So, you're stuck. You feel trapped. You have this great-on-paper life that doesn't feel so great inside. You did all the right things, you checked all the boxes, you achieved everything you set out to, and you worked so. freaking. hard. And yet...you're unhappy, even miserable. You thought you'd be fulfilled - you should be! - by all of it, but you're not.
I've been there. And it's painful. You're not imagining it. I call it the Fulfillment Ache, and it develops when the distance between who you are and how you're showing up in the world grows too big.
But here's the great news: it doesn't have to be like this. There is another way. And, it's closer and more attainable than you might think, no matter where you're starting.
Let me show you the proven, step-by-step method to success and achievement that will actually leave you fulfilled.
The fact that you're unfulfilled?
It's not your fault.
You're not alone.
There is another way.
Where Underfulfilled Overachievers
Come to Find Fulfillment.
You want work that doesn't feel like work and to stop living from vacation to vacation. You want work that fills you up instead of drains you, and to live a life that actually feels like your life.
Together, we'll find the work that you're uniquely well-suited to do in the world. But it won't stop there. We'll create a whole life that's particular to you and no one else. A life that actually feels like your life.
It's about work, but it's about way more than that.
And, it's not about ditching your ambition. Ambition, in the sense of a desire for impact and contribution, is a superpower of UFOAs. It's about finding your aligned ambition — your authentic drive and desire — instead of following blind ambition, which is the stuff of 10-year plans, hustle culture and conventional norms.
Transform your career on the way to transforming your life
From Blind to Aligned ambition
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
"Megan’s guidance, help, and support was pivotal in helping reframe my thinking and was part of a series of events that culminated a big adventure of a Congressional run…and won!"
With her Big Direction in mind, the next thing we did was identify the single next most aligned step that would move us in that direction. We did not try to identify her "Purpose," instead we focused on following her curiosity — what lit her up and energized her — without needing to define the outcome. For AOC, one of the next most aligned, directionally right steps was taking a roadtrip to Flint and to Standing Rock. This was not a "logical" or "strategic" career move; in fact, it didn't make a whole lot of "sense." She did it because it felt directionally right. But it was on her way home from that trip, that she got the first call from Brand New Congress about being a candidate herself.
Her eventual decision to run for Congress was certainly not because she thought she'd win. In fact, it was a near impossiblity, but, again, it felt directionally right, and she didn't need to know the outcome — the destination — in order for it to be moving her towards her Big Direction.
As AOC explains it, “Things started to unlock when I stopped trying to have a plan and started following my curiosity, even if it didn’t make any sense in a ‘career sense.’ . . . Getting some title by some age is not the goal. . . . Building a good life . . . is much more important.”
Still today, she doesn't know what her destination is, or have some grand strategic plan to "ascend" in her political career. She's simply asking, "is this directionally right?" and focuses on her aligned ambition, instead of blind ambition.
You might think it's luck or happenstance that got AOC to where she is today, but it's not. It's because she took a different approach to her life and career than what most of us have been taught. She learned to live Directionally, instead of Destinationally. And, this is great news because you can adopt this approach, too!
Here's what AOC and I did not do: we did not discuss strategic linear career paths, logical next steps, or 10-year plans.
Instead, we focused on uncovering her Big Direction - a high-level life hypothesis of the direction, not a destination, she wanted to move towards. Through my Big Direction process, we considered, and eliminated, several areas of interest from her current industry of hospitality, to past experiences such as entrepreneurship and international economic development, and eventually landed on the thing that called to her most, the thing she couldn't not do, public service. That was all we needed to know to begin. There was nothing else to "figure out." Living Directionally means we didn't need to get more specific than that. We didn't need to determine if it would be as an organizer, or a chief of staff for someone in office, or work at a think tank.
Coaching AOC:
From Bartender to Congresswoman.
client CASE STUDY
With her Big Direction in mind, the next thing we did was identify the single next most aligned step that would move us in that direction. We did not try to identify her "Purpose," instead we focused on following her curiosity — what lit her up and energized her — without needing to define the outcome. For AOC, one of the next most aligned, directionally right steps was taking a roadtrip to Flint and to Standing Rock. This was not a "logical" or "strategic" career move; in fact, it didn't make a whole lot of "sense." She did it because it felt directionally right. But it was on her way home from that trip, that she got the first call from Brand New Congress about being a candidate herself.
