Your Perfectionism Is Impeding Your Career, Maybe Threatening Your Life - What Tarot Card Nine of Cups Says about That

 "You developed a protective strategy commonly known as perfectionism, which means you organize your life around avoiding contact with any potential indications of being inadequate, defective ...Trying new things is a direct threat to that defense." - Nine of Cups Chapter in 2021 book Tarot for Change by Jessica Dore.

It's that perfectionism which can trigger compulsive working. We see it all the time. As the Nine of Cups in the Tarot reveals, that often puts on the blinders for the kind of creative thinking which generated the smartphone. Instead of a Steve Jobs there is an in-the-box plodder and that plodder often burns out or is forced out. The expected results don't happen. 

Perfectionism can also kill. In a Law.com article the widow of Sidley Austin law partner Gabe MacConaill - Joanne Litt - fingers her husband's "maladaptive perfectionism" as responsible for his suicide. He wouldn't or couldn't seek a solution for the relentless amount of work being heaped on him. That was both in managing the Mattress Firm bankruptcy and handling internal law firm assignments. He sought relief by putting a bullet in his head in Sidley's parking lot.

Let's look at the card. The Nine of Cups depicts a smug type who has his arms crossed across his chest. He insulates himself from the world. That includes the people who can help his career. Success comes through people. We are social animals as the research on mirror neurons confirmed. 

How to break out? The first step, I suggest to clients who come for Tarot readings, is simply to soften. Replace that hardening of the heart and the cognitive categories and all the oughts with just being nice. In a very human way. This could be simply listening deeply to a close friend who is anxious. In the process you release yourself from being locked tightly within yourself. 

Of course, that circles back to the 13th century with St. Francis of Assisi. He noticed that hell consisted of the bondage of self. In response he created his "Prayer for Peace" which has become classic. It has become embedded in the 12 steps of recovery in AA. Many with a drinking problem are locked in a fantasy of being perfect - and so important.

The next step is to try new things. That need to learn the game shakes you open. When Lee Iacocca took on the mission to turn around the near banktrupt Chrysler he selected for his team "B," not "A" executives back at Ford where he himself has been fired. He sensed that fresh challenge would trigger the best in them. Also they probably wouldn't be burdened with outsized egos. In the process he also blossomed in a way the world and probably he never anticipated. The team put on the market the then-revolutionary mini-van. Chryser became wildly profitable. About 50,000 American jobs had been saved. 

Takeaway: Loosen up. Focus on others. Experiment. 

Your just-right professional fit. You can bypass the usual pain points. You may need to change jobs, careers, or from being a worker to entrepreneurship. So many are at a crossroads. Complimentary consultation for coaching, job-search materials, and interviewing. The menu of services includes Tarot readings, both spreads and one-card pulls. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com or text 203-468-8579. Website: https://janegenovaintuitivecareercoaching.blogspot.com/