“I don’t know who I am anymore.”
- my client “Joey” during our first coaching session
He reached out to me when his career hit a plateau, and he was feeling frustrated, confused and uncertain. Should he stay the course or pivot to a new career or industry?
Joey’s not alone. A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that approximately 74% of employees across various industries experience a career plateau at some point.
In my work with clients, I’ve found two primary reasons for the plateau:
1. You’re not qualified for any available promotions.
2. You are qualified, but there are no positions open.
An added layer to not being qualified is that there are frequently no opportunities to become qualified and make a living. Or if you get a shot, you have to hit it out of the ballpark on the first go-round in order to keep the job. Sometimes (or frequently, depending on the industry), there’s an expectation to do free work to prove that you’re capable of the job.
When doing a Google search on how to navigate the plateau challenge, there’s a lot of really great advice available, like finding a mentor, going back to school, networking (more!), trying a side hustle, having a conversation with your boss, holding a growth mindset, and getting clear on your goals and skills.
However, I have found another important reason why people plateau that is overlooked. It has to do with your life purpose.
What is Life Purpose?
Your life purpose is your unique signature and impact in the world — it’s a combination of your talents and passion. Your life purpose is NOT your job or your career, our job and career are manifestations of your life purpose.
In the simplest terms, your life purpose answers the question: why am I here?
For example, a life purpose might be to help people meet their core needs. The career or job could be as a chef, a therapist, an astrologist, a waitress, or an electrician. Another example of a life purpose could be to make or highlight beauty in the world. The career or job could be as a hairstylist, a designer, a gardener, or a director.
I’ve written about life purpose quite a bit — here are a few links to help you further explore it to find yours.
How Do Life Purpose And A Career Plateau Relate?
Most people are not connected to their life purpose. I didn’t even know what a life purpose was, let alone my personal definition until I was in my 40s. Up until that point, I was in pursuit of external validation to prove my worthiness rather than following my own internal compass. External validation is a moving goal post. Life purpose is your own North Star.
When your life purpose and job are not aligned, you can run out of steam and hit a career plateau. This happens for one of three reasons:
You don’t know your life purpose, so you take jobs or accept opportunities for the wrong reasons — like seeking external validation. That being said, I believe we’ve all taken jobs outside of our life purpose as a means to an end. For example, working at McDonald’s to earn money to get a degree or being an Uber driver as a side hustle to help pay rent while working one’s way up the ladder.
You’re conflating purpose with career. You believe that your destiny is to be in a particular job like a writer or a doctor or a lawyer, but when you get into the role, it doesn’t actually suit you. Since you’ve worked your ass off to get into the entertainment industry or medical school or passing the bar, you’re unable to pivot. Inevitably, you hit a plateau because you have conflated purpose with career.
There’s a misalignment between purpose and action. Some people know their purpose but are not actually living it. This typically happens because the person holds limiting beliefs or is living someone else’s values. For example, one client was clear that their purpose was to build efficiencies to help people live healthier. However, due to a belief that he couldn’t make a living as a personal trainer, he worked at a grocery store as a manager, having worked his way up from the stockroom. Each promotion was validating and took him further away from his purpose and his value of working one-on-one with people.
Having clarity around your life purpose can actually help you identify the right type of mentors, what to study if you’re going back to school, who to network with, and what type of side hustle to try.
My life purpose is to support people in getting across their finish lines. Initially I saw how it applied to my work as a film and television producer – I help writers and directors get their projects made. But I always had a quiet calling to teach. So when the opportunity to become an adjunct professor at Northwestern University came along, I jumped all over it. Working with students to help them achieve their degrees and goals is completely aligned with supporting people getting across their finish line. And, of course, I live my life purpose as a coach as well.
For what it’s worth, the wording of my life purpose has changed dozens of times, but the essence of it has stayed the same. What’s changed is how I’ve become more clear on my talents and passions as a result of decoupling from external validation. More on that another time!
Case Study: Joey’s Journey from Plateau to Purpose
Let’s bring all this alive through a case study and go back to my client Joey.
Joey had been on a ten-year trajectory of working his way up the ladder as a screenwriter. While Joey didn’t come from a family of artists and knew no one in Hollywood, he always loved storytelling — he and his family would watch Malcolm in the Middle, iCarly and Spongebob Squarepants together. His older brother shared graphic novels with him, and before anyone knew it wasn’t awesome for people to consume a massive amount of online content, he was hooked on YouTube. When he was 15, Joey had business cards printed with his name and photo, declaring himself a writer. He received an undergraduate degree in film and television and then earned an MFA from a highly regarded Southern California university. Not taking any time off to celebrate, he immediately jumped into networking like crazy and found a job as a production assistant on the first season of a streaming series.
Working on the show was a dream come true.
