Career Advice From A Dumb-Ass
And other gossip
My son has the ronas. Previously, he had been one of the twenty-seven people left on the planet who had not yet had Covid. But 2024 nut-punched him. And now I am holed up too, presuming that I am incubating another round of Covid (tho thus far testing negative) so I’m staying hole’d up with him, grateful that there is the final season of Umbrella Academy to watch plus a TBR pile to work through.
Speaking of, first a few items of interest I bumped into this week:
Why We Sleep And What Happens If We Don't (RadioLab podcast)
I got a sweet email from a reader who stated that Unfuck Your Body really helped her through her nutrition and psychology course (yaaay!). I love it when my f-bomb books end up being the best explainer in a certain situation. And this reader stated when she runs into someone who she views as making good career moves, she reaches out and asks for career advice. I thought it would be fun to answer that in this space since it is a request I get often.
The first piece of advice I offer, is based on the meme that went around a few years ago that said “Instead of asking children what they want to be when they grow up, ask them what problems they want to solve.”
Same goes for adults. Whether embarking on a new career or shaping the one they have now. For example, it’s rare for a mental health person to study clinical nutrition. Why did I get intersted in that? I was already a successful therapist who already had a post-doc in sexology as a speciality practice, so why the ACN?
Because I kept seeing certain people with certain mental health diagnoses and medication regimines having the same physical problems emerge after a time. One of the first overlaps I saw was the number of community mental health clients on heavy psychotropic medications end up needing thyroid medication as well. And yes, it turned out that many classes of mental health meds can fuck up the thyroid in a myriad of ways.
And next I wondered if I could help clients support their thyroid functioning while minimizing the need to add more medications and their sundry side effects.Yes, Levothyroxine can be taken to supplement the now missing thyroid hormone thyroxine. But what if we can help the body heal in the ways it needs to in order to produce sufficent thyroxine? Or at least need less levothyroxine?
That was a problem I wanted to see if I could solve. In this case, it came through learning that ashwaganda increases T3 and T4 by helping us better metabolize our stress hormones.
What you specialize in, what you study, and even how you market yourself and your work is far more successful when it focuses on a problem you are passionate about solving. And you may point out that I was filling a fairly empty niche market, and you’d be right. But there are many niche markets that are reasonably empty, and some of them pay stupid-well, my curiosity about the issues I kep seeing over and over was my impetus for getting involved. Not a market move.
The other thing I will always encourage people to consider when they are shaping their careers is this: What do you want your life to feel like?
I intentionally never ask people what they want their lives to look like. We tend to get tangled up in outside markers of success instead of inward contentment when we say “look like.” If we think about how we want things to feel, we are far more likely to be content with enough-ness instead of panicked into achievement for it’s own sake. The stuff-having part of the equation is grounded in a sense of a life that feels good, instead of using external markers to prove that we’re happy/successful/content.
I want to feel that the work I put out in the world is of benefit to my fellow humans, rather than what makes me money, or more money, or the most money. I wanted a house that was a safe space for the people I love. Like a punk house but without the shitty vegan casseroles. I have that now. It’s not the fanciest or most expensive house by far. It was the one that suited my goals for caring for loved ones. I want to be able to hang out with the people I love. And be in a position to help them in ways that aren’t just fiscal. I can still pay my bills while maintaining boundaries around my schedule and workload. So I have space to show up when I am needed most for my loved ones instead of always workingworkingworking.
Thinking about what we want life to feel like keeps our achievements on track, rather than becoming markers of success. I want to be just successful enough that my life is joyful and that isn’t measured through my monetary assets.
I hope this doesn’t seem dismissive of anyone really struggling to get their own enterprises off the ground. I know that nuts and bolts advice about branding and the like is also of benefit. But if it isn’t grounded in being a person whose goals are aligned with their values and interests? It’s just hollow.
Which is even sadder than being allergic to dairy, if such a thing is possible.