The Step Everyone Skips on the Way to a Career Path You Love

We all want the roadmap. But the real path to meaningful work begins where the checklist ends — with the inner work most people avoid.

Our minds love to be linear.

“Just give me the steps — 1, 2, 3.I can do it.”

And yes, you can. We all can.We’re smart enough to follow directions. Our minds crave clarity and hate ambiguity.

But here’s the truth: almost nothing meaningful in life works that way.

There are no clear steps to raise a child.No exact formula to stay healthy.No simple checklist to build a business or write a book.

Sure, there are millions of how-to books, articles, and even tools like ChatGPT. But when you start following those steps — does it ever go smoothly?

No.

Why? Because we’re human. Because life happens.

Most of what stops us from following any “success plan” isn’t lack of intelligence or discipline — it’s our emotional state of being.Our beliefs.Our inner saboteurs.The voices of our parents or old bosses still echoing in our heads.Societal expectations.Past wounds we never asked for.

Unless we deal with this stuff when it comes up — and it will — we can’t just follow the steps to reach our dreams.

Think about leadership. There are thousands of courses on how to be a great leader. But until we do our inner work — until we face what’s blocking us emotionally — those lessons don’t turn into behavior.

Same goes for health.We all know what to eat and how to move. But that knowledge alone doesn’t change lives. Emotional roadblocks do.

And when it comes to career transitions — leaving that job that’s slowly draining your soul, or finally starting your own business — it’s the same.

For over two decades, I’ve shared the steps, the frameworks, the roadmaps — most of them freely. Yet I know that’s not enough.Real transformation only happens when we’re willing to be seen, to face what’s inside, and to do the deeper work that growth requires.

This is the part everyone wants to skip: inner work!

Not because we’re not smart enough — maybe because we’re too smart. We know this is the hard part.

The inner work becomes a test of how much we truly want it — the dream, the freedom, the purpose.

When you want it badly enough, you’ll find the energy, the courage, and the time to walk through those emotional layers. And here’s the beautiful part: once you do, it doesn’t just help you get to your dream — it transforms everything else in your life, too.

Because what stops you in your career is often what stops you everywhere.

Once you can name your limiting beliefs, see where they came from — parents, society, old definitions of success — the weight lifts. You stop being pulled down by stories that were never yours to begin with.

I’ve never met a single person who didn’t carry some version of “not enough.”You’re not alone.We don’t identify these patterns to judge ourselves — we do it to set ourselves free.

Because what’s better than living fully as yourself — and doing work that’s a pure expression of who you are?

That’s the whole purpose of finding aligned, purposeful work: to live and work as your true self.

So please — don’t skip this part.

If you’re sitting in your cubicle wondering if there’s something more out there, or you’re ready to take the leap toward work that fits who you are — by all means, learn the steps. Follow the roadmaps. But also expect some emotional bumps along the way.

No book or AI tool can know the full story of your life.That’s why the real journey has to be your own.

Find support.Get coaching.Let someone who speaks your language walk with you through the messy middle.

That’s the only way to move through what blocks you inside.

I love coaching not because I hand people the steps to find work they love — but because I get to walk beside them in the hardest, most sacred part of the process. I am honored each time. They let me in.

The part most people want to skip is actually the part that changes everything.

Check out my Resources pages for free downloadable guides, read other blog articles while you are here, look under Services. Just do not feel alone.

Gratefully,

Ozlem Brooke Erol