LifeQuake™
Ask the LifeQuake™ Doctor
Dr. Toni Galardi
Dear Dr. Toni:
I work for a large pharmaceutical firm and have been going to night school at the University of Santa Monica to get a Masters Degree in Spiritual Psychology. I would like to leave the corporate world and go into private practice as a coach but I don’t have the money to start a business without my income. I am a Virgo so I need to both be in-service and have a structure in place so that I feel secure. I have incredible benefits at the company I now work for and if I leave I would have to get my own insurance, etc. The closer I get to graduation, the more anxiety and paralysis I feel as to what I should do.
Can you help?
A Corporate Junkie
Dear C.J.
The main reason why large companies give great benefits is that there is a downside to working for a salary –lack of autonomy. Perhaps there are a few solutions that haven’t occurred to you yet. First of all, you can begin a practice at night but you must first assess what makes you distinctly different from the other spiritual life coaches. Who is your target market? Then, find a building where therapists have offices that you like. Go over on a Saturday and copy down their names, then call them and inquire as to space you can rent by the hour. Put together a small budget for marketing and begin advertising yourself in the local newspaper as a spiritual life coach. Call a number of service organizations that meet for dinner and put together a talk on a subject that can showcase your specialty. Groups like that are always looking for new speakers.
Another direction to go in is to talk to the people in human resources at your present work to see about becoming an in-house trainer/consultant. Most importantly, in order to succeed in a career transition, you must get in touch with your own life purpose which will provide the bigger vision of what you want your work to be. This is what gives you the “fire in your belly” to take risks for something you believe you are destined to do. To find one’s calling will require spending quiet time every day in contemplation or meditation and simply asking to be shown what you are here to do and then LISTEN. The answers may come in those moments or they may come through what I call “a divine coincidence”—meeting someone who becomes a mentor; or through an organization that becomes instrumental in manifesting your transition or an inspired thought that occurs while you’re doing the dishes or driving to work. Being in touch with your life purpose will give you the courage and the intuitive information to begin this transition.
To quote the German poet Goethe, “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” Oh, and by the way, C.J., Goethe was a Virgo.
Dear Dr. Toni:
My birthday is Jun 29, 1972. I am eight months out of a six year relationship. Two months ago, I started dating a guy who is a Gemini–May 24, 1965. From the beginning I told him I wanted to be friends first and wasn’t ready for a serious relationship. One month ago we became intimate and ever since then I feel like he is constantly putting demands on me to spend more time with him. I have told him I am not ready for more than a night or two a week and now he is complaining that I am holding back emotionally. I like the guy. I enjoy conversations with him and did enjoy the sex but his demands are starting to turn me off. Should I throw the baby out with the bath water and end this?
Cautious Cancer
Dear C.C.
My guess is that as a Gemini he is attracted to you because he can’t have you completely. They love the challenge!
I would suggest having a conversation with him remembering to keep your heart open. Tell him you enjoy his company but are not ready for more than what you are giving. Give him the option to return to a friendship or open the relationship up to allowing both of you to date others so that he is free to meet someone who does want more contact. If he rejects both options and the expectations continue, you really have no choice but to end the relationship.
Are you in a LifeQuake™? Visit www.LifeQuake.net for more information. To submit questions for Ask the LifeQuake™ Doctor, contact Dr. Toni Galardi through DrToni@LifeQuake.net (no period after the Dr). For those seeking private consultation, Dr. Toni can be reached at 310.712.2600 or her new secondary practice in San Diego at 619.819.6400.