In the beginning...

Stacy's job had become a source of misery and tension headaches. "I felt dissatisfied," she says, "spinning my wheels and going through the same grind every day. It was frustrating knowing that my career had nothing to do with my passion."

At the core of her unhappiness was a perceived lack of control in her career, like she had no choice but to keep going down the same dismal path. She felt pinned down. Her career had been defined by what she "should" do, not by what really felt right for her, and she felt a massive disconnect as a result.

She was tired of playing the victim. She wanted to make a change, but was held back by fear. Fear of taking a risk, and fear of failure. "If I fail," she remembers feeling, "I don't have that dream any more."

The fear of leaving the known - however unpleasant - and pursuing the unknown was an enormous obstacle. The perfectionist in her fueled that fear. "If I attempt it, I must be successful." She didn't allow herself room for experimentation and learning.

As a result, she stifled her dreams with "yeah-but" and "I-can't-because" any time she pondered a change.

And now…

"I don't feel stuck any more," Stacy says about the impact of her work with Curt. "I just feel powerful about my choices."

The headaches are gone, and she left the job that was impacting her so negatively. She discovered that many different avenues really are possible and realistic, explored opportunities that were more closely aligned with her Passion Core, and ultimately found a path she loves.

"One of the biggest benefits of this whole process," says Stacy, "is a feeling of power over my situation. That I have the freedom of choice.

"I came away with a greatly increased awareness of what I care about and what makes me tick. That awareness helped me see the possibilities." She began to believe that a wide array of options was open to her. That, in turn, diminished the fear of making a change.

"Seeing the options helped me take control of my own destiny and move on from a very destructive place to a place where I could regroup and think about where I wanted to go."

A decision that she could have perceived as an abysmal mistake - especially given her initial perfectionist tendencies - actually led Stacy to a path that she absolutely loves that she would never have guessed she would take.

Stacy took a job as a mortgage broker, realized she hated it, and left. She ended up being invited back in to continue some behind-the-scenes business process and organization work she had begun while she was there. The new focus fits perfectly with her Passion Core, and she loves it. "At the end of the day," she says, "I look up and go, 'Oh my gosh! Where did the time go?!"

"Without my work with Curt," she says, "I would never have been open to accepting things unfolding. It was OK to leave my job as a mortgage broker when I realized it wasn't right, because I knew it wasn't the end of the path. Before, I would have felt like a failure."

While her perfectionism hasn't left her entirely, Stacy has embraced the fact that there is no one right answer, and that it is a process that will continue unfolding. "Now I'm comfortable knowing I don't have a final answer," she says, a shift that has relieved much of the pressure. "I see my next step as a stepping stone. It's liberating to know it's a path and a process."

The process

"We sat down at the beginning and talked about the pieces that came into play," says Stacy. "From there, it was tearing down how I got to where I was, re-examining my belief systems, and then opening the door to exploring the Passion Core. There was a huge increased awareness."

She recalls, "When I would leave after each session, my mind was spinning with so many ideas and revelations about what we discussed. It was hard to stop. It felt like it was building on itself.

"One of the other great aspects about the process - especially for me,the perfectionist - is that there are no "right" or "wrong" answers. It is exploration, all open for consideration. For me to understand that allowed me to break down the barriers and explore my passions more fully."

Working with Curt

"Curt's role wasn't to tell me what to do or express what he thought about what I did," says Stacy. "It was all a process of helping me discover what my own true thoughts and feelings were, without being colored by the thoughts and feelings of those who know me well. That was critical.

"Working with Curt felt casual and comfortable, very non-threatening. He was an objective listener. That lack of judgment is so important. That's something it's hard to get with friends and family."

Another important element was Curt's ability to challenge her assumptions. "He would challenge me to think about things in a different way. To rethink something that I had just stated with such certainty."

Stacy also appreciated the fact that there was no set formula to each session. "The questions Curt asked were thoughtful," she says, "and relevant to where the conversation was turning. He was very responsive to shifting his direction to where I was headed."

The whole story

In the beginning, Stacy's fear of making a change threatened to paralyze her. Bit by bit, as the process progressed, those fears began to dissipate.

"One of the best parts of the process was the idea of not having to take the huge leap. Doing the baby steps," says Stacy. "It's so simple when you think about it. It doesn't have to be the big leap or nothing."

She quickly realized she held some unconscious beliefs that were standing in her way - like you can't make a living doing something fun. "We started re-examining my belief systems. One of the biggest revelations was coming to grips with the fact that you owe it to yourself to find work that you love. That people are put here with innate talents and capabilities, and to not pursue those, or even be aware, is a disservice to yourself and others."

Looking at her beliefs was valuable, but not always easy. "It was not without resistance. It was uncomfortable in places, because it challenges what you have accepted for so long."

As the process unfolded, Stacy began to identify the pieces in her Passion Core. The resulting deep awareness had a much greater impact than she expected.

"Using the Passion Core to start looking at all the jobs that might contain those characteristics made me realize how much there was out there, rather than feeling like there was only one path" says Stacy.

"The process helped me get past my fear of moving out of a career that I know. It helped me believe it's achievable - and there isn't just one way to go at it.

The turning point for Stacy came a couple months into the process when she was having a particularly difficult time with her job. "Curt asked, 'Are you sure you can hang in there?'" she remembers. "I said 'Yeah, absolutely, as long as I want to. I can endure this.' That night I went home and I thought, no, I don't choose to. I can, but I don't choose to. That act alone helped give me the guts to say, I have power over this situation."

The increased awareness that developing her Passion Core has given her has been invaluable. "I think it's more powerful than I gave it credit for in the beginning. Everybody's looking for the magic revelation. When you're aware of your Passion Core, you begin to notice the things that engage you, and you can tag it back to, yeah, that's something that I really key into. That's very motivating. It makes you aware of how many passions you really have."

It also helped her move beyond making decisions based on what she "should" do. "That increased awareness makes you aware of more choices," says Stacy, "and then you do it for different reasons - not because you 'should' but because that is what really interests you. For me, it was a process of listening more to my heart than to the should."

One unexpected outcome of the process for her was more trust in her intuition. A tendency to over-analyze had consistently squashed any exploration of new possibilities, and over time she began to realize that, if she listened to what felt right, without thinking things into the ground, she was most often right.

Stacy came away from the process with a newfound freedom. "Now I have the power to say, hey, if this doesn't turn out to be as fun as I think it will be, that's OK. And I think before, that wasn't OK."

Her work with Curt also helped her realize that her next step isn't the end result of her path.

She started exploring careers that speak more to her Passion Core. "I felt excited that that's out there," she says. "It made me more peaceful. About my choices, and the process of the path unfolding before me, and just rolling with it. I don't feel stuck. The key thing has been making choices based on what I've pulled out my work with Curt."

She ended up choosing to explore work as a mortgage broker, which had several elements in her Passion Core. She had some concerns about what the job actually entailed, but decided that she would give it a try.

She ended up disliking it, and ultimately quit. While it may have seemed like a bad choice, it ultimately led her to an opportunity that fit perfectly with her Passion Core.