It’s not always easy to express yourself in the ways you would like in your career. In fact, blocked self-expression is one of the biggest challenges that clients bring to career coaching. There are indeed many benefits that flow from mastering self-expression through your work:

• Feeling fulfilled in your career and life.
• Increased self-confidence.
• Getting ahead in your profession faster.

So how does one go about claiming authentic self expression in your career? It’s actually not as complicated as you might think. The key is to listen to YOU, rather than to self limiting beliefs or the messages of others.

For example, a coaching client from a long line of Philadelphia attorneys was told since childhood that she too must be a lawyer.  Not long into her legal career, she contacted me frustrated and unhappy.  During the course of coaching she discovered that her true passion is to make urban communities thrive. Summoning the courage to end her legal career to follow her passion, she went on to earn her degree in urban planning. She is now a successful urban community developer, feeling truly fulfilled and happy in her work. As expected, her parents are also quite proud of her and her accomplishments.

Even if you are a success at what you do but no longer feel passionate about it, doing the same thing day after day without paying attention to your need for self-expression can be a drain on your enthusiasm. If you listen to yourself deep from within, you too may discover that it is time for a change.

It takes courage to change your career direction, but you’ll find that it’s well worth the effort in the long run. And it’s much easier with a career coach helping you along the way. Your passions deserve to be realized. It’s time to express yourself or you risk letting your dreams pass you by.