Her eventual decision to run for Congress was certainly not because she thought she'd win. In fact, it was a new impossibility, but, again, it felt directionally right, and she didn't need to know the outcome — the destination — in order for it to be moving her towards her Big Direction.
As AOC explains it, “Things started to unlock when I stopped trying to have a plan and started following my curiosity, even if it didn’t make any sense in a ‘career sense.’ . . . Getting some title by some age is not the goal. . . . Building a good life . . . is much more important.”
Still today, she doesn't know what her destination is, or have some grand strategic plan to "ascend" in her political career. She's simply asking, "is this directionally right?" and focuses on her aligned ambition, instead of blind ambition.
client CASE STUDY continued..
Common Coaching Questions
Coaching feels like a huge relief and peace of mind. You are able to relax and trust that you will make it to where you want to go (even if you don’t know where that is yet), and stop spending your energy on anxiety, FoMo and “what ifs.” I’ll take all of your what ifs at the door. You can rest assured that no balls will be dropped (because I too am a classically-trained overachiever), no opportunities will be missed, no massive detours taken, because I’ve got you.
Coaching feels like talking to the person who knows you best of anyone in the world but better, and who always tells you the truth. It is my job to see you more fully than you can see yourself. You’re too close — how could you!? And your friends and family, they mean well, but let’s face it they’re kind and loving, but also totally subject to the same old traditional career advice that you were and that got you stuck in the first place! Then, I will hold you to becoming that person. You’ll feel bigger, more capable, more empowered, stronger, more confident, more courageous, and more at ease as a result.
We’ll have the very best love-hate relationship because I will also tell you the truth when you’re selling yourself short, making yourself small, procrastinating and disempowering yourself. This will make you crazy in the best sort of way. So, when you tell me you hate me, while simultaneously smiling from ear to ear, I’ll take it as a compliment.
Coaching feels messy and confusing at times, and it feels like crystal clarity and certainty at others. Often things get messier before they get clearer.
Coaching isn’t magical, but it does feel that way from time to time. If you’ve been confused, stuck and struggling, you will be amazed at how quickly your life can change in ways you never thought possible. You will wonder, “how did that even happen? How did I even do that?”
Coaching with me is about:
1) education — unlearning your old crappy programming and relearning the new approach to success
2) insight and discovery — uncovering what is it that you actually want
3) action and accountability — getting it done.
My job is to help you relearn, uncover and articulate, as well as ultimately live your Something Bigger (my term for your purpose).
We will meet for 75 minute sessions on a weekly or biweekly basis virtually (phone) for a minimum of 6 months. Our sessions are often focused on the insight parts, and you leave each session with an action plan and homework.
But I don’t leave you there! A key part of coaching is that I am your coach “full-time” via email, text or voice notes. The action is often the hardest part, and challenges and detours come up. I’ve got your back, always, no matter what, this means we are often in communication in between sessions as you’re actually doing the changing. No waiting a week or two to regroup and figure out what went wrong, or what went right! I’m with you at all times.
Details of packages and rates (and figuring out which one is the right one for you!) will be shared in the application process, but packages start at $12K for 6 months.
My private practice is currently full, but I am regularly welcoming new clients. So, join the waitlist if you're interested and we'll be in touch when there's new availability. I can't wait to hear from you!
Interested in Private Coaching?
For when you're sick of the same old career talks and
you're ready for something truly innovative and transformative.
No jargon, no sanctimony, no fluff.
SPEAKING & groups?
This isn't the same old career talk you've heard at every conference you've ever been to. Maybe you leave energized, but then nothing changes. I promise you've never heard this keynote or been to this workshop before. I know because I've been to a lot of them.
Where other speakers and coaches are focused on how we can work better within the same old broken paradigm we've been living in — by leaning in, or leaning out, or being more efficient, setting better boundaries, having more "balance" or doing more self-care, I'm here to talk about an entirely new paradigm for success and achievement — one that actually leads to fulfillment (without sacrificing impact or income.)
Directional Living offers a brand new approach to success and fulfillment, a new understanding of the actual underlying problem that we're facing, a comprehensive solution and a proven and actionable plan to get your audience there.
Not your standard rah-rah inspirational career talk
The New Strategies for Success
Get Unstuck & Unlock Your Something Bigger
How to Build a Career and a Life that's Authentic and Ambitious
From Blind Ambition to Aligned Ambition
What It Is, Why It's a Problem and What to Do About it.
