Removing Interferences to Your Own Inner Compass

The countdown to New Year's is perfect for reflecting and resetting. Like the many professionals I’ve spoken with, you might unknowingly get off course from your sense of purpose and direction. While interviewing hundreds of people for the patent-pending diagnostic in my upcoming book (out August 12, 2025), I uncovered surprising insights that could spark your best year yet! I observed a universality of pain points that you share across gender, age and industry segments. The two pain points which stood out above the rest were about:

• time scarcity &
• interferences to your sense of direction.

Here’s a summary of how so many of you feel challenged by the obstacles and distractions clouding your sense of direction and purpose in life. You either want more clarity around your sense of purpose, or you know exactly what it is, yet cannot seem to line up your life to make satisfactory progress. Most of you have a general idea that you want a fulfilling life, but it’s challenging to chart the best course. Some want to discover your best direction and learn how to successfully move towards that outcome. Others feel stuck because you do not have clarity about what you want out of life, or you feel trapped by life’s demands. Making significant progress toward your aspirations can feel like an impossibility. Some feel as if you have been sleepwalking through life for many years. Those of you who are middle-aged want to make changes before it’s too late. Still others feel blocked by the demands of bosses and work and you are not getting the recognition you deserve.

Which group do you belong to?

I categorize issues around sense of direction into three buckets. Which group do you belong to?

Group 1: Desire to Improve Personal Effectiveness

Here are examples of what readers say about challenges with general effectiveness. “I struggle with…”

• “…fear of rejection.”
• “…focus.”
• “…the fact that my efforts don't help myself in any way with my retirement plans.”
• “…the fact I can achieve more, not because I should, but because I want to.”
• “…developing an ongoing community of support to help me achieve my goals (which I've mapped out in detail).”

Group 2: Desire to Fulfill a Social Cause

Other readers experience interferences from fulfilling an important social cause. You said:

• “I would like to be more to help the less fortunate.”
• “We are fighting entrenched, entitled POWER that won't cede its territory easily. Millions of people are being harmed or killed.”
• “I am not sure that I am succeeding in affecting change amongst the people that I serve. In other words, I need to understand my own leadership style better.”
• “My challenge is around taking focused message to a larger audience.”

Group 3: Desire for Greater Success in Business

Still others perceive interferences to their success in business. Here is what you said:

• “I cannot seem to break the glass ceiling here at work, to get ahead and make more money in order to reach my personal goals.”
• “We are finishing the startup of the business, but we are missing something that we have been struggling to get it.”
• “I struggle with building the business sustainably—in other words making a side-hustle profitable and financially sustaining.”
• “I am overqualified for my current position and I don't see a path forward for career advancement within my current organization.”

The beauty about your feedback about time scarcity and sense of direction, is that it is indeed possible to expand the time at your disposal and concentrate your effort to make rapid progress toward your best direction in life.

Stay tuned!

Ingrid Stabb