The Extreme Chase After Professional Success: When That's Your Only Identity

"When our self-worth is tied solely to external rewards, we can spend our whole lives chasing carrots without ever feeling full." - Insider, May 23, 2023  

Back in April 2021, an atypical article in establishment The New York Times received and continues to receive a lot of attention. It documents how the mystical Tarot cards provide a tool for self-awareness. In addition, it explains how you can be your own Tarot reader. Here is my five-step guide for that DIY Tarot reading.

That's not the only sign that those traditionally ambitious career types are searching for what is the "self" buried beneath all that wealth, power, and influence. It's part of the wellness movement sweeping through professional services such as law, management consulting, and finance. Professional anonymous networks such as Fishbowl and Reddit chronicle the pain embedded in “making it” – or scrambling to get there.

Insider focuses on the journey of high achiever Khe Hy's from managing director at Blackrock to just being a human being, husband, father, and producer of a newsletter holding its own. For him the Ah-Ha moment hit when he discovered his hair was falling out because of stress. 

Unfortunately, Sidley Austin law partner Gabe MacConaill felt unable to embark on such a process of exploration. Overwhelmed by a complex bankruptcy and the pile-on of administrative duties back at the law firm he committed suicide. It had been in the parking lot of Sidley Austin.

In an article for Law.com, his widow JoAnna Litt reveals that, as he was melting down, he didn't seek out help from a mental health professional because he assumed that it could have hurt his career. One wonders: In his pursuit of conventional success did MacConaill not give himself permission to know himself and then assess how much he could endure? Would such self-knowledge have stood in the way of winding up in the big time?

For my Tarot readings more clients come to figure out who they are now. Embedded in that is the realization that they never knew who they used to be. The cards ranging from The Magician to The High Priestess guide that search for self.

As with Hy, there had been a flashpoint. They might have had a setback in their business, lost the love of their life, and/or reached a milestone in success and didn’t feel like they expected to.

Self-awareness and making it big are not mutually exclusive. Extreme success should not get a bad reputation. They are in a dangerous conflict when there is no sense of a self to weather the volatility. Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, Disney’s Bob Iger, Paul Weiss’ Brad Karp, and the late Steve Jobs of Apple seem to know exactly who they are. Their approaches to success have been sustainable.

Tarot Card Reader. Medium. Intuitive Career Coach.

Empathy and compassion.

No-pressure complimentary consultation about the answers you need. Then, fees custom-made for your budget.

For an appointment, please contact janegenova374@gmail.com or text 203-468-8579. 


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