Any type of success that is not sustainable is just a delayed failure. - Nabeela Elsayed
This article is part two of a three-part career advice series. If you missed last week’s article, you can find it here.
In this week’s article, we are going to focus on step two, which is all about the process of introspection in a career transition or major life decision.
Have you ever created a plan for your life?
Not a business plan, a workout regime, or a five-year career development roadmap but a real plan for your actual life? One that asks:
How is my life working for me today?
What do I want to feel, build, and experience tomorrow?
What does success look like on my terms?
Before you can answer the question, What kind of career do I want? you need to answer a more foundational one: What kind of life do I want?
The problem is, very few people stop to ask that question because we’ve allowed our careers to disproportionately if not entirely, shape our lives.
The Default Path
In childhood and adolescence, you start to understand the concepts of work, money, and careers. You could be heavily shaped by your parents, meaning there is a high level of grooming and preparation for what you will “be” when you grow up, as well as which types of careers hold value and which do not. Alternatively, you could have little to no preparation, and in that case, you are essentially being influenced by school or friends.
As you move out of HS and into college, you fumble through what to study- uncertain and confused about how it will all fit together, what type of job you will actually be able to find and how you’re going to “make it” in life.
After college, you struggle to find a job, and when you finally get one, you are eternally grateful. You feel like all that struggle up to this point has been “Worth it,” and you have made it into the so-called “adult world,” but the euphoria wears off quickly.
That job you were dreaming of soon starts to feel suffocating. You start missing family dinners, and you give up hobbies so that you can stay focused, work weekends, and put your head down to hustle. Other aspects of your life start to suffer, you're not sleeping well, your social health is non existent, and before you know it, you start to feel contentment, burnout, and under-appreciation, but you push through anyway.
However, the workload continues to grow, life at home becomes increasingly demanding, and you're unsure what to do.
Maybe you should change jobs?
Maybe you should change industries?
Perhaps you should consider starting your own business?
Sound familiar?
So often, when we find ourselves on the relentless wheel of overwork, burnout, and toxic productivity, it’s because we’ve allowed our work to define the shape of our entire lives.
It’s no wonder so many people assume that switching companies, changing industries, or starting a business will bring relief.
But here’s the truth: changing your job isn’t what gets you off the default path. Redefining success is.
What’s the Alternative? '
The alternative is to be intentional.
To have a plan that allows you to see your life in its totality so that you have a counterweight to the default, where work defines our lives.
To pause and do the deep work of introspection of questioning the stories, beliefs, and inherited definitions of success that have guided us.
Because if we want to make meaningful career decisions, we have to begin with a more expansive question:
What does success mean across the entirety of my life?
I know I’m asking a lot, because we live in an era of uncertainty and anxiousness where figuring out even the simplest of tasks feels overwhelming, but I assure you this activity will start to help you see things more clearly.
A Multi-Dimensional Definition of Success
So, how do you do this? The first step is to broaden the domains of your life that you are intentionally and actively planning. Below is a wheel of the seven life domains - these are areas of your life that are essential for long-term happiness, fulfillment, and success.
The seven domains of life are mental & emotional, physical, spiritual, relational, financial, environmental, and professional.
You may not relate to every domain equally, and that’s okay. The point is to broaden your sense of identity, fulfillment, and investment. To move from a one-dimensional definition to a portfolio life where you intentionally invest, grow and plan each domain.
How do You Plan a Domain?
There are eight building blocks to thinking about your life plan- and each can be applied to every life domain.
Define Current State
Define Future State
Define Urgency/Importance
Do A Gap Analysis
Do A Root Cause Analysis
Define Personal Commitments
Identify potential RoadBlocks
Define Accountability Mechanisms
Sounds like a business plan- well, that's precisely the point. It's about applying the same level of due diligence to your life that you do to your career.
As you work through the eight building blocks, you will ask yourself questions like:
Who do I want to be?
What do I want to do?
What must be true for me to feel fulfilled?
Then you keep digging deeper by exploring:
What is my baseline, the non-negotiables I must protect?
What challenges or transitions can I anticipate?
Below is an example of what this would look like for the Mental/Emotional Domain.
A Real Example: Mental & Emotional Domain
BE: Present, connected, generous
DO: Bi-weekly therapy, daily journaling, morning emotional check-ins
TRUE: I feel emotionally regulated and have tools to manage stress. I have emotional reserve for my kids and partner.
BASELINE: 15 minutes of quiet alone time before bed, no matter what.
ANTICIPATED CHALLENGE: Family visiting for two weeks. I’ll skip journaling but protect my check-ins and baseline time.
To guide you through each of the eight building blocks, I have developed a life canvas that allows you to explore and process your ideas, thoughts, and beliefs.
Important note: You don’t need to plan all seven domains of your life at once, but you should never plan your career or finances without at least two other domains in mind.
For some, that’s Career + Spiritual + Relational.
For others, it’s Career + Physical + Mental Health.
The key is to hold a counterweight to the gravitational pull of professional ambition so you don’t martyr your whole self at the altar of work.
Download your Free Life Canvas Template Below: 👇🏽
How does this impact or influence a career decision or transition?
Imagine you are in a stable position at work, but there have been a few rounds of layoffs, and the workload has become more challenging to manage. As a result of the changes, you were offered a promotion; you feel grateful to even have a job and are compelled to take the promotion.
It sounds reasonable on paper, but your mom has recently been diagnosed with a serious illness, and your emotional and physical bandwidth is already stretched. Instead of allowing a sense of duty, gratitude, or fear to drive you into a decision, you pause before you say yes. You map out your priorities and recognize that taking this promotion will further compromise your health and presence at home.
Now you’re not deciding in isolation.
You’re deciding with clarity.
It’s not a “no” out of fear.
It’s a “no” that invests in another part of your life that needs you right now.
That’s the power of a life plan.
It reframes trade-offs. It quiets the scarcity mindset. It gives you a broader perspective.
Anchor Your Decisions in Alignment
Career clarity doesn’t start with your resume. It starts with your life in focus.
When you root your career choices in the life you want to live, everything changes. You make braver decisions. You trade fear for focus. You stop outsourcing your worth.
This isn’t about overhauling your life overnight. It’s about building an intentional, insourced, and personal compass for your life one that encompasses the entirety of your life.
In next week’s article, I will zoom in specifically on the job search and professional growth domain. I know that things are difficult out there, and everyone is looking for some guidance, so stay tuned.
Until Next Time. Take care of yourself and those around you.
In partnership,
Nabeela
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Get Your Career Questions Answered | Mentor Hour
I’m excited to host my first Substack live with some seriously talented, thoughtful humans I’ve invited into the Re-Imagine Success orbit:
We’ll be addressing your questions about work, transitions, burnout, purpose, ambition, and more.
Nothing is off-limits. So make sure you're subscribed, stay tuned… and yes, bring your questions. I can't wait.
If you made it to the end, you’ve got range.
For more content on redefining leadership and getting off the burnout loop, you can:
👉 Follow me on LinkedIn, YouTube or Instagram
🎙️ Listen to the article on the Substack or wherever you get your podcast: Re-Imagine Success Podcast
📨 Or just forward this to a colleague who needs a little perspective (and maybe a little permission to let go of the balancing act).
