HerMoney with Jean Chatzky – Episode 477: Suzy Welch On How to Find Your Purpose at Work (And Still Pay the Bills)
Release Date: May 28, 2025
In this insightful episode of HerMoney with Jean Chatzky, host Jean Chatzky engages in a profound conversation with Susie Welch, an award-winning NYU Stern School of Business professor and author of Becoming You: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career. Together, they explore the intricate journey of finding purpose in one's professional life while ensuring financial stability. The discussion delves into aligning personal values with career choices, understanding one's aptitudes, and navigating the economic realities of today's ever-changing job market.
Introduction: The Quest for Workplace Happiness
Jean Chatzky opens the episode by posing a fundamental question to listeners: "Are you happy at work?" She acknowledges that many grapple with feeling unfulfilled despite financial success and introduces Susie Welch as an expert who has dedicated over 15 years to helping individuals discover their true calling.
Notable Quote:
Susie Welch [00:02]: "Humans will act irrationally all the time when it comes to money, and they'll just do what makes the most financial sense, whether or not it's aligned with their values."
Susie Welch’s Journey to Purpose
Susie Welch shares her personal journey, highlighting how a combination of professional experiences and personal tragedies, including the loss of her husband just before the COVID-19 pandemic, propelled her to reevaluate her life's direction. This introspection led her to develop a methodology aimed at helping others find their purpose, culminating in her book Becoming You.
Notable Quote:
Susie Welch [04:06]: "What took me in this direction was I had been a business journalist... And then two things happened at once. Everybody knows about COVID, but right at the beginning of COVID my husband passed away."
Understanding Personal Values
A core component of Welch's methodology is the identification of personal values. She emphasizes that many people are unaware of their true values or find it challenging to live by them due to various obstacles. To address this, Welch developed a digital tool called the Values Bridge, which helps individuals rank and understand their values, revealing any conflicts and measuring how closely their lives align with their core beliefs.
Notable Quote:
Susie Welch [09:00]: "There's three parts to this process. There's excavate your values... identify your aptitudes... and identify your economically viable interests."
The Four Horsemen of Values Destruction
Welch introduces the concept of the Four Horsemen of Values Destruction, which are barriers preventing individuals from living according to their true values:
- Expectations: Societal and cultural norms that pressure individuals to act contrary to their values.
- Events: Life changes that divert focus away from personal values.
- Expedience: Choosing easier, less value-aligned paths to avoid conflict or hardship.
- Economic Security: Financial pressures that force compromises on personal values.
Notable Quote:
Susie Welch [11:20]: "Humans will act irrationally all the time when it comes to money, and they'll just do what makes the most financial sense, whether or not it's aligned with their values."
Identifying and Leveraging Personal Aptitudes
Beyond values, Welch stresses the importance of understanding one's aptitudes—both cognitive and emotional—as well as personality traits. She advocates for comprehensive self-assessment tools like pi360, which gathers feedback from peers to provide an accurate picture of one's strengths and areas for improvement. This self-knowledge is crucial for aligning one's career path with inherent abilities, ensuring both satisfaction and success.
Notable Quote:
Susie Welch [15:02]: "Your aptitudes are your inborn cognitive proclivities and your emotional proclivities. I also include personality in this because you and I both know... that you can be good at a job or bad at a job based on your personality."
Economic Feasibility: Balancing Passion and Income
Recognizing that passion alone isn't sufficient, Welch discusses the third pillar of her methodology: identifying economically viable interests. This involves determining career paths that not only align with one's values and aptitudes but also offer financial sustainability. Welch highlights the necessity of setting clear financial goals based on personal definitions of "enough" to avoid burnout and dissatisfaction.
Notable Quote:
Susie Welch [25:50]: "The first thing we do in the value section of this is find out how much money is enough for you... because there's so many other things that are so much more important."
Real-Life Application: Anna’s Transformation
Welch shares a compelling story about a student named Anna, an executive MBA candidate struggling with balancing her roles as a CEO and a mother. Through Welch's Becoming You process, Anna realizes that she is already living her purpose but was hindered by guilt. This revelation allows her to make small but meaningful adjustments, leading to a harmonious integration of her personal and professional lives.
Notable Quote:
Susie Welch [29:35]: "She stood up and she said, I'm actually living my purpose already. I am absolutely living my values. I'm 100% living my aptitudes."
Navigating the Retirement Phase: Embracing Freedom and Purpose
The conversation shifts to the later stages of life, particularly retirement, where individuals often find newfound freedom to explore their purpose without the constraints experienced earlier. Welch describes this phase as an ideal time to apply her methodology, as retirees can leverage their life experience and financial stability to pursue meaningful activities and passions.
Notable Quote:
Susie Welch [33:35]: "Many people who are in retirement find themselves uniquely positioned to figure out what your purpose is, because you're free on many levels."
Final Thoughts: Embracing Authenticity and Letting Go of Guilt
As the episode concludes, Welch and Chatzky reflect on the importance of authenticity and the detrimental effects of guilt. They encourage listeners to align their careers with their true selves and to embrace the journey of self-discovery as a means to achieve both personal fulfillment and financial security.
Notable Quote:
Susie Welch [31:59]: "Guilt is a useless emotion... It doesn't have to be that way."
Conclusion
This episode of HerMoney with Jean Chatzky offers a comprehensive roadmap for women seeking to harmonize their professional lives with their personal values and financial goals. Through Susie Welch's proven methodology, listeners are empowered to embark on a journey of self-discovery, leading to careers that are both fulfilling and economically viable. Whether you're in the early stages of your career or navigating retirement, the insights shared provide valuable guidance for crafting an authentic and purposeful life.
Resources Mentioned:
- Becoming You: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career by Susie Welch
- Values Bridge Tool by Susie Welch
- pi360 Personality Assessment
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