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Writer's pictureZsanett Czifrus

Are you in the dark yet?

How to navigate with confidence in the in-between periods of your life.



What’s next?


I can’t see what my next in my career.

What is it that I’m good at?

I don’t see where I’m going in my life.

I know I don’t like living here anymore, but I don’t know where to move from here.

I don’t enjoy working in this job anymore, but how will I find out what I want to do now?


Questions I’ve heard so many times from clients.


Uncertainty. The sense of not knowing.


Not here, but where?


I’m so much familiar with this state myself too. It felt like this before each move, each career choice, and life pivots I’ve made.


It’s never easy.


But it’s always worth it.


We might think we need to know every single bit of the plan before we start it. It’s not so. We need to step on the road to see the path ahead!


The energy that comes from taking the first steps is what creates the way forward. By taking action (no matter how tiny it is!), you set the intention to move your life in a certain direction.



Do you wonder if you’re heading in the right direction?


What do you think feel? - I’d ask you this question if I was coaching you right now.


What is your heart telling you?

What do you feel in your bones?

Is this step you’re about to make brings you excitement, tingling, or rather despair and the sense of uh-huh?

What would give you a sense of progress? Does it feel like it doesn’t make sense?


No worries, do it anyway.

Trust the process.

Again, you won’t see the whole picture, until you’re not there yet.

Focus on what you do know now, even if it seems embarrassingly insignificant and shady yet. Do the tiniest action you feel like you can do.


Ask yourself ✍️


Journaling prompts:


Who am I at this stage of my life?

What roles feel important to me in my life now? What roles do I want to give more meaning in the next years? What may reside in the background for now?

What would fulfill me in the next period? - define the length of a period yourself. it may be a few months or ten years!

What feels nourishing to do these days?

What are the things I long to do for a long time?

What would make me feel proud if I have accomplished it in the next three months?

What would make me feel overjoyed if I accomplished it in the next three months?



Are you in the dark yet? 🌙


I was recently talking to a client who is navigating through choices while making a move and finding direction in her business. While thinking about how could I best serve her, I walked to my bookshelf and stared at it looking for an idea. I intuitively opened a book, one of my dearest ones that never failed to help me when I needed a piece of advice. My fingers retreated at Edward Espe Brown’s delicious read: No recipe, cooking as a spiritual practice. He is an American Zen teacher, who was the resident cook of the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in California.




Back to the story: I started to read and found this piece that I later sent to my client too (and it made a big impact on how she is designing her next steps now):


“Zen is like feeling your way along in the dark. You might think it would be better to have more light, to know where you’re going, and to get there in a hurry, but Zen is feeling your way along in the dark. When you have plenty of light and you know where you’re going, then you get impatient and want to push things out of your way. When you’re in the dark, you become more careful and sensitive to what is happening around you. If you do it with spirit, it’ll be perfectly okay.”

“What is the most important point? If I tell you something, you’ll stick to it, but it is not always so. When you stick to something that I say, you will abandon your capacity to study and investigate yourself.”

There are no recipes for telling you what your heart knows and precious little workable advice for trusting your heart rather than your head. You practice finding your way in the dark. Touch with your hands, see with your eyes, smell with your nose, taste with your tongue. Let things come and abide in your heart. Let your heart return and abide in things. Are you in the dark yet?” by Suzuki Roshi

I’m curious, what comes up as you read this?

What sensations do you feel in your body?

What qualities do you notice appearing in your mind?

What is the first thought that arises upon reading it out loud to yourself?

Which part of this read gets to the deepest layers of your heart?

What is it that you want to touch with your hands next? - Think about it as a metaphor. What is that action that your innermost being want to accomplish next?


Your vision is not something that you build. It’s something that you get access to.



Stay nourished 🧡, Zsanett


 

I believe that you're ready when you're ready. You'll know exactly when it's time. This inner knowingness is rather a feeling than a thought. Whenever you have that feeling, here are three ways to change your reality:


  • Commit to being yourself, and move to the next stage in your life. Apply now for 1-1 coaching starting in Q2 or Q3. I've two spots left to start in April.

  • Get clarity about what's next on your professional path. I'll run my Reinvent Yourself program in a group-coaching format starting in May. Book a chat if you're interested.

  • Create greater awareness of your life and take confident actions by using the Clarity workbook.


 


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