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Tuning In to Your Career Instead of Tuning Out at Work: 3 Easy Steps to Use Your Intuition to Get Ahead, by Melanie Barnum

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

So often it feels like we get up every day and go put in an entire 8-10 hours like a worker drone. We are putting the time and energy in but getting little satisfaction from it. Whether it's from a lack of interest in what we are doing or it's because we are merely working to pay the bills, it rarely will make you happy. The old adage, "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life" is true. It's time to enjoy what you are giving so much of your life to! No more merely punching a clock for you—oh no, you are ready to tap into your desires and begin a career that makes you appreciate every day.

Your happiness is crucial to your health and wellness. That's why using your intuition to help guide you to your best possible career can be your greatest asset. We use our intuition all the time—the difference now will be that you'll utilize it intentionally. Recognizing and acknowledging that your intuitive wisdom will help you to discern something allows you to better pay attention to the visceral reactions you’ll attain when you practice purposefully. Activating your natural ESP, or extrasensory perception, becomes much easier without the need to focus on the process so we keep it simple in the beginning. However, simple does not mean small. Go into the exercise below without any preconceived notions of what you should feel or what messages or information you are supposed to receive. That can work against you and tend to make you feel blocked from any impressions you may have. Instead, be open to your own intuitive abilities, with a little help from the energy of the universe, leaving behind any judgment, fear, or self-doubt.

So, what would make you want to go to work, want to put in the hours that would feed your soul instead of depleting it? Who but you would know what would make your spirit soar? You want to do something that makes your heart sing, but that also gives you the opportunity to be productive and pay your bills and help support your family. So, how do you figure out what that would be? And how do you make it happen? Well, first, you read my newest book, Intution at Work, and then, you start taking your life and your intuition to the next level!

One of the best ways to begin understanding what makes you feel successful in business is to determine what you love and what you're good at and what you want to do. This, so often, can be a difficult task, so let's break it down into a few, rather simple, steps using your natural intuitive gifts. We will call them the What, the Where and the How.

1. The What. Think about the following and visualize in your mind's eye, using your clairvoyant, or clear sight, intuitive sense to discover what your answers are:
   • What do you enjoy?
   • What do you dislike?
   • What goals did you have before you were told you needed to just work and make money?
   • If you could do anything in the world, anything at all, and make money at it, what would it be?
2. The Where. Decide whether you want to stay in your current field of business and move up the career ladder or if you want to change altogether. In order to do that, sometimes it helps to use your clairsentient abilities, or to sense how something makes you feel. So, take a deep breath and think about the following questions one at a time, breathing before each. Pay attention to whether something feels good or bad, or right or wrong in your body. You may feel a heaviness or a lightness, depending on if it feels bad or good. How does it feel when you contemplate whether to:
   • Stay in your current job?
   • Stay in your line of work?
   • Change companies?
   • Open your own business?
   • Change your entire career to something new?
3. The How. Making it happen is sometimes the easiest part of the equation, when you use your intuitive guidance system to help you. Let's look at how you can get there by using a mix of your clairvoyance, your clairsentience, and your claircognizance, that intuitive ability to just know something you have no reason to know. You will also throw in some manifestation, because why not? Manifesting is the ability to create something out of nothing, or to bring about that which you've asked for from the universe to help you better yourself. And it's easier than you may think.
   • Allow yourself to relax, in a comfortable and non-disturbed space.
   • Breathe, and feel your body calming down as you focus on how your breath feels as it passes through your body. Inhale in positive energy around the new position, and exhale any negative thoughts you may have attached to what you are doing now but no longer like. Continue to focus on your breathing until you feel like you've let go of all negativity.
   • Now that you've discovered what it is you want to do, whether it's staying at your current place and moving up or making a complete change, it's time to manifest that. Focus on what your goal is, breathing it in and truly feeling yourself in that position. Imagine living your greatness, doing what makes you happy. See it, feel it, even hear any sounds associated with it by listening with your clairaudience or your intuitive hearing.
   • See, in your mind, the logistics of what having that new position would mean and the possible steps you need to accomplish it. For instance, if you are currently a lawyer but have always wanted to be a social worker, you need additional schooling. Focus on what the name of the college would be or how you'd take the classes—via in person or online, etc. Ask aloud who you need to talk to in order to move up or switch jobs in your current business (if that's what you want to do) and expect to hear or just know the answer. Based on what you have decided, there are many questions you can ask and expect to receive a response—though you may have to wait a day or two to get it or understand it.
   • Now comes the big ask. Ask the universe to put you on the path, soon, that will bring your desire, your vision, to fruition. Believe it can happen and that you will be presented with a variety of opportunities in the not-so-distant future. Then, and this is the hardest part, let it go. Know that it will happen if it is for your greatest good and don't try and figure out how it may come to be. Be present in your life—participating in it to help the universe manifest it. In other words, if you get a phone call from an employment agency asking if you want to change jobs, take the call. Or, if you see an opportunity to take a workshop or class that can increase your skills in the career you have or want, take it. Just because the universe is helping you to manifest it doesn't mean you sit it out. It simply means that you don't have to worry about how it will happen. And, thank the universe, and your spirit guides who are always around to assist you, for understanding and knowing what you want and what you need and bringing it to you.

Now that you've run through the steps, it's time to be realistic. You may not have felt 100% connected to all of the steps and everything you did. That is totally okay! Think of it like riding a bike for the first time without training wheels. It can feel a bit scary and make you uneasy; you're not quite sure how it will all come together or may even fear that you'll be able to do it at all. But, when you are able to let go of the fear and trust that you are born with natural instincts, you'll realize that you are meant to do this. Just like using your intuition—you are meant to succeed. And, as with using the training wheels, it's okay to take it slow. You will probably not be able to see or feel or know or hear everything immediately but be open to the possibility that you will receive information soon. Sometimes it will show up in the form of a sign or a synchronistic event within a day or two. Or it may come to you in a flash like a polaroid picture seemingly out of the blue or a song resonates with you in a way that makes you think it just may be an answer to what you're working on. Pay attention to these moments, these intuitive clues. Have faith that it is most likely the easiest way for you to recognize the intuitive information.

Using your intuition at work and in your personal life can bring you beyond where you are now in so many ways. Thinking of it as a tool in your toolbox of skills can help normalize it for you. It can increase your processing of information as well. Adding this tool to your intelligence, that you also work every day to increase and develop, helps you nourish your mind, body, and spirit. Changing your mindset to one of belief that there is a power within you that can help propel you to a place where you're tuning in on a regular basis instead of tuning out is the greatest gift you can give yourself. So accept it, in the midst of all of the chaos in the world, embrace your gifts. They are, after all, your birth right and are waiting for you to step into your intuitive power!

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2021. All rights reserved.

I have done all sorts of spiritual studies from acupuncture to hypnosis to psychology, but I haven't found the right path for me. I have done volunteer work, paid work, and been self-employed, but after a while, I always lose interest. What I want is to just be a free spirit with no ties, to just play and travel and explore other cultures. My husband says that to do what I want to do, a person needs money, which I don't have a lot of. (He makes a decent living, but to travel the world would be expensive!) I feel lost and without direction, like I need a really good challenge. Do you think I just haven't found my niche, or do I need to pick a career path even if it's not so challenging so I can do everything else I want to do?

- Ina

Dreamchaser:

I do not believe that everyone has a destined career path. I don't think that sitting at the same job for 35 years and then retiring with a gold watch works for everyone. While it may be hard to believe, there are some people who love the structure of a secure, steady, 9-to-5 job, for they love the comfort of knowing what to expect every day.

Then there are people like you and me. I have worked so many different jobs in my life: I was a commercial diver, an accountant and now a psychic - and those are just the respectable jobs! I also picked cotton, painted trim and shutters, laid concrete, etc.

I think it's normal for people like us to move on rather frequently. I have been working at Kajama longer than I have worked at any other place in my entire life, and I don't feel the need to move forward right now. That doesn't mean that as I evolve, I won't move on to something new again someday.

You are not broken, lazy or shiftless. You know what you like and you know what you want, you just need to figure out how to manifest that, because your belief system about money is in conflict with the dream in your heart.

I know I've been mentioning this in every column, but that's because it works! I recommend you watch The Secret on DVD. If you watch this and work its teachings, you can manifest what you want along with the money or whatever else you need to get it.

I also recommend you read a book entitled The Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks. It will teach you how to carry The Secret forward and apply it to your everyday life. The ONLY reason you are not able to fulfill your dream of traveling the world is because you don't believe that you can do it.

You say that you are lost and without direction, that what you want to do isn't feasible. Well, I have a challenge for you: Find a way to both travel AND work. For example, I can take my laptop with me and continue to work anywhere I can find an internet connection.

A friend of mine travels to awesome spots all over the world, and takes pictures that he sells on his website, in galleries, and also to magazines. He gets to fulfill his love of travel AND get paid.

Travel agents have to go to various places to check them out before they can recommend them to clients. People work on airplanes and cruise ships and trains. There are just so many jobs you could have that would allow you to travel, but first you need to believe that you can make this YOUR reality.

While you watch The Secret, allow yourself to dream. Then if you ask the Universe to help you, I know you'll find a way that makes you happy.

*****

Astrea:

Since your husband doesn't make enough money for you to spend all your time traveling and exploring, it would be a good idea for you to get a job that will give you the money you want in order to do that. (If only all husbands were able to instantly fulfill our every desire!)

Unfortunately, your man is right! To do what you talk about doing is very expensive, and if you're not independently wealthy, well, Honey, you'll have to work for your fun money. Anyway, nothing is more rewarding than being able to support your own dreams, hobbies and activities.

Wanting to do exactly as you please without any strings or ties comes from the Gemini Ascendant in your astrological chart. That Rising Sign causes quite a few people to quickly tire of MANY things, not just their jobs. It's hard to focus your Pisces concentration with that Gemini Rising influence!

Your Pisces Sun longs for stability, while your Gemini Ascendant just wants to have lots of fun. This inner struggle is probably what has kept you from finding something that can hold your interest long enough for it to be an actual career.

Since your Pisces Sun also longs to help others, perhaps your Gemini creativity can steer you into teaching, coaching, or something like art therapy. This would give your creative side a chance to bloom, while your restless side would get to do new things all the time.

Teaching would also give you lots of time for travel once you build up your bankroll a little. School holidays are great times to take off, and most travel agencies offer discounts to teachers who have those times free.

If you feel you don't have the patience or dedication for teaching, a career in public relations or artist representation would also give you the opportunity to travel a lot. Of course, you could always go to school and become a travel agent, which is a job that pays well and includes lots of free trips. This seems like a natural choice for you.

The reason you've never been able to find your niche in the metaphysical world is because you don't like it enough to dedicate the time it would take for you to prosper in a field like that. It's just not your THING.

That's perfectly fine! Not everyone is suited to be a hypnotherapist or acupuncturist. That sort of work can be a real drain on your energy because it's all about OTHER people's needs and desires, not your own. It's great that you learned those skills, but I think if you really wanted to do something where people lean on you all the time, you would be doing that by now.

At some point, everyone wishes that they could find the perfect job. I wish finding it was as easy as WANTING to find it! If you look deeper into your true nature, I'm sure something will jump out at you.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.