The Big Leap

"Should I quit my job to pursue the work that my heart most longs for?"

It’s the question many of my clients are sitting with when we first meet.

They want to take the leap to do more meaningful, soulful work, but are concerned about making money.

And they’re not alone. There’s a reckoning happening with work, fueled by late-stage capitalism, the rapid rise of AI, the rising costs to buy a home and provide for your family, and the rise of anxiety, depression, and burnout. This thing ain’t working.

As a result, many of us are reaching a point in life and career where we’re starting to question the scripts. We’re waking up to a different way of living and working than the one passed down by our parents, and their parents, and their parents.

Perhaps you’ve found that there’s a part of you getting louder. The part that wants alignment, depth, and meaning in your work. A part that’s tired of pretending to be okay doing work that leaves you feeling exhausted and disconnected.

At the same time, money is real. Bills are real. The risk is real. The part of you that’s waving the red flag and saying “DON’T DO IT, IT’S NOT SAFE, YOU’RE GOING TO DIE POOR”, is probably being a little too dramatic, but also holds some truth. It’s not wrong to be cautious, especially if others rely on you or you’ve worked hard to build a stable life.

So what do you do? Do you take the leap?

What work “should” be

There are a whole lot of “shoulds” flying around the zeitgeist today, around how one is meant to approach work. Let’s take a moment to explore some of the common ones…

First, there are the scripts that keep us in soulless jobs:

“Success comes to those who hustle.”

Perhaps. But what if hustling leads to exhaustion? What if the cost of nonstop productivity is losing touch with what actually matters? What if this isn’t the only option anymore?

“You don’t have to love your job. That’s why they call it work.”

Says who? Also, seems pretty limiting, no? Is it not possible to enjoy your work?

“Money first. Then you can do what you love later.”

But what if that day never comes? What if, one day, you look up and realize the life you were hoping for has already passed you by?

Then, there are the scripts that tell us to blindly follow our hearts:

“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

Okay, but all work, no matter how aligned, has hard parts, right? There will always be moments that suck. Expecting tension-free work doesn’t seem very reasonable.

“Do what you love and the money will come.”

Will it? How do you know? What if it doesn’t? Aren’t there countless stories of gifted artists and soul-led creators who struggled to get by? Think about ol’ Van Gogh. A master who died poor.

“If you you love doing something, never do it for free.”

What if monetizing it will ruin it? What if it strips away the joy? Why does everything have to be tied to monetization?

—

So let’s acknowledge that one path isn’t better than the other. There are unhelpful scripts on both sides.

You can’t sacrifice your soul. You just know you can’t. But you also can’t be careless with money. That would be irresponsible. The question isn’t money or soul. We need both.

But make no mistake, the shift is happening. If you’re still reading this post, that much is probably true. Something is awakened in you. Something is calling. Fight it, run from it, numb it—it will still arrive.

So what’s the right next step?

“Do I quit my job? Should I take the leap?”

Let’s set aside the platitudes. The question I invite you to explore is, what shift is right for you, right now?

I see there generally being four paths:

1. The big leap

2. Micro-shifts

3. The middle way

4. Do nothing

Let’s briefly explore each one…

1. The big leap

Blow it all up. Burn it to the ground. Quit the job. Leave the company. End the career. This path is a total restart. Unplug yourself and plug yourself back in.

Sometimes the heart is clear, and the discomfort of staying put becomes too heavy to carry. The big leap may be scary, but it becomes the only honest move left.

This is what I ended up doing when I stepped down from CMX. I knew incremental change wasn’t going to do it. I was too caught up in the script. I felt the call to leap into the abyss. And so I did. But it’s not the only path.

2. Micro-shifts

In this path, you stay put, but start to carve out a bit more space for exploration. You dip your toe into your “soul path” in small, incremental ways, on the side of your existing work.

You reclaim a few hours for the work that lights you up. You slowly release the attachment to your work identity to make room for something new to emerge, slowly letting your soul take up just a little more room in your life and work. Perhaps you bring more spiritual or mindfulness practices into your life. You start working with a coach or therapist. You take one small step at a time.

For those of you who can’t take the financial risk or just can’t bring yourself to make a bigger change, this may be the aligned path. Start small.

3. The middle way

And there may be a path in between. The middle way. Go part-time. Find ways to make money as a consultant while you explore other paths. Take on a fractional role. Something that sacrifices some income, but keeps the lights on and creates more space for you to follow your heart.

This isn’t the long-term plan. It’s a stop-gap until you find financial sustainability doing the thing you love.

