessings than I could have ever imagined would have been possible. That if there’s anything in your life that you wish were different, if there are things that you do because you feel like you have to or you should, or that’s the only possibility for your life. I want to challenge you that that’s not true. I want to challenge you that you just haven’t asked the right question yet or you haven’t found the right person to help you uncover how to create that change, how to bring about what you really truly want for your life. You I think about that old quote that you are our greatest fears that were more powerful than we ever imagined. And I’ve always thought that was an interesting quote, kind of challenging, honestly, to really understand but I think there’s an element there of you know, if we really identified what we wanted, could we achieve it? Right? Or is it better just to accept something lesser and here’s what I want you to know. Right? Achieving things doesn’t happen by luck. It comes by learning proven processes success has keys right? Follow the keys to success. But what I can tell you is if you never go after the dream, if you get up every day and go through the motions, if there are parts of your life that you wish were different, but you’re not creating that change, what I can tell you is that is the far greater loss is the far greater loss because at the end of your life, right, one of the biggest regrets people have is that they didn’t do the thing that they knew they should. They didn’t take the action they wish they would have. They didn’t align their life with what they really valued. And so I think it’s nearly impossible for your goals to be too big. But it’s far more common, that your goals are too small. And that ultimately, that contraction of what you think is possible for you, is actually the thing that’s keeping you stuck. There is an expansiveness when you realize that anything can be possible for your life, when you’re given the tools and the support and the understanding of how to create that change, when you can understand that some of the things today that you think are true, may only be one avenue out of 20. And so I want to encourage you today that there’s far more abundance, more opportunity, and more possibilities for your life than you could ever even imagine. But it starts with saying, I’m not willing to tolerate the life that I have, and I want something better. And I’m willing to seek out the right people or the right resources to figure out how to do what it is that I ultimately want to you have one life and one chance. And every single day that you get up that you’re not living it to the fullest is another day of regret is another day of loss time is another day that you’re not able to be fully present with your family in your life, to really enjoy truly the life that you’ve been given. We weren’t put here to work and die. We were put here to make an impact, to make a difference, to build a life. Right? That’s meaningful. And every one of us has a different perspective about what that means. And when our life is misaligned. With that we feel it. We feel it as regret. We feel it as the things that we tell ourselves we have to do. But those are just the lies. Those are the barriers. Those are the limiting beliefs or the limiting perspectives. And there are the signs that there’s far more possible for your life than you even imagine.

Blake Schofield 12:34 Thanks so much for joining me today. I’d love to invite you if you would like more resources and tools to be able to help you create a more fulfilling career in life, please feel free to go to bridge2fulfillment.com. Also, if you’ve been listening, you really are thinking I really wonder if Blake and her team can help me I want to encourage you please feel free to reach out and schedule a free 15 minute discovery call. We’d be happy to connect to see if or how we can help you and you can do so by going to SpeakwithBlake.com Again, that’s SpeakwithBlake.com. Thanks so much. Until next time, have a great week.