During year two of the streaming series, working as a production assistant, Joey was asked back as the showrunner's assistant - a huge "win" towards his goal of becoming a screenwriter since he heard the showrunner had promoted the last assistant to staff writer. He did his best to go above and beyond like running personal errands for his boss on the weekends as well as building his own writing portfolio in hopes he would also get promoted to staff writer.
Joey was filled with joy and gratitude when he was asked back for season 3 in the same role as the showrunner’s assistant — especially because it came with the promise that if there was a season 4, he might have the opportunity to co-write an episode.
Well, season 4 came and went with Joey continuing to be the showrunner’s assistant, but the opportunity to co-write never emerged. Joey was frustrated and restless. He’d invested so much time and energy into the showrunner and the series for what? He was disappointed in the lack of growth opportunities and found it more and more difficult to write his own scripts and work on his portfolio because of burnout.
When Joey was invited back to season 5, still in the same role, he was confused about what to do. Joey had always believed that his work and loyalty would eventually pay off, but that belief was greatly diminished. He no longer had a sense of who he was anymore.
In our first coaching session, Joey talked a lot about how he knew he “should” be grateful. A lot of writers he knew made ends meet through the gig economy and he was glad to at least be on a TV series. And yet, he no longer felt grateful. He had lost motivation and passion, which was not like him.
“I don’t know who I am anymore.”
In our work together, Joey realized it wasn’t that he didn’t know who he was—he hadn’t discovered who he was yet. He believed his purpose was to be a writer, but when he stopped receiving validation or opportunities as a writer, he began to question himself.
Through visioning exercises, discussion, journaling, and speaking with confidantes, Joey wrote this purpose statement:
“My life purpose is for people to be and feel seen. I use my talents of listening, observation, and empathy to redefine representation in storytelling. As a result, I create safer communities that foster belonging.”
Once we identified his purpose, pieces began to fall into place. Joey could manifest his purpose as a writer, but also in many other ways: teacher, project manager, and painter. His biggest takeaway was that he was actually called to be a community builder.
Joey also recognized he had become exclusively focused on co-writing an episode as a sign that he was succeeding. In connecting with his purpose, he could see that the co-writing opportunity was simply one of many stepping stones.
Ultimately, he chose to return for Season 5, which would be the final season. While he still wanted an opportunity to write, he wanted to honor his value of community and continue to be a part of something that touched many many people’s lives.
Joey asked his boss if he could take on the added responsibility of working with the streamer on the show’s social media presence. He had a vision for how he wanted to honor the fans and also expand the community, which helped him feel more fulfilled professionally.
Joey was able to move from feeling stuck and uncertain to embracing a broader vision of success, one that included his passion for community building. When he shifted his focus from external validation to his internal compass, he found new ways to thrive professionally and personally. This shift didn’t just help Joey navigate his career plateau; it redefined his path, making room for growth and fulfillment in unexpected places
Bottom Line
If you’re feeling plateaued, consider looking beyond your job title and reconnecting with your deeper purpose. It might just be the key to reigniting your motivation and finding new directions for your career.
Remember:
Career plateaus are common, often due to a lack of qualifications or open positions.
There are many strategies to overcome plateaus, like networking, finding mentors, or pursuing further education.
A crucial yet often overlooked factor is aligning your career with your life purpose.
Life purpose isn't your job but a blend of your talents and passions.
Misalignment between life purpose and job roles can lead to burnout and dissatisfaction.
Identifying and integrating your life purpose can provide clarity, motivation, and direction.
In Joey's case, discovering his life purpose as fostering community through storytelling transformed his approach. Instead of feeling stuck, he saw new possibilities and redefined his success. This shift can be a valuable step for anyone facing a career plateau—finding your North Star can illuminate paths you hadn't considered.
I encourage you to take time to identify your life purpose. Who you are is there – most likely buried underneath limiting beliefs, living other people’s values, or conflating purpose with career.
Journal Prompts
Here are five journal prompts to help deepen your understanding of career plateaus and navigate them with the help of your life purpose:
1. Reflect on a Time You Felt Plateaued: Describe a moment in your career when you felt stuck or unsure about your next steps. What were the circumstances? How did it make you feel?
2. Identify Your Life Purpose: What activities or roles make you feel most fulfilled and energized? Write about moments when you felt most aligned with your talents and passions. How do these moments connect to a broader life purpose?
3. Assess Career Alignment: How does your current job align with your identified life purpose? Are there aspects of your role that fulfill your purpose, or do you find a disconnect?
4. Explore Limiting Beliefs: What beliefs or external validations have influenced your career choices? Reflect on how these beliefs may have shaped your decisions and whether they support or hinder your alignment with your life purpose.
5. Vision Your Future: Imagine your ideal career scenario where your life purpose is fully integrated. What does your day-to-day look like? What kind of roles or projects are you involved in? Write about the steps you can take to move closer to this vision.
These prompts can help you explore your career journey, understand the role of life purpose, and identify actionable steps to align your career with your deeper motivations.
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