Once upon a time...

While browsing jobs on Linkedin, you read the job description. Your eyes light up. Could it be?

The organization is reputable, the role is slightly more senior than your current one (a move in the right direction!), you know you will be brilliant at it, plus there's space for growth in new areas that energize you. The salary is an increase for you, the benefits are excellent.

You flush with excitement - could this be the one?

A seed of possibility is planted and you decide to throw caution to the wind and apply. You really take your time on this one - reworking your cover letter to a near work of art over several days until finally, you take a leap of faith and hit send. 

You feel a rush as chills run down your spine. You have a good feeling about this one.

A week later, you receive an email inviting you to interview and feel a flutter in your heart - you are one step closer to your dream job becoming a reality. 

You ace the interview, feeling confident, charming, and noticing how you could be fully yourself for this one. It feels different from the past roles. 

Sure there are small moments when the interviewer referenced responsibilities not mentioned in the job description, but you're a team player and you know you can make it work if they offer you the role - if you fill that gap for them as they do for you.

More time passes, one more interview goes by, and one day your phone rings. The job is yours. Do you want to move forward? 

"I do!" you quickly reply, barely holding back your enthusiasm and eagerness. Of course you do. This is it. 

Dreams do come true, you think. Am I really awake? You pinch yourself. It's really happening. 

You remember back to the job description, the salary, the benefits, the new possibilities coming your way. Your jaw unclenches, your shoulders relax. 

Your first day comes and it feels like the first day of school, full of potential, new friends, possibilities, and the anticipation of the paycheck and benefits. You were so excited to get started and envisioned all the ways you could contribute to making the team and projects even better. 

You meet your new boss. They're a bit busy, but welcome you to the team. Your new colleagues seem tired but offer to take you to lunch. You learn from them that 2 people on the team are planning to leave in the next few weeks.

You write it off as a fluke - people move on. That doesn't change things for you. You have your dream job and new wonderful people will be joining you here soon. 

Overall, your first day is less exhilarating than you imagined, people seem a bit lower energy. But you know you can help change things, bring the team together, and share new ideas to make things better for everyone.

Over the next few weeks, your boss is less available than you’d expected, and when they are around, they seem to have a lot of critical feedback. You're enthusiastic about ways to improve team culture and collaboration, but there don't seem to be opportunities to share your ideas and when you do, people don't seem to have much appetite for your solutions.

Your boss has also started asking you to schedule meetings for them where you're not included. And you have a sense that your boss is a little guarded about you reaching out to some of the organization’s partners and other team members.

You figure it’s early days and you know the person who was in your role before you struggled a bit with communication so it makes sense for your boss to have some guardrails as you’re settling in.

3 months pass and you have forgotten that sense of excitement you had on your first day. You’ve settled into a routine, working mostly in isolation and reminding yourself that there are still lots of good things about the job - the title and organization still look good on your resume and the benefits are great.

You reflect that perhaps it was naive to think that any one job could meet all of your big expectations. You wanted too much, didn't you?

A year passes and one day you decide to look back at that original job description.

Almost nothing from the “responsibilities” matches what you’re doing now. You feel a sense of disappointment and your heart sinks, but your benefits are great, you aren’t miserable day to day, and you suspect it would be much worse elsewhere. Plus you’ve heard it looks better to future employers if you stick it out for at least 2 years in a role - you tell yourself can do this. 

Maybe a conversation with your manager would help - you can discuss ways to align the role more closely with the one you applied for. 

You chase your manager for a conversation for a few weeks, but they’re very busy. This doesn’t seem particularly important to them. Finally, you schedule a coffee - the first time seeing each other in person in a few months.

But at the last minute, they call you and suggest you speak by phone instead. “No worries” you say, sitting at the best table in the coffee shop you've been holding for the last 30 minutes, as you look across at the empty chair once reserved for your boss.

Your boss speaks first, complaining about how stressed they are for the next 20 minutes. You comfort them, barely able to contribute. With only 10 minutes remaining of your long-reserved time together, your boss asks what you wanted to speak about.

You steady yourself to share your truth in what you expect to be a risky but assertive statement, only for it to come out as floppy spaghetti, “I was wondering...if maybe we could adjust some of my work to be a little more like the one I originally applied for…” Your boss seems to be preoccupied. “This is basically the same as the one you applied for, right?” they ask. “It's just...” you trail off, deflated. “Was that all?” your boss asks, with little room for any response by "yes."

Exhausted and disappointed, you decide to start looking for other jobs immediately after your boss hangs up, clicking out of your work email and signing into Linkedin for the first time in more than a year.

New beginnings. New possibilities. A fresh start. 

Most job openings don't feel right, but then you come across one really stands out to you. A slightly better title, a slightly better salary, an organization you admire...and you start writing your most heartfelt cover letter ever. 

Could this be the one?

So many of us spend years of our lives cycling through the potential of a "perfect" job and the immense disappointment with the reality of the role being different from what we expected and desired. 

It feels like you keep doing everything right - seeking out the right organizations, energizing roles, and appropriate levels of advancement, but you're starting to wonder if maybe your expectations are just too high. 

You can handle a lot, right? And you keep telling yourself it could be worse. And besides, what could you even do differently?

But what would it be like if you could quit the exhausting cycle of high hopes and deep disappointments? 

What if instead...

💌 You knew yourself well enough to ask the right questions early on to ensure the organization, team, and leadership would align with you?

🚩 You were able to identify the red flags early and had the confidence and courage to speak up and take action?

🥀 You had the right intel to find out if the fairytale was real...or if it was just a web of lies?

💗 🌟 You allowed yourself to dream even bigger to live the life that truly aligns with your greatest fulfillment, ambitions, and positive impact. 

What if you could learn and practice each of these in a safe, supportive, and expansive container? 

You may have heard about The Quit Lab - but here's the thing. Quitting isn't the dream - having a purposeful career that aligns with your life is the dream. 

That's why The Quit Lab is now Purposeful Career Lab, launching September 15th. 

Find out if you're a good fit for the program and book your spot (capped at 12 people) when enrollment opens June 1st. 

Join the waitlist to find out when enrollment opens.