Going back 50 years our futures were simple to predict: if you were a farmer’s son, chances are you would become a farmer. If your parents were teachers, you’d likely follow suit. Most women had the choice of three career paths, becoming a nurse, teacher or secretary before motherhood beckoned. 

We had clear pathways, firm boundaries and limited expectations. We rarely travelled, we lived simply and we accepted our limitations.

Nowadays, with global impact, we travel with ease, rent instead of buy, have kids later, set up businesses without experience, laugh in the face of traditional education and relentlessly seek contentment and fulfillment in every aspect of our lives. No longer happy with a steady, lifelong career, we’re entranced by options, and lured by the promise of a better life, freedom, wealth, and the mostly mythical four-hour work-week.

So just how do we approach the blank canvas that is a life free from a nine-to-five job? Here are four simple ways to bring that vastness to heel and create instant direction.

Preach your Passion 

If you had one piece of advice to leave the world, what would it be? This simple reveal contains the answers to what really makes you tick and will illustrate exactly what should drive your career. If you’re brave enough, this message will BECOME your business – step out of the shadows and allow your true self to shine, let your work reflect who you really are and reap the joy of self-actualisation.

Twist your Skills

You may have left your job because it was boring you to tears but chances are you took some valuable skills and experience with you. Now your career is on your terms – you determine how, when and where you work. So before you reject every link to the past, consider how you can apply that valuable experience to a new business venture. A simple twist on your skills may be all that is needed to create the next big thing.

The best way to predict your future is to create it.

Keep it Simple 

We have a natural propensity to complicate things, to look for more where less is required. If you can’t describe your ideal business succinctly, your customers won’t understand your offering and, in turn, will struggle to buy. Learn to describe what you want to do in one concise sentence and you are onto a winner. Some of the most successful businesses in the world are based on a very simple idea, executed well and timed brilliantly.

Let your Hobbies be Hobbies

Being a naturally creative person, I learned the hard way that not everything you love needs to become a money-making opportunity. Turning every hobby into a business can take the joy out of it, plus the pressure of making money can put a massive halt to your creativity. Ignore the well-meaning friends who tell you ‘you should sell that!’ and listen to your inner guide – you know whether you’d enjoy doing it day in, day out. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

When it comes to Living Limitlessly, you can have it all, do it all and be it all, but the savvy amongst us know where to play and when to grind. Focus your mind, get back to basics and shine your unique light on the world. Success will follow.

Lucy Day is an ex-Pharmaceutical Managing Director turned International Psychic Medium, Qualified Intuitive Coach and published author, based in Townsville. Lucy coaches her clients to express themselves in their soul’s highest purpose, finding lasting contentment, success and spiritual alignment. Her books, From Passenger to Pilot: Personal Power and Gin & other Spirits are available from her website www.themodernmedium.com, Salt Therapy in Gulliver and online bookstores/Amazon. To connect with Lucy, follow her on Facebook and Instagram @themodernmedium.