Career Disruption & the Middle Way
What the Buddha’s journey reveals about charting a saner path between purpose and paycheck
The story of the Buddha is about the journey of enlightenment.
But it’s a mistake to think that it is just about so-called “spiritual” things.
It actually has everything to do with everyday things—life and relationships and work.
So while it may not be apparent at a glance, the Buddha story has some wisdom to share about losing or leaving behind a comfortable professional identity to discover one's deeper calling.
Let’s take a look at what this story has to say to anyone who lost their job, is thinking of leaving, is in between work, or walking a creative path.
Check out my first article in this series:
Before the Bo Tree
Prince Siddhartha, the eventual Buddha, was a rich prince. His father kept him isolated from the world—from sickness, poverty, and death. But one day everything cracked and he saw through the carefully curated illusion that was his life. The result? Though he had every material comfort and a defined role as future king, he abandoned it all to seek knowledge of reality.
We know how the story ends: he attained enlightenment under the Bo tree and found his true purpose as a teacher. Prince Siddhartha became the Buddha.
But we often forget what happened first. Siddhartha sat at the feet of multiple teachers, learning their ways. He went inward through multiple meditation techniques. He spent years engaging in intense ascetic practices like fasting, sleeping on a bed of thorns, and exposing himself to harsh environments. Eventually, however, he realized the limitations of the path of self-mortification. And so he choose a middle way between sensual self-indulgence and extreme self-neglect. It was still an inner way, but it was his own way, distinct from that of his teachers.
Let’s look at three implications that this simple overview of the Buddha’s story has for your job journey.
Embrace the Middle Way
Upon leaving the wealth of his youth, the Buddha dove deep into intense ascetic practices. It was the exact opposite of the lavish lifestyle he was used to. He had learned some things, but ultimately realized that maybe he had gone a bit… overboard. He knew that attachment was not the way. But he discovered that aversion can also be a trap. So he found a middle way, marked by balance and integration.
The story of the Buddha invites us to consider a middle way for our work.
Losing or leaving a job presents an opportunity to do work that feels more aligned with our deep values and sense of calling. This is especially the case if the lost/left job felt increasingly empty. But sometimes we overreact. We go all-in on meaning at the expense of money; we move towards what is purposeful at the expense of what is practical.
When I lost my job, I took it as a signal that it was time for me to pursue my passions. I dedicated myself to finishing the book I had been working on in the early morning pre-work hours for over a year. I relaunched my work of teaching meditation, which I had put on hold when we moved across the country.
I felt alive and free! It was amazing. And it was what I knew (along with my wife) I was supposed to be doing—I had meaning in spades! But there wasn’t much money in either of these endeavors, and after about a year, this became a problem. As our savings dwindled and we relied solely on my wife’s income as a therapist, it became clear that it was time to start thinking about the money piece.
I had to find a middle way.
My middle way involved picking up different jobs. Nothing full time. Nothing too energetically demanding (so I could continue to give my best to the book and growing meditation teaching and coaching work). And, as it turned out, nothing that paid much. But these gigs did pay enough to allow me to my continue to give myself to the meaningful projects I was tending to. I fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming a bartender (running one of the taproom’s my brother owned). Later, after volunteering as a hospice companion for over a year, I became a hospice chaplain. I made a couple bucks writing here on Substack (thank you, paying subscribers!). I even got… wait for it… a couple of modeling gigs—sunglasses and shoes! (Why not!?)
In my case, discerning a middle way also led to launching a nonprofit project where I could do the very meaningful work of teaching meditation to incarcerated individuals—and make some money doing it!
Don’t worry, you don’t have to do any of these things… There are lots of middle ways when it comes to navigating the meaning and money dynamic. Perhaps you look for another job right away, something that pays well and something that connects with your passions and gifts a little more than the job you lost/left. Or maybe you go for the job that pays but isn’t as demanding and you finally prioritize and get intentional about expressing the meaning piece beyond work. Whatever your meaning-money formula looks like, don’t fall for the lie that your calling has to be expressed fully through your career.
Some questions to consider:
Can you look for work that feels more aligned but still pays the bills (though maybe not with as much surplus as you grew accustomed to)?
Or perhaps this is an invitation to bring more of yourself to your next job. Consider: what ways were you holding back? Are there ways of being and gifts you carry that it’s time to bring forward in your next gig?
Can you look for a right-sized employment opportunity that won’t demand all of you, but will leave room for you to create what you are called to in your own time?
Embark on the Inner Way
One thing is completely clear: when the Buddha stepped beyond the safety and security of the palace walls, he was embarking on an inner quest. He wanted to wake up. To discover what is really real.
What does this mean for you?