4. Do nothing

There’s the fourth option. You do nothing. You stay put. You change nothing.

There’s nothing wrong with this path. Maybe there was a moment of fear about your current path that will pass, and you’ll find your rhythm again. Maybe being still, staying the course, is exactly what you need right now.

Maybe you do nothing, but the quiet voice doesn’t go away. In fact, it gets louder. Staying the course feels less and less like a viable option. Making a change becomes something you can’t not explore. Beautiful. Now you can revisit options 1-3 again.

—

I’ve guided people on all four paths. All four are great. All four work.

So, how do you know which one is right for you?

Which path is right for me?

Here’s a three-step process I go through with clients when they’re sitting on the threshold, deciding what path to take.

Step 1: Sort out the financial stories from financial reality

The first question I often ask when someone holds fears around money is, “Have you run the numbers?” The answer is almost always “not yet”.

If you haven’t run the numbers, then your fear around money is a story that may not be rooted in reality.

Seeing the numbers helps tremendously. How much do I have saved? How much runway do I have if I make no income? What’s my runway if I make less money?

Okay, this is what I’m working with.

You might find that it’s not nearly as risky as you thought. Or maybe it is. Great. Now you know. You’ve sorted out the stories from reality.

Step 2: Identify the non-financial stories

Usually, money is a catch-all for a bunch of other reasons one uses to avoid making a change. It’s easier to just say “money” than to inspect those stories closely.

But once you get the money story out of the way, you may find these stories emerging on their own. Stories like…

• “My parents/friends/family will judge me if I don’t have a job.”

• “I don’t know who I am without my job and reputation. Without it, I feel worthless.”

• “I’ve invested so much into my career. Am I just going to waste it?”

• “I’m scared of not having a goal to work toward. The uncertainty is terrifying.”

• “What if I take the leap into the abyss, and I never find solid footing again?”

You may not be able to reform these stories right now, but just seeing them is an important first step. You can then continue to unpack them with your support network, therapy, coaching, or journaling. Where did these stories come from? Are they true? How would it feel if you didn’t hold onto this story? Who would you be without this story?

Step 3: Explore your options

Now that you’ve sorted out stories from reality, you can start to explore which of the three paths we discussed earlier feels right for you.

• The big leap: Is this path an option for you? How much time are you willing to invest in yourself to give yourself the space to explore other paths?

• Micro-shifts: Could you shift your role, start a project, or reclaim a few hours each week for what your heart longs for (or to discover what your heart longs for)?

• The middle way: What are the options available to you that will let you keep income coming in, while carving out more time to explore this next chapter?

• Do nothing: Is there any urgency to make a change right now? Can you give yourself some space and time to just stay the course, and see if this inner voice persists?

Still not sure? It could be that you’re trying to answer this question entirely with your mind. It’s what we high achievers do. We try to think our way through any problem. But your body holds wisdom, too. More than you can imagine.

Here’s how to check with your body:

1. Close your eyes, take three deep breaths, and invite each path into your awareness, one at a time. Give each path at least 2-3 minutes. It can take some time for your body to respond.

2. Keep breathing and notice the sensations, energy, vibrations, temperature, visuals, or anything else that arises within you, as you sit with each path. What do you feel? Where do you feel it? Which paths bring a sense of expansion? Which ones bring a feeling of contraction? Which paths make you feel something? Which paths make you feel nothing? Don’t try to attach stories to the feelings right away. Just let yourself feel them, and keep breathing.

3. What did your body have to teach you about the path that feels most alive? You can stop here and just be with what unfolded. If you’d like to unpack it further, you can journal about your experience or talk through it with a peer, coach, or partner.

Start close in…

I don’t have the answers. But I know that the questions you’re asking are important. They’re signs that something in you is ready to evolve.

And maybe the next step isn’t about figuring it all out right now. Maybe the next step is to just listen. To “live the question" as Rilke famously invited us to do. To trust that something real is waking up in you, and there’s nothing you have to do other than surrender to all that’s coming to life.

With that, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite David Whyte poems…

Start Close In

Start close in,
don’t take the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.

Start with
the ground
you know,
the pale ground
beneath your feet,
your own
way to begin
the conversation.

Start with your own
question,
give up on other
people’s questions,
don’t let them
smother something
simple.

To hear
another’s voice,
follow
your own voice,
wait until
that voice

becomes an
intimate
private ear
that can
really listen
to another.

Start right now
take a small step
you can call your own
don’t follow
someone else’s
heroics, be humble
and focused,
start close in,
don’t mistake
that other
for your own.

Start close in,
don’t take
the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.