Examine if you are on the right career path with radio show host Ellen Stewart

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Welcome, Transformation Talk Network listeners. My name is Ellen Stewart, and I am the pushy broad from the Bronx. Welcome to my show, Recovery Recharged, where we share advice and support. with experts in addiction and recovery. I am so thrilled to have this guest today because I always tell my listeners that when you are firm in your recovery, one of the best ways to continue on that path is to find what you want to do for work. What is your— what are your career options? What are your career paths? Do you know whether or not you're on the right career path? So I brought in an expert. I brought in life coach Sisu Chen, who's going to talk to us about some very interesting things. And I also want to be able to answer these questions myself, because we're going to talk about the 5 important questions to determine if you are on the right career path. So if you're not sure and you don't really know, here's a way to decide. And I am very, very glad to bring on Sisu this morning. Let me tell you a little bit about her. She is a dedicated life coach. She specializes in guiding individuals through career transitions and fostering a deeper harmony with themselves and with their relationships. And she also does some other things as well, like a lot of our life coaches do. She's an accomplished interior designer, so we can maybe have her talk a little bit about that later on. She works as a lead designer at Beth Bloom Designs. She contributes her creativity, and she can— she understands that leadership is very important in the design of high-end restaurants and hospitality venues all across the country. She has passion and joy, and she shares her experience and empathy with others, and she assists them in their journey towards fulfilling careers. She really inspires to empower each of her clients to honor their authentic selves and their unique paths. The Pushy Broad from the Bronx Recovery Recharged is so happy to introduce Sisu Chen. Good morning. How are you?

Hi, Ellen. Good. How are you?

I'm good, thank you. Let's talk a little bit about you in the beginning before we get to these 5 important questions. What made you decide to, in addition to the interior design do life coaching?

Well, you know, it's not really a surprise because the pandemic happened and a lot of people's life has shifted, including my own. And at that point, I was a little burned out with my interior design companies. I used to work for 80 hours a week, and on the weekend I also work, and all the vacation times It's about meeting the deadlines, and I just started to question myself if I want to continue to live this way. And I look up to my boss and look at her, it's like, do I want to become her in 20 years? And honestly, I don't. So then it comes to me— I think universe also helps— I realized that this is not something I want to do only long term, so I got laid off. and I just don't have another inch in my skin. I don't have any energy to find, like, put my resume together, go to another interview, just go through the whole process, get hired just to feel burned out again. Like, I didn't want to do that. So I started my own soul-searching journey where I asked the questions that I may ask today on the show additional questions that I take my clients through, and I discovered my own talents and skills and passion and value. And one of the most important things I realized is that I don't want to become a master at anything. I want to help people become a master at something, and I want to just be supportive, be helpful, and be their guide. And that's kind of how I decided to become a life coach.

Wow.

It's like I use so much of my energy to help my family and friends to have a better life. They come to me whenever they have their problems, and I put all my energy in helping my partner to be better and be more successful, be more happy. And then I realized, why don't I help more people? So one day I woke up, it just— that voice is so clear in my head, just, why don't you become a life coach? And that's how it started.

That sounds like a great concept. First of all, you said a lot of things. So let me just summarize what resonated for me, and I'm sure it resonated for my listeners. First of all, the pandemic was life-changing. And I have lots of guests that come on and tell me that they have made life-changing career choices during this time by either being forced to leave a profession, right? Either being let go or deciding it was time to go. are turning around and having the opportunity now to reassess have made a new life choice. And that's exactly what you're saying. And you also turn around and said that you have discovered by asking yourself the 5 questions that we're going to get to in a little bit, how you made a transformative life change. So we're very interested to see what that's like. And then you also said that you have helped so many people in your lifetime. And, and, and then you have said, well, if I'm helping them and I'm feeling pleasure from it, then I will help other people as well. But the trick here is, Sixu, that once you help other people like I do when I coach, I am indirectly helping myself because it's allowing me to grow. And I'm sure that's what it's doing for you as well, wouldn't you say?

Absolutely. I mean, I used to be kind of a little against having a business because somehow you feel like business people are just very salesy and they just trying to take advantage of others and make money. I don't know, I grew up with some kind of belief that business— I don't want to become a business person. And then one of my business coach one time told me like, your business is your personal growth revenue— I mean avenue, your personal growth avenue. And that just changed everything, which is like, oh, Well, in that case, I won't have my own business. So.

