Ditch the "Perfect Fit" Myth: Why Career Fulfillment Is Messier (and Better) Than You Think

We put so much pressure on ourselves to find the perfect career fit—as if it’s a soulmate hiding somewhere in a LinkedIn post, just waiting to complete us. We’re bombarded with well-meaning but oversimplified advice like:

"Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life"

"Find your passion and chase it at all costs.”

It's no wonder so many of us feel paralyzed, overwhelmed, or like we're failing if we haven’t found the one yet.

But here’s the truth: work is never going to be perfect. And it doesn't have to be in order to be fulfilling.

You don't have to love every single aspect of what you do to live a happy, meaningful life. What matters more is whether the work you do adds value to your life—not just financially, but emotionally, socially, and energetically. After all, we spend a massive portion of our lives working, so it’s worth exploring paths that leave you feeling more fulfilled than drained, more connected than isolated.

That said, just because you’re good at something doesn’t automatically mean it’s the best career move for you. Natural talent alone doesn’t guarantee the work will feel aligned or meaningful. And the opposite is true as well: Just because you’re passionate about something doesn’t mean it has to become your job. It’s less about chasing a single passion or superpower and more about identifying patterns: the qualities, skills, and experiences that light you up and make you feel like you.

Maybe you thrive in environments where you're constantly engaging with people. Maybe you feel most alive when you're in front of a room, speaking, teaching, or exchanging ideas. Maybe creative problem-solving is your zone of genius. These are the breadcrumbs worth following.

Here’s how that played out for me. Growing up, I always excelled in math. In college, I loved my accounting courses (yes, accounting). The structure and logic clicked for me, and I genuinely enjoyed my classes. So when it came time to choose a career path, I figured accounting was the practical next step. Obviously I wasn’t crazy passionate about accounting itself (I’m not sure who is?), but I was really good at it. I also knew I wanted to start a business one day, so getting my CPA felt like a solid foundation.

When I started working in a financial consulting after college, it didn’t take long to realize: this was not what I was meant to be doing with my life. Something just didn’t feel right. After a lot of reflection, I realized that what I had enjoyed in college wasn’t just the subject matter—it was the interactive learning environment. I never shied away from raising my hand, asking questions, and engaging in real dialogue with professors and classmates. I found it invigorating to learn something new and experience that moment when things clicked through connection and collaboration.

That experience? Wildly different than building financial models in Excel alone at 10 p.m.

Still, that career path served its purpose. It gave me financial stability. It gave me clarity about what I didn’t want. And it ultimately set me up to take the leap into building my coaching practice full time

The most important part of exploring what's next in your career? Ditch the idea of perfection. Instead, choose forward motion.

Figuring out what you do enjoy often requires experiences that show you what you don’t. It's all just data. And the only way to collect that data is to do the thing. You won’t know if something is the right fit by thinking about it for six months. You have to try it, live it, and see how it feels.

So release the pressure of finding a "perfect fit." Focus on finding a fit. Follow what feels aligned enough to explore. Keep collecting data from your real-world experiences, and let that guide your next move.

The path toward building a career that truly aligns with who you are takes a mix of inner exploration (are you defining yourself or letting others define you?) + brave, imperfect action. Keep coming back to both sides of that equation.

That’s how you move forward. That’s how you find your fit.

And spoiler: it won’t be perfect. But it will be yours.

You got this,

Em

PS - If you're wanting some 1:1 support, but you're not sure where to start, check out my CAREER COACHING SERVICES here to see how I may be able to help you along your journey.