This time of year, it’s always fun to play along with the whole “Santa Claus” thing. Yes, Virginia, he’s real and he’s awesome! Belief is a powerful, magical thing. Why throw that away just because we’ve grown up? Why should children get to have all the holiday fun?
So much in life begins with belief. In your heart, in your mind…you have to believe before magic is possible.
Career fulfillment is no different. It always shocks me when I speak with people who tell me they want desperately to find a career they love, a career that fills them with a sense of satisfaction and maybe even happiness. And then, in the next breath, they tell me they aren’t even sure if it’s possible.
What?! How on earth can you expect to find something you don’t believe in? It reminds me of the movie “The Last Unicorn,” one of my favorite childhood cartoons. Some people, upon looking at the beautiful unicorn, simply see an ordinary mare because they’ve trained themselves not to believe. Only the people who truly believe she exists are able to see her in all of her magical glory. The others are fooled. They’re blind to what’s right there in front of them.
If you don’t believe career fulfillment is real—if you don’t honestly think you can and will find it—you won’t see the opportunities that surround you. They only appear when you really believe. But they’re there, I promise you!
Your mind has an amazing ability to shape the reality you see. What you look for, you find. That doesn’t mean belief is the ONLY step in finding career fulfillment; it’s just the first, most critical and often neglected step.
So if you’re fighting to believe, let me suggest this: Go to the mall. Watch the children as they wait in line to talk to Santa. Remember what it feels like to believe anything is possible—even the idea that a fat man from the North Pole might drop down your chimney with toys. Remember the sense of awe and joy and wonder that comes with experiencing true magic.
As adults, we get jaded. We let the dark, cold reality of life wear us down. But what does that get us? What might be different if we approached life with that childlike sense of belief? What if we allowed ourselves to be open to new and amazing things we’ve never before heard of and we don’t really understand? What if we simply said, “Okay! I believe!”
What then?
Our world would change.
So embrace the spirit of the season. Believe in something you’ve given up on—whether it’s the possibility of career fulfillment or finding a soul mate or becoming a millionaire.
Entertain the idea that it’s possible.
See what changes.
