Podcast Summary: You Make Sense – "Creating an Aligned Life and Finding Purpose in the Work You Do"

Host: Sarah Baldwin
Date: April 15, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Sarah Baldwin, a somatic experiencing practitioner and trauma expert, explores how our nervous systems, past experiences, and internal beliefs influence our choices in work and purpose. She offers insights on moving from survival-based decision-making to living and working in greater alignment, and she answers listener questions about real-life challenges on this journey. The episode blends personal anecdotes, neuroscience, and practical exercises for moving toward a fulfilling, aligned career or life purpose.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why We Choose Work from Survival Rather than Alignment

(01:30–19:00)

• Survival Over Alignment: Many people choose jobs out of necessity, focusing on primary needs like financial security and safety.
  • “If we don’t have our primary needs met… of course we’re going to find ourselves in jobs or careers that may not be bringing us fully alive, but they are meeting a primary need, which is our safety and survival.” (02:50)
• Unresolved Trauma & Internal Safety: Unhealed trauma or insecure attachments can make us seek safety and consistency in work, even if it isn’t fulfilling.
  • “If we have unresolved trauma…we’re not gonna feel safe in the world. So what our protective system does is it finds situations…that give some semblance of consistency and safety.” (04:50)
• Lack of Self-Belief: Not receiving affirmation in childhood can inhibit self-confidence, making us doubt our ability to pursue meaningful work.
  • “If…caregivers didn’t show us we were special, that belief in self can become inhibited, and then…although we might have desires…we’ll have parts saying, ‘Well, I can’t do that. Who am I to do that?’” (07:45)
• Fear of Change: Internal safety enables surrender and change; when lacking, change feels threatening.
  • “When I am safe inside, I can relinquish that grip on life and allow it to naturally unfold… But if I don’t have that internal safety, surrender is going to feel terrifying…” (09:00)
• Replicating Family Systems: Our work environments can mirror our family-of-origin dynamics (e.g., chaos, boundaries), keeping us stuck in patterns.
  • “Work or our work environment will often mimic our family system…we find ourselves chronically in toxic work environments…because that is what my system knows.” (12:15)

2. The Importance of Purpose and Alignment in Work

(19:00–29:00)

• Purpose = Fulfillment: Even with self-care and community, true fulfillment comes from purposeful engagement and embodying one’s unique gifts.
  • “Human beings thrive when we are purposeful…If we aren’t purposeful, we aren’t going to feel fulfilled.” (19:30)
• Different Paths to Fulfillment: Not everyone needs their career to be their primary purpose; fulfillment may come from side projects, volunteering, or hobbies.
  • “For some…having a job they like well enough, and a fulfilling side pursuit, is enough…for others…that won’t feel like enough.” (21:00)
• Embodied Gifts Benefit All: When we use our gifts, not only do we feel alive, but it positively impacts those around us.
  • “When someone’s aligned with their purpose, they’re not the only ones that get jazzed up about it. Everyone around them gets the benefit.” (26:45)
• Purpose Affects Health, Energy, Relationships: Chronic misalignment leads to low energy, joylessness, and strained connections.
  • “If you aren’t in a right career…your energy levels are going to be low—think of that as your body talking to you.” (31:00)

3. Steps for Finding Alignment and Purpose

(29:00–54:00)

A. Regulate Your Nervous System — Create Internal Safety

• Start with nervous system work and parts work to move from making choices out of survival to making choices from true safety and agency.
  • “The more that you consistently regulate your nervous system… the more I can choose from a place of choice rather than survival.” (35:00)
  • “Your truth can only be found when you are regulated.” (36:10)

B. Play the “Hot and Cold” Game

• Experiment with actions or roles you’re curious about. Use embodied experiences—notice what lights you up or drains you.
  • “Begin trying out or trying on things that might be towards our right path…Otherwise it’s all really cognitive and abstract…there is no way for you to know your right path without embodied experiences.” (37:30)
• Ask what feels energizing, what makes time flow, or what sparks joy and ease.

C. Identify Your Unique Gifts

• Gifts often come easily to you and may not be obvious. Ask trusted people what your gifts are.
  • “You might actually be really surprised, because a lot of times we aren’t connected to our own gifts because…they come really easy to us.” (41:30)

D. Use Jealousy as a Guide

• Track when you feel jealous of someone. Examine what it’s really pointing to—a clue about your own unexpressed desires.
  • “Jealousy is an amazing emotion…get curious about what do they have that I want in my own life…that’s to give you some major clues about the direction you