I recently worked with a client who’s a multi-passionate powerhouse: a Chief Product Officer, artist, and coach. She’s been exploring what’s next after her current CPO role.
The challenge she kept running into? She’d get excited about an idea, pursue it for a bit, and then —boom— the energy would drain out of it.
For example, we discussed the idea of her becoming a fractional CPO. She had a few promising conversations, but by our next session, the spark was gone.
This wasn’t a one-off, it was a repeating pattern she’d noticed throughout her life. Follow an interest. Feel inspired. Take action. Then watch the excitement fade.
Here’s what I shared with her: She was skipping two crucial steps.
She was great at noticing what excited her, but she jumped too quickly into trying to convert those fledgling interests into existing roles or career paths before she really understood what she wanted from them.
For example, her love of product creation kept getting squished into “I should build a business” or “I should apply for this specific job.”
Instead, I invited her to stay in the space of noticing by having her jot down every spark of interest, even the weird or random ones.
I asked her to deconstruct and explore what she likes—and doesn’t—about each one without trying to define where it’s going.
When you stay in the space of noticing longer, you begin to draw new conclusions, ones that don’t fit into traditional societal boxes but fit you perfectly. They reflect the sum total of your life experience, passions, and possibilities in a way no pre-defined role ever could.
Because sometimes, the best thing you can do isn’t to decide, it’s to keep exploring.
Hey!