I understand. And that's, you know, that's kind of what we've been talking about. And especially in life coaching where you're out to help and you're out to watch other people blossom. And inadvertently, that helps your mental health and your growth. There's no question. Absolutely.

It's so human. It's, um, um, immeasurable.

Immeasurable, of course. So what are your What are your top values in life? What do you look upon now that you've made this transition as your top values?

Well, I found my top values when I come across a workshop that I did, and I translated that workshop into an online course where I can share with the listeners if they want to. It's basically, I discovered that most important value in my life is freedom. So I want to live in freedom. I want to decide when I want to work, what I want to do. I don't want to follow what other people are doing. Like, sometimes I go shopping during the week, but everybody go to grocery store at the weekend, and I don't want to stay in line. Like, and also, like, I decide when to take a break. Like, sometimes I take my Wednesday off, and it's just— I'm the type of person, I don't like to be told what to do. So having freedom to make my own decisions is my number one value. So living in freedom is definitely my number one value. Number 2 is acting compassion. It's like, I just feel like that is so important because everybody carries a story and we all just, if we just all be a little compassionate about people's situation and be a little understanding of where everybody else is coming from, I think we can be all in a much better place to get along with each other because everybody comes with a story and perhaps a baggage or some wounding, and not just us. Sometimes we tend to victimize ourselves, and so I want to tell myself, no matter what, I want to act with compassion. And the third value I have is follow joy. I'm a type of person that I want to do fun stuff in life and things that are interesting to me. So if something that is not interested to me, I just try to not spend much time on it because I get bored very easily. So if this is something I know is going to bring me joy, I'll go after it. So follow joy is my third one. And number 4 one is focus on personal development, which I think that we can continue to grow basically forever until our body fails, right? So I want to just continue to do things, learn something new every day, do things to better myself. I mean, we're all work in progress, and, you know, so that's my number 4. And the 5th one is improve the quality of life. I think that's one of my focuses, that what I do is I want to see how can the overall quality of life get better. the people around me get better. Like, I want to be the one that leads by example, that affects people around me. If they get better, my interaction with them gets better, my quality of life gets better, right? So that's my 5 values, and I have this workshop that people can find their own 5 values.

So where can they find that? Is that part of the workshop? That is— did you call it something? Did you call it something? Specific?

Yeah, the— I, I call it the, um, finding your core values.

Finding core values, which is wonderful, and I'm a very big believer in core values. So Sixu Chen has a course on your site. Tell people where we can find you. What's your website?

Well, it's not on my website. I post it on this great e-learning platform called The Great Discovery, so it's on there. And when people go there, there's other courses on there as well. But definitely my course for finding your core values is there. And I can share the link with you where you can share with the people.

Wonderful. We'll make sure to do that. Freedom, compassion, find the joy, personal development, and of course, improving the quality of life. And those are great core values to live by. And I think everybody should embrace them. And certainly when we're in recovery, we should be embracing them. Okay, so now we're gonna get to the 5 questions to find out if you are on your right career path. So I'm gonna give you the first one, and then I want you to explain it to us. Okay? What feelings do you experience the most at your job? So explain that to us, and what should we be looking for?

Well, this you can look in 2 ways. One is focusing on that feeling right before you're about to go to work. For example, Sunday night come around, you know you're gonna go to work the next day. How do you feel? Do you feel excited? Oh my God, I'm gonna go do this project and to go talk to these people. Are you having that enthusiasm? Or you'll be like, oh my goodness, another week. Like, what is that feeling? It tells you something. If that feeling it's that dread, you know, you don't really want to be there. So that's the first way to look at it. Another way is that while you are at your job, what do you feel? Do you feel like there's a level of challenge that keeps you motivated, or do you feel like this is too easy and you get bored, right? A lot of time people get comfortable with their jobs and they are in autopilot mode all the time, and they are not well challenged. And they feel like, oh, this is easy. Clock in, clock out, go home, right? And but you get bored, and you just have to be honest. Like, are you bored at work? Because a lot of people who come to me, my clients, they say they can do their job with eyes closed. It was like, well, that means you may need to do something else because you want to learn and grow too, right? Like, you know, you're not a machine.

So I would also assume that if you're experiencing a lot of feelings, not only, oh my God, I don't want to go, but while you're on the job, if you feel that you're quick to be angry, if you feel that you can't get along with your colleagues, or you feel like you can't connect in some way, if you feel like it's difficult to constantly get your point across to your boss, or you're having difficulty with your superiors, or you don't understand what's going on and you don't have enough of an explanation to do your job, All of those things make for a disconnect, and it's something that you do not have to settle for eventually, correct?

