Page 200 - Talane Miedaner - Coach Yourself to a New Career_ 7 Steps to Reinventing Your Professional Life (2010)

188 COACH YOURSELF TO A NEW CAREER

Funny thing, the day I quit my job was the day my back spasms
ended!
What is your body trying to tell you? The message will keep
getting louder and louder (i.e., more and more painful) until you
listen up. One of my clients was experiencing numbness in her
limbs. She hated her job, but it paid so well that she couldn’t bring
herself to quit. The most dramatic example I’ve ever encountered
along these lines was a client who had an alarming pattern in her
life. I usually ask my clients to write down their life stories for me
before our first coaching call, so that I can quickly get the lay of
the land and form a sense of who they are and what they’ve already
accomplished. When I read her story, I was stunned to see that
she had a history of going out with a guy, getting in an accident
and breaking some part of her body (such as an arm or a leg), and
then breaking up with the guy. She didn’t spot the pattern herself
until she wrote down her life story, and then she was horrified to
realize that she felt she had to break a part of her body before she
could muster the courage to break up with the guy!
Your body is, in many ways, much wiser than your head. It
knows what the right path in life is for you. When I’m working
with clients and they discuss the options that lie in front of them,
I can tell by their tone of voice which is the one that they are most
excited about. It isn’t rocket science. Listen to your body. What
does it really want to do right now?
When you are on the right path, a whole host of physical com-
plaints may suddenly disappear. That is a good clue that you are
doing the work and leading the life you are meant to have. If you
are riddled with odd aches and pains, then listen up, because
you probably aren’t headed in the right direction. That’s when
you know it’s time for a change!

Listen to the Cues Around You

Another way to determine whether you’re heading in the right
direction in terms of your career path is to listen to the subtle cues
around you. You may be familiar with the old childhood game