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Accelerate Your Career? Cut The Crap, and Throw the Switch

Many of us have this terrible habit of holding our work separate from our higher calling. We start to believe something more noble, inspiring, or high-impact is “out there”, beyond whatever we have on our schedule for today.

In the event you need a reminder, your day today was teed up FOR you, not as some barrier to something more fun, or fulfilling.

You get the sacred privilege of making it count— by transcending circumstances to make it meaningful.

This separation of work and a higher calling is reinforced by countless marketers who sell us on escape. “Cast off responsibilities from organizational work”, they say, or “quit your job!”, or “homeschool your kids while living nomadically!”

Curiously, I’m seeing more and more lifestyle designers head right back to the careers they were railing against. Maybe those rough-shod strategies don’t feel as sustainable in practice?

Everyday I collect winks, from God.

Some days have many, some seem to have none. Winks are the indisputable evidence of living in alignment. The new introductions, the fascinating souls who trip over my work in some distant corner of the web. The uncanny synchronicities which stitch together a life of magic…

Inventory your winks. They are everywhere when you’re looking for them, and nowhere when your head is down.

When we stay devoted to whatever we’re doing, and whomever we have the gift of serving— we greenlight the universe to expand our work in alignment with our heart. We receive the gift (yet again! YESSSSSS) of falling in love with our unique path to leadership, entrepreneurship, or vocation.

I learned while I was still working in corporate I was indeed blessed to be there. There were amazing people, resources, and opportunities to grow. Yes, there were also plenty of personalities, pressures, and politics to rub up against.

But I sensed at the time I was being prepared for something bigger: The Great Next.

It may feel counterintuitive to “leave by staying put.” But I’m not saying show up the same tomorrow.

Determine to show up more in love with the gifts of your work. More in service to everyone and everything around you. More vehemently engaged with your mission, or the mission of your organization.

You already embody something uniquely valuable. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.

But to feel magnetically pulled to the Captain’s seat on this ship, or launched out to orbit in another galaxy— you’ll need to Throw The Switch.

By Throw the Switch, I’m referring to the ability to tap something deeper than producing more results. Results are important, but lots of people drive results.

If given a choice between someone who drives lots of results, with someone who drive results while reverberating Infinite Potential up and down the halls— you get the idea.

Here are 5 Truths to Reframe,
And Allow us to
Throw The Switch

1 – You aren’t compensated in dollars. You get paid to grow. Step out of the fixed, “remuneration for services rendered” mindset. Our comp constantly feels at odds with whatever amount of BS we have to put up with, until we shift out of that limited thinking. Once you remember you’re actually paid to grow, keep reinvesting into unlimited capacity. You become a safe investment, and you generate more and more money.

2 – Your employer isn’t your boss, or your babysitter. They are your #1 Client. Take care of them accordingly. Stay in great relationship with them, and work on it whenever there is ambiguity. They don’t owe you anything, except maybe feedback on how you’re doing. You never needed a boss. You needed a manager. Manage yourself with fairness, and compassion. But don’t tolerate your excuses. They get in the way of serving The Client.

3 – Overwhelm is an indicator, not a failure. Think of overwhelm as a breaker that gets thrown by some new surge of passion. Become a student of your meltdowns. Notice when the storms move in, and how you clean up the mess. Overwhelm is a classic distraction from something bigger, either some vulnerability we’re unwilling to share, or something we’re afraid to say we want. When you get suckered into glorifying your busyness, or prolonged teetering in overwhelm— you’re sitting on a wealth of insight. Hire a coach, or someone to look objectively at your patterns.

“Mock the Devil, and he will flee from thee!”

– Edward diBono

4 – We may think it’s about US, but it’s anything but. We are more than taken care of when we’re serving the Universal Good. Slipping back to the convenient thinking of “what’s in it for me?” isn’t sustainable. If there’s a consistent thread that’s strangling our planet and our political discourse, it’s the ego-default of putting ourselves first. Align your work with uplifting, developing, and creating value for others. You’ll be way happier.

5 – If you’re not having FUN, you’re screwing it up! Lol. Some Benevolent, Universal Force is calling us out to play. If you’ve hardened into some hair-trigger frowny-face, you need to “lighten up, Francis.” This is YOUR game, not anyone else’s. I need to be aware of my privilege here, because everyone has unique pressures and obstacles to navigate. However, we can each practice levity, versus slogging back onto the battlefield each day.

What will you do today to Throw The Switch?

THROW THE SWITCH
WITH US IN COSTA RICA

Landing page | Register now | Book a call 

In Costa Rica we’ll design a path forward for the next decade— and we’ll leave committed to the spiritual, physical, and relationship practices to get us there. 

Charlie Gilkey will co-lead on creating a powerful map to your decade ahead, and our community will coach and empower you to make it a reality.


About
KC

Kristoffer Carter (“KC”) is a coach for founders and executives, and meditation teacher for organizations. He is also the founder of This Epic Life, and creator of the Full-Life Integration™ Framework. 

​As a meditation teacher, KC has over 33,000 active students on Insight Timer. As a workplace culture consultant, he has designed, or is delivering conscious leadership programs for AT&T, Avery-Dennison, Good Life Project™, Litera Microsystems, and more.

KC’s Mission + Values-centric programs have been featured in Business Insider, onstage at TEDx (“What if change was FUN?”) and Wisdom 2.0, and in countless conferences and podcast interviews. 

He lives in Akron, OH with his wife of 20 years, and their 3 children.

CLIENT SUCCESS STORIES

“Coaching with KC challenged who I thought I was, and what I was capable of. I learned how important it is to get my work out there, not just keep the gifts and knowledge to myself. KC dared me to dream bigger than I thought possible, then made me feel like they were actually achievable. Every session left me believing in my power, my Divinity, and my purpose for this life”

Dr. Heather Gream
Founder: Balance by Heather
PT, DPT, Reiki Master Teacher

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PODCAST LISTENER FEEDBACK

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“I absolutely LOVE this interview. I love leaders like Mark who truly lead employee-based cultures and who bring their whole selves to work even at the highest levels of leadership. Utter Chill-Glow-in-the-Dark Awesomeness!”

Wayne Morrissette
Manager + Coach, Piedmont Healthcare

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