Absolutely. Okay. People don't check their feelings, but our feeling, it's always speaking the truth. So trust it.

Yes, for the most part, they absolutely are. All right. So the first question, what feelings do you experience the most at your job? Do you want to go? Are you going to hit the snooze button 100 times before you, before you get up to go because you don't really want to go, right? Are you? And then the second question would be, are you maximizing your skills and talents at your job? And you alluded to that a little bit, but let's expand on that.

Okay, so, well, when you're first hired, there's a job requirement, and you definitely fit all the requirements, right? But while you are at the job, do you feel like you're using all your skills and talents, or it's just you're only using certain skills of yours, and the other skills that you really love For example, some people doing the job, they are not creative. Their creative skills are never being used, right? And also there's people who sit in front of computer all day, but their skills are social. They want to be talking to people. They don't want to just looking at data all the time. So there's certain of our skills are not being utilized in the job, and that would— that could also be something that brings you unhappiness. Like you feel like What am I doing here? There's like, I can do better, right? You haven't reached your potential. So what I mean by maximizing your skills and talents is that, do you know all the skills you have? Do you know all the talents you have? I mean, I'm sure some of you guys may say yes, but a lot of you may say, actually, I don't. So—

And that's a very important thing. But you also touched on something that people don't even realize is important. Do you want to work for a large corporation? Do you Do you want to work for a little family concern? Do you want to work mostly from home? Do you want to work a hybrid of both home and in the office? Do you want to work around a lot of people? Do you want to get involved in company events and things like that? What culture do you want to work in? What kind of office and kind of situation makes you happy? And that's in addition to the kind of work that you're doing. Right? Are you comfortable in your surroundings with everybody, everybody there? Are you making friends? Do you find that where you're spending most of your time, somewhere between 35 and 40 hours a week, that you are comfortable in that environment? Isn't that right?

Absolutely. I love that question.

And then the third question here is, do you and the company you work for— and here's a big one— share the same values and vision? So tell us about that.

Well, this is a deeper question because a lot of people don't care and never ask that question. And then in the end of the day, they just have a paycheck and they're working for this company to do what this company wants. But what the company is doing for the world, they don't care, right? And sometimes they even don't like it. For example, people who really care for green energy and sustainability, they work for a company that produces all kinds of toxins, chemicals, that's— you're basically going against your own value. So there is part of you dying inside, like it's killing you, right? You yourself use green products, but you go promote chemicals. So that's what I mean, like that's an example for like, do you and your company share the same value and vision? It's like you want to be on the same team, you want to go to the same direction, because trust me, no matter how you pretend If you and your company doesn't share the same value, it's going to show somehow. You either suffer inside or you just perform less, and that doesn't help the company either.

You're absolutely right. How we reflect ourselves on the outside isn't always how we feel on the inside. But if it doesn't match, then we will not be operating at what we consider to be peak performance. And I completely understand that. Also, you kind of alluded to a little bit about this. Maybe, maybe You were aligned with company values when you decided to move away from your profession during the pandemic. But you also had a feeling of, I don't think I want to do this anymore. In fact, your words were, I don't want— in 20 years, I don't want to be my boss. And that is a good way of understanding whether or not you have an affinity for your particular career. Or profession or company. You can say to yourself, which is a very popular question they ask you in an interview, where do you see yourself 5 years from now or 10 years from now? And if you can't see yourself with this company, don't you think that's a pretty clear sign?

Yep, absolutely. I remember at the time I was designing shopping malls. I personally don't like to go into shopping malls myself. And I have to design the shopping mall in a way that keeps people in it all day. The goal is to create an experience where people don't leave, and that goes against my value. I want people to go out in nature, not in shopping mall all day. So it's like, that was one of the reasons that I really want to leave that company. Don't get me wrong, everybody, I'm still an interior designer, but now I design restaurants, and I love designing restaurants because Restaurant is a place people gather, form connection, create memories, and I'm proud of myself in creating that experience for people.

And you're also doing life coaching, and that gives you a different sense of fulfillment.

Yes, absolutely.

All right, question number 4: Do you feel good talking about your job with others?

I mean, that question is given, right? Like when you meet somebody at a social gathering for the first time, a lot of people will start asking each other what they do. I mean, when people ask what you do, do you feel proud to say what you do, or you kind of don't even want to talk about it?

I understand. And I know many people that say, oh, it's just a job. It's, you know, it gives me, it gives me my paycheck. It pays the bills, right? Don't you hear that a lot sometimes?

Absolutely. And a lot of people, they even just kind of Not lie, but just make it so abstract you have no idea what they do. Yes.

Or they exaggerate the importance of the job and they exaggerate the purpose and all of those things. And if you find yourself doing that, then it's time to make a different decision. Okay, last question. And then I have some more questions about jobs in general. It's very important for us to determine whether or not on this particular job, there is room for growth. And why is that the case, Sixu?

Well, we are human beings and our tendency is to grow. We all want— naturally want to grow. What doesn't make us grow, it makes us stay stagnant. And I think after a certain— well, certain time of staying stagnant, you will feel uncomfortable because that's against your natural tendency. It's almost like you put a plant, but you put a cap on top. So the plant is suffocated. So same thing with you. If you have no room to grow, won't you feel suffocated somehow?

Absolutely. And some people, some people do a lot of things around that, that particular situation. They make choices based on other determinations. Yes. Like all of these questions. All of these questions are very important. And I'm just going to read them very quickly. What feelings do you experience the most at your job? Are you maximizing your skills and talents at that job? Do you and the company you work for share the same vision and values? Do you feel good talking about your job with others? And is there room for growth? So if you answered a lot of those questions negatively, then what should they do? How do you help someone that answers those questions Negatively?

Well, it's time to consider a change. That's number one. And I have my slogan right there: seek to change, see the change. Meaning once you start looking for the change, you're gonna find it. And that's exactly what I help people do, is to help them find, see the change they seek by taking them through a self-exploration process So they can get 100% clear on their talents, skills, passion, and most importantly, value.

So if they want to work with you, you are doing virtual appointments as well as in-person appointments?

Uh, so far it's only virtual. I haven't done any—

Well, virtual is great, which means they can work with you all over the country and all over the world. So how do they find you to work with you? Let's tell our audience again.

Well, if they are watching this, they can scan the QR code on this background right here that takes them to my website, and they can book a call, book a 50-minute or 15-minute call with me to see if I can help them.

Great. And we're also airing on KKNW Radio, so they won't be able to visually see it. So how then do they get in touch with you?

Oh, it's, it's sccoachinggroup.life. So SC, spelled SC, and then coachinggroup.life.

Perfect. Very good. So we want— I also want to talk to you a little bit about the other reasons people stay where they are. So what do you find the most difficult situation to move somebody over? What are they holding on to that keeps them where they are, even if it is a negative situation? Just tell us just a little bit about that. that? What's the one thing that holds them back from making the change?

Comfort zone.

Ah, okay. So just describe that briefly.

Well, the thing is, there's always a part of us don't want change because they consider— that part of us consider change a potential danger. It wants to keep you safe. There is that part of our brain where their one job is to only keep you safe. Which means what you did that worked, they want to do it again because it knows that it will not go wrong. So something new, it's a threat because you don't know. There's that uncertainty. It's a level of danger. So people who are not leaving their job even though they're miserable, they're comfortable, right? Comfortable enough that like, I am getting my paycheck on time. I know exactly what to do even though I'm kind of bored, I'm dying inside, this is for me to get by, but time, time will eventually take them out of that because I have a client who works at Intel, it's a very well-known company, but he was doing his job with eyes closed, he told, that's his word, for 11 years. Finally at year 12 he came to me, and he said, I can't do this anymore. I don't know what I'm doing every day. It's just, I just feel like I'm a machine. I'm going there, perform the same thing every single day, and I get my paycheck, and I just, I don't know what I'm doing with my life. Like, this is what I'm doing, right? So eventually there's part of you will want that change because guess what? You are still a human being. Your natural tendency is to grow. And if this job is not helping you with your growth, you will want to leave.

That's wonderful. Thank you so much for being a guest today. This is Sisu Chen. It's SC Coaching Group. She has a wonderful slogan. I love it. Seek to change, see the change. It's absolutely, totally correct. The 5 questions to determine whether or not you're on the right career path. You can find her to do some great coaching. Thank you again for being here. This is Ellen Stewart, the pushy broad from the Bronx, saying thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time.

Thanks for having me. And if you guys want to have the additional 5 questions, there is that 10 Questions to Check Career Alignment on the Great Discovery as well, for free.

Thank you. This is Ellen Stewart, the pushy broad from the Bronx, saying thanks for listening. And remember, everybody needs a little push.

From the pushy broad from the Bronx, New York.

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