Successful on Paper but Lost, Drained, or Unfulfilled?

Ep: 276

Are you successful “on paper” but in reality, you’re feeling lost, drained, or unfulfilled?

You worked hard to get where you are, but your career success doesn’t feel like it’s ticking all the boxes. When success isn’t making us happy, society can make you feel like that lack of fulfillment is your fault.

If you feel like something is missing, then it’s a sign of misalignment…but there is a way out. 

Today on The Bridge to Fulfillment Ⓡ, Blake shares her personal journey from success on paper to success without sacrifice. Building a successful career and a fulfilling life is possible without taking a paycut or starting over ™.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to recognize the signs of misalignment and how to break free from burnout for good. You’ll hear how Blake has helped hundreds of people who’ve felt lost, drained, and unfulfilled find clarity. You’ll learn how to make lasting changes and create meaningful impact in your life and career.

 

What You’ll Learn:

  • Why success on paper doesn’t alway equal happiness (0:38)
  • Recognizing the signs of misalignment (2:19)
  • What you need to know if you’re feeling trapped (3:50)
  • Shifting from misalignment to clarity (6:04)
  • The first step to creating change (6:35)

 

Favorite Quotes:

  1. “You already have everything that you need inside of you to create the type of fulfilling career in life that you want. You just need clarity to be able to truly see and understand that and a strategic path where you can create that change with less resistance, more ease and less risk.”
  2. “In a world where most people are unfulfilled in their career, where society tells us that we have to sacrifice or hustle and grind in order to have success, it becomes really easy to believe that maybe we are the problem.”
  3. “I have seen is a consistent pattern of incredibly talented high achievers who have gotten locked into a box that they don’t belong in, who haven’t been surrounded by the right people who could help them solve this problem, and who begin to slowly die in careers and lives that don’t really feel right and they don’t know what to do about it.”
  4. “If we still feel lost, drained, or unfulfilled, these are not signs that something is wrong with us. They’re actually signs and symptoms of misalignment in our lives.”

 

Additional Resources:


For programs and opportunities to work with Blake, go to www.BlakeSchofield.com

Transcript

Blake Schofield 0:05
Hi. I’m Blake Schofield, Founder and CEO of The Bridge to Fulfillment. Mom to three, USA Today Top 10 Professional Coach, and former corporate executive who got tired of sacrificing my life for a comfortable paycheck. My mission is to expand perspectives to achieve greater impact at home and work—without sacrifice. This is The Bridge to Fulfillment. If you are successful on paper but find yourself feeling lost, drained of energy, and unfulfilled, it can be really easy to believe that this is just as good as it gets.

Blake Schofield 0:52
In a world where most people are unfulfilled in their career, where society tells us that we have to sacrifice or hustle and grind in order to have success, it becomes really easy to believe that maybe we are the problem. Maybe we just will never be satisfied. That is the place I was stuck in for more than a decade in my career, constantly trying to figure out why I had this unsettled feeling when I had achieved everything that looks like success.

What I didn’t know then started me on an incredible journey that has gotten me here today. If you’ve been listening for a while, you know that I spent over 18 years in corporate retail across five different companies, constantly hoping that the next job, promotion, or company would finally be it—only to find myself continuing to go through these cycles of burnout or being fulfilled for a short period of time and then being unfulfilled again.

Finally, in 2017, I got tired of sacrificing my life for my paycheck, and I wanted to do more meaningful work. And honestly, I wanted to have what I would have called back then a quote, unquote “sane” life. I wanted to feel like I could truly be more present with my kids, for myself, take better care of my health, and be able to enjoy life.

That journey led me to starting The Bridge to Fulfillment and helping others who, like me, were unfulfilled in their career and unsure where to go and what to do next.

Blake Schofield 2:19
Through this eight-year journey, what I have come to really understand is that our signs and symptoms of the challenges that we are seeing in our career, in our lives—where we have achieved all these things and we still feel lost, drained, unfulfilled—these are not signs that something is wrong with us. They’re actually signs and symptoms of misalignment in our lives.

And it can become really easy to believe that maybe the problem is us. And yet, what I want to tell you is that the real challenge is that society believes that this is normal. And often, those of us who have a deeper desire to make a bigger impact, or have more presence in our life, or have better balance, or feel like we are on a path where we’re continuing to grow and we’re energized and excited—we’re looked at as, “Why can’t you just be happy?” or that we just need to get a hobby or care less.

And what I would tell you, over and over and over again, what I have seen is a consistent pattern of incredibly talented high achievers who have gotten locked into a box that they don’t belong in, who haven’t been surrounded by the right people who could help them solve this problem, and who begin to slowly die in careers and lives that don’t really feel right—and they don’t know what to do about it.

And so today, if you are one of those people, I want to share with you that you already have everything that you need inside of you to create the type of fulfilling career and life that you want. You just need clarity to be able to truly see and understand that, and a strategic path where you can create that change with less resistance, more ease, and less risk.

I feel so incredibly grateful for the journey I’ve been on for the last eight years that has transformed my life over and over and over again.

Blake Schofield 4:26
Eight-plus years ago, I was an incredibly stressed-out mom working 12 to 14-hour days, feeling guilty that I wasn’t able to be present in my life—for my kids, for myself—and ultimately, even at work in the way that I wanted to. I had more anxiety than I did passion for the life I was leading. I had more fear about the level of responsibility that I had in my life and making a huge mistake or a failure than I did excitement, joy, and a vision for the life that I wanted to create.

So if you today have all of the markings of success on paper but you are experiencing a lot of stress or frustration—
If you feel like you’re spending a lot of your time pushing through things that you don’t like or aren’t energized by—
If you find yourself scrolling social media or watching TV or going through the motions in things in your life—
If it feels difficult to turn your brain off because you’re constantly second-guessing what you’re feeling or thinking—
If everything you’re looking at seems to be an either/or, you know, either this or that, black or white option, and you can’t really figure out what it is that you really need to do to be energized, passionate, fulfilled, and excited for success to feel as good on the inside as it does look on the outside—

Then I want you to know that you’re not broken. There’s nothing wrong with you. And you are not alone.

Blake Schofield 6:01
What you are experiencing are signs of misalignment in your life. These are symptoms. And often we’re trying to solve these symptoms by changing jobs or hoping that the next promotion or the next thing that will happen will finally make us happy.

When the reality is, what we need to be able to do is get that clarity on: What is misaligned in my life? What is it I truly want and need? And how do I create that change without creating risk—without creating risk financially, without creating risk for my family or my career or my reputation?

And I want you to know that not only is that possible, but I’ve helped hundreds of people do this. And the thing I always hear over and over again is:

“I wish I met you 20 years ago.”
“I wish I knew how much better my life could be.”
“I didn’t even think this was possible for me.”

And so today, my hope is to leave that with you. And if that is where you are today, and you are seeking that clarity, you are seeking that strategic path, and you’re not sure how to get there—reach out. I’d be happy to talk with you and see if a partnership together could help you truly unlock that clarity for yourself and the right next steps to have success on all fronts, without sacrificing and without compromising the things that really matter most to you.

Until next time, have a great week.