When Family and Career Collide

How knowing YOU can make all the difference

We all have moments when we re-think what success really means. When executive Heather Byrne and her husband moved out west to chase the ultimate career path, they found out that all that glitters isn’t gold.

Despite their professional success, they felt increasingly isolated from the deep family connections and traditions they left behind.

The solution finally revealed itself when Heather and her husband had an honest talk about their personal values and agreed that family really did need to come first.

In the end, the move not only proved to be a blessing for their family but their professional careers as well.

Here are four things we can learn from Heather about how to make your next big move the right one: 

• Tune out the noise.

When enough people tell you you’re lucky for your lot in life, it’s easy to believe them. But, while you may be lucky, the real question to ask is, “are you happy?” Tuning out the noise to understand what really matters to you can be a real eye-opener.   

• Understand your priorities.

When someone asks you what you want out of life, you probably have a fairly extensive laundry list. But have you ever sat down to prioritize your list? Until you prioritize your values, making critical decisions can seem next to impossible. 

• Remember, things change over time.

If you’re an ambitious professional, it’s not uncommon to move to wherever the opportunities take you. But, while each steppingstone might be aligned with your values at the time, remember that everything can change in a heartbeat when you have kids, experience a health scare, or you find yourself thinking more about what you’re missing instead of what you’re gaining. So, changing direction doesn’t always mean changing course. Rather, it’s just correcting for a new destination.

• Don’t let fear be your driver.

Upheaving your family is always a tough choice to make. It’s even more challenging when you don’t have a job lined up on the other end. But if you have faith in your abilities and confidence in your priorities, you’d be surprised what kind of magic can happen if you just push through the uncertainty.  

Heather’s story serves as a good reminder that opportunities don’t always fall into our lap. Sometimes we just have to understand what we truly want in life to create our own.

To hear the full 20-minute episode “Finding Harmony between Personal and Professional Ambitions” on the Toughest Call podcast with Executive Director, Heather Byrne, listen wherever you get your podcasts or online HERE.