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Best Careers for Introverts, HSPs, and Other Sensitive Souls

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Sensitive souls (including introverts, highly sensitive persons [HSPs], and people with big hearts) need to be careful about our work environments and career paths. We can really thrive and excel in the right environment, and we can wilt easily in the wrong environment.

If you have a yuck feeling about work, I bet it is because the work itself or the work culture are a bad match for you. You have so much to offer. Yes, YOU. The world needs your gifts. I mean it. You can find a better fit. Not overnight, but a better way is possible.

There are low stress jobs for introverts, HSPs, and other sensitive souls.

No, there are no perfect stress free professions. But lower stress is definitely a worthy goal. Yes! Stress is a natural part of life, and we can learn to reduce the challenge of it, but often we simply put up with far too much of it, so that’s what I’m talking about reducing today.

My experience:

I’m a highly sensitive introvert with a big heart. (If you’re a Myers-Briggs Type fan, I’m an INFP which explains a whole range of sensitivity.)

I’ve tried all kinds of work environments from classrooms to cubicles, and many kinds of careers, and there were many rough patches in my work life. Now I have landed happily with being a self-employed coach.

In those various work experiences, sometimes I felt alive and energized and sometimes completely drained and MISERABLE. Oh I can feel the bad memories in my body as I write this. I want to reach out to you if you’re feeling that misery and beg you to believe it can be different.

Now I get what works:

I’ve studied what factors work for me and what works for others with a similar temperament.  Now I can fairly easily tell you what is important for us in choosing our work environments and career paths. Work can feel great, really! I’ll explain what you need to know.

[image - wondering where to go]

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What If Your Career Ideas Feel Impossible?

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Feeling stuck between staying or going, like the classic cat in the doorway syndrome? It doesn’t have to be so hard.

I hear people all the time stopping themselves from wanting what they want because they think it’s impossible or think it will be too big of a leap for them.

In essence, they are thinking the devil they know is better than the one they don’t know. Think about that. The logic is flawed. It’s just that you don’t know yet.

That idea to stay with the “devil you know” comes from an inner fear voice that wants to stop you from trying anything new. It thinks it is keeping you safe. But it is just keeping you small… and unsatisfied.

Wavering between what you want and what you’re afraid to check out is a place we could stay stuck forever if we don’t take some conscious action.

It’s like that funny thing cats do when they cry to go outside, but when you open the door to let them out, they freeze in the doorway, wondering whether to stay or go. We laugh at them, or even get frustrated at them for not getting going on what they said they wanted. But isn’t it just like us when we stop ourselves from checking out what’s out there?

I know I’ve done that. Yes, no, maybe, but yes, but no…. on and on. It’s classic human stuff, not just cat stuff.

How do we get out of that doorway when the unknown feels so daunting?

I’ll explain what I’ve discovered, and what many others have discovered, about how to move past the doorway, even when it feels scary.

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My 15 Favorite Books for Caring Introverted Women

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[image of reading a book]Like many introverts, I love books. There’s so much richness in there! When I see a shelf of books, I see each book as a little world I can explore and savor.

I’m very picky about which books are worth reading. I start a lot of books, and put them down if they aren’t engaging or useful in some way.

When I find a book I love, I can get a bit evangelical about it. So, indulge me in my sharing some favorites that I think other caring introverted women will enjoy.  Continue reading →

If you’re tired of hearing “Why are you so quiet?”

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I have a fellow introvert friend named Emma who reminds me of me when I was younger, in all the good ways. Quiet, thoughtful, curious about everything, and adventurous in her own way. (Actually I wish I had been more like her brave self.)

She always raises such good questions, so I enjoy our conversations about navigating our way in the world as introverts who want to have a say in things.

Often she asks questions that I hear many introverts asking. In this case she was asking how to handle this typical question that introverts hear all too often:
“Why are you being so quiet?”

Sound familiar? It’s just one version of something that can sound like they are looking down on our introverted nature.

So I asked Emma for permission to share our conversation here, and she said yes. I wanted to share it with you in case it helps you too.

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Should I Let Intuition Run My Life? My Business?

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Intuition is on my mind a lot lately, especially as I was preparing to give a talk about it. I’m remembering how incredibly powerful and important intuition is, so I’m renewing my dedication to follow those wise inner signals. Let’s talk about this resource that’s inside all of us.

I’m convinced by my experience, and the research, that our intuition is worth much more of our attention, and worth cultivating further…for happiness and success.

And yet, even people who trust their intuition in many areas seem to forget about it or lose trust in it when it comes to decisions related to their livelihood. Survival worries get in the way, gulp.

How do we find a balance between using this great inner resource and feeling safe as we move ahead?

I’ll explain a little about how it works for me and why I trust it for my business too, but not blindly. I found a safe way to do it. But first a little background so we’re on the same page.

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