December does something no other month does. It slows the world down just enough for you to hear what you’ve been too busy to acknowledge: “Something in my career no longer fits.”
It’s the quiet voice beneath the calendar alerts, the performance reviews, the holiday deadlines.
The voice that says:
- “I want meaningful work.”
- “I want to feel aligned again.”
- “I want impact that matters, not just responsibilities.”
- “I want to be myself at work — not a curated version.”
- “I want clarity. I want purpose. I want direction.”
What you may not realize is that this voice is not only pointing to “career problems.” This voice is communicating spiritual signals. This voice is coming from that deeply human part of you that is calling for something more aligned with your soul’s purpose.
In my view, spirituality shows up in our job search and in day-to-day business as the desire to feel aligned in one’s purpose and career. It’s the desire to work in a way that reflects your identity, your values, and the impact you genuinely want to make.
This Rising Leader year-end edition brings together four conversations that every high-achieving professional is either having now… or will have soon.
Let’s walk through them together…
Conversation #1: Why Success Doesn’t Feel Like Enough Anymore
Most of us hit a point where we look at our life and think, “This should feel better than it does.”
This feeling does not mean you’ve failed. It means you’ve outgrown the version of you who built this chapter.
When you are a high achieving leader, you rarely slow down long enough to ask whether the career you’ve built is still aligned with who you are becoming.
Often, the external world sees accomplishment… while the internal world feels emptiness.
These are three common sources of that misalignment:
- You built a career based on an earlier version of you, often influenced by what others told you that you should be doing to be happy and successful.
- Who you were at 22 or 25 may not match who you are at 35, 43 or 55.
- You are rewarded for competence, not authenticity.
You’ve mastered performance. Yet your heart is calling for expressing more of who you really are. But then fear arises. Fear asks “what might it require to be more true to who I really am?” Feeling fear does not mean you are weak. Instead, fear is often tied to wanting to do responsible thing. You feel compelled to do “the right thing”, however you define that. And responsibility often competes with desire.
This is where the internal voice of the spiritual aspect of our lives quietly nudges us: “You’re allowed to want more than achievement.”
Conversation #2: Is Meaningful Work Even Possible?
The belief that meaningful work means sacrificing pay, stability, or prestige is one of the biggest misconceptions in modern leadership.
Meaningful work is not about working for a nonprofit, starting a charity, or walking away from everything you’ve built. High achievers often imagine a dramatic leap — but meaningful work is rarely dramatic.
Meaningful work is simply aligned work. It’s work that matches:
- Your values
- Your natural strengths
- The impact you care about
- The environments where you thrive
- Your stage of life
- Your identity
- What you feel called to do this lifetime
And if you’re feeling burned out, know that burnout doesn’t come from working hard. Burnout comes from working out of alignment.
When you operate from your purpose, work feels energizing rather than draining.
The real shift is this: You stop asking, “What job should I do?” And you start asking, “Who am I becoming, and where does this version of me belong?”
Purpose leads. Strategy follows.
Conversation #3: The Fear of Being Yourself at Work
This is the conversation we avoid the most. “Because if I show them who I truly am, they will…” (fill in the blank: …judge me, fire me, not choose me for that next project or promotion).
I’ve heard countless high performers admit privately: “I don’t feel safe being myself at work.”
Not because they’re hiding something dramatic — but because they’ve learned to lead through armor:
- The polished version
- The agreeable version
- The stoic version
- The dependable version
- The version who never needs anything
The problem?
Armor gets some results… but it also drains your life force energy.
The opportunity:
Embrace your spiritual self. By this I mean: embrace your heart-centered, purpose-driven, aligned self at work and in business.
What do I mean by this? It’s the practice of letting your career align with your true identity instead of you having to twist and bend your identity around your job.
Aligning more with your spiritual self is not unprofessional. It’s not risky. It’s not too emotional. It’s more authentic. And at this critical time in human history, authenticity is one the strongest and most needed leadership qualities of our time.
Why?
Because teams don’t want flawless leaders.
They want grounded leaders — leaders who bring clarity, self-awareness, and presence.
A powerful self-reflection for this season: “Where am I performing in my career, and where am I expressing my true self?”
Expression leads to genuine connection and influence. Performance alone that is not aligned with your true self leads to burnout.
Conversation #4: What To Do When You Feel Lost
Many of my high performing clients tell me: “I feel stuck. I don’t know my next step.”
But feeling lost is not a sign you’re behind — it’s a sign you’re evolving.
Feeling lost doesn’t mean you lack clarity. It means you’ve outgrown your old clarity.
Leaders often try to think their way out of confusion.
But clarity rarely comes from thinking harder.
Clarity comes from listening to that internal voice that whispers to you about what you long for.
Here are four questions I ask clients when they say they feel directionless:
1. What no longer fits? Hint: Your body often knows this before your mind does. Exhaustion, burnout, sickness, illness, injury… these are calling to you to slow down and listen.
2. What energizes you more than it “should”? Excitement is a roadmap. Pay attention and notice it with curiosity. Where is it directing you to explore?
3. What values have you drifted away from? Values don’t disappear — they get ignored. When you are working in greater alignment with your values, notice how it affects your energy, creativity and productivity.
4. What would I choose if I trusted myself more and feared less what others think? This is the doorway to alignment. Are you courageous enough to take a step through and look around to see what’s here?
Purpose is not found in a single moment. It’s built through small truths you stop running from.
The Real Work of This Season: Integration
This December, all four conversations converge into one central realization:
You want to feel aligned — in your work, your identity, and your impact.
Not because your current career is wrong.
But because your next chapter requires a deeper and more authentic version of you.
Alignment is not a career pivot.
It’s a return.
A remembering.
A reconnection with the parts of you that success made easy to ignore.
And the truth is this:
You don’t need a massive leap.
You don’t need to start over.
You don’t need to figure out the next 10 years.
You just need the next aligned step.
How to Take the Next Step?
If you want a clear, practical framework for understanding your purpose, aligning your career, and mapping your next chapter with confidence — message me “Send me the link.” I’ll send you my methodology video that walks you through it step-by-step.