Don’t get lulled into the illusion that losing/leaving your job is just about figuring out the surface details of your life. As I wrote in my last article, your professional journey is always a spiritual journey. The liminal space between the familiarity of your previous work and whatever is next is always an invitation to go within and discover your power.
I talk about this with my coaching clients all of the time. Fear tells us to just figure out WHAT is next. But HOW we will get there—and WHO we will be along the way—is even more important. If you don’t go inward, you won’t discover what you need to learn or experience the transformation that is necessary to help you sustain this next season and step into a greater, more creative expression of your purpose.
No doubt being without work brings up all sorts of fears and anxieties. It rattles one’s sense of self. But just jumping into work research mode—job-searching, applying, and networking—just avoids the discomfort of the unknown, which has much to teach us. Not only that, but ignoring our inner life in these transitions just ratchets up the pressure and stress, as well as the feelings up guilt and shame that arise when we aren’t seeing progress on the job search front. This is why you have to be intentional about going within.
Try this: Be your own manager. You have three YOUS to manage each day: the job you, the relationship you, but also, and perhaps most importantly, the soul you. Instead of approaching each day with the expectation that you must now be searching for work full-time (where does this even come from?), make sure you invest in each version of you.
When you prioritize the soul you and commit to nourishing this deepest, truest part of yourself each day (For tips, check out my recent article with Inhabit magazine, Three everyday practices for a tired soul), then you will gain the strength to navigate the other critical roles. Instead of feeling distracted by the endless search for another job, you’ll be present in your relationships with family and friends. You will also become more comfortable with the uncertainty you’re facing on the job front. You’ll more quickly notice when you’re shrinking into the lie that you are what you do or achieve. Also, tending to your inner world will help you show up in a fuller, freer way in your next role, untethered from the limiting patterns that shaped your previous work. Bonus: it will open you up to the signs and syncronicities that may lead to your next work opportunity!
Go Your Own Way
In his journey to enlightenment, the Buddha sought out wise teachers. He followed them. He learned from them. But at some point he realized: their paths were not his path. He needed to go his own way, to discover his own way to full aliveness. That’s what led him to the Bo tree.
It happens all the time, but it especially when we find ourselves in between jobs. We notice what others are doing, what they’re achieving, and we get sidetracked from our own identity and purpose. But the more you are anchored in your inner way and open to the multitude of middle ways, the more you are able to discern your own way. The path of your unique contribution to the world.
The Buddha speaks to this in The Dhammapada: “Do not give your attention to what others do or fail to do; give it to what you do or fail to do.” This is your calling. This is your task.
As I explained in one of my first Substack posts, Pulled Off Your Path:
This doesn’t mean you need to go hide out in a cave. It doesn’t require that you become stingy in celebrating the good things others are doing. It is not a call to be self-centered and dismissive of others.
But it does caution against playing fast and loose with your attention. Don’t get caught up in whether or not someone should be doing something. Or how they’re going about it. Don’t judge their intent. Don’t be troubled by the successes of others.
Because these things can derail you from the journey that is yours alone to undertake. They can deter you from giving the unique gift that is yours to give.
Instead, give your attention to what YOU do or fail to do.
To be clear, this isn’t an efficiency tip, bro. And it isn’t about designing some elaborate strategic plan. It is not advising stubborn persistence.
No, it’s deeper than that. This is about being faithful. About stewardship. About being true to who you are and what you are called to. And carrying that thing forward. Giving your attention to what you do or fail to do.
Times of transition are always a time to reconnect with your voice. To reclaim your dream. To own your unique way of being.
No masks. No imitation. No pretending.
Playing this game may help you achieve things in the short term, but eventually it will catch up to you. And you’ll find yourself asking, How did I get here? Who am I? Why am I living according to the expectations of everyone else instead of living the life that wants to live in me?
The cost of living for the approval of others at the expense of fulfilling your dream is captured in this powerful scene from the delightfully odd and surprisingly touching movie Pig starring the legendary Nicolas Cage:
“This isn’t real. You aren’t real… Derek, why do you care about these people? They don’t care about you. None of them. They don’t even know you because you haven’t shown them. Every day you’ll wake up and there’ll be less of you. You live your life for them and they don’t even see you. You don’t even see yourself. We don’t get a lot of things to really care about… Derek, who has my pig?”
Yes, listen to others. Yes, learn from others. Just like the Buddha. But always let these be exercises in clarifying who you are, what you’re about, and how you want to give your gifts to the world.
Go your own way. Or, as one of my coaches recently said to me:
BE YOUR FULL, FREAK, CREATIVE SELF.
So, when it comes to work transitions, remember, this is the way:
The Middle Way.
The Inner Way.
Your Own Way.