You’ve worked hard to get to where you are. And even though there is a part of you that is calling you towards what is next – to your true work – you also don’t want to mess up what you’ve already created!

I get it – there are some very real considerations here.

You don’t want to mess up your income.

You don’t want to let go of clients that you adore.

You don’t want to feel like you have to ‘start all over from scratch.’

You don’t want to lose momentum from what you’ve already established.

There is a school of thought out there that encourages “throwing it all out the window and diving headfirst into what comes next”. Just fire all your current clients and stop doing what you are currently doing.

I’m NOT a huge fan of this for two reasons:

1) Talk about stressful!!

If you have a big cushion of savings and a high risk tolerance this might work for you… but for most of the folks I work with it doesn’t. And I’ve seen people put themselves into serious crisis by taking this approach – financial, emotional and otherwise. Yes, you might wish you could throw it all out the window somedays (we all have those moments! ;-), but it’s much better to have a thoughtful and purposeful transition plan in mind – one that allows you to move as quickly as you’d like without causing undue stress.

2) It may actually get in the way of shifting into your true work, because your true work is already a part of what you are doing now.

When we are stuck in the mires of “what is my true work?” and feeling dissatisfied with what we are doing now – it’s easy to think that doing something totally different is the answer. In fact, your true work is part of what you are doing already… you just may not be seeing the value of it yet, or know how to reframe your offerings around it!

For example, I am an amazing strategist. I can look at any situation with a client, help them see their options and guide them to a decision that is best for them and their vision.

I didn’t charge for this at all for YEARS, because it is just the way my mind worked and I didn’t realize it was valuable. It was one of the reasons my clients hired me even though it wasn’t the “thing” I was selling at the time… I was actually giving it away for free alongside my other services! Once I was able to own this I shifted my offerings and was able to start charging for it. And it changed the entire course of my business.

Big changes aren’t necessary when shifting into your true work. It is much more about ‘tweaking’ what you are doing already – revealing it and owning it – than it is about making huge changes that are going to be overly stressful and have you feeling like you have to start from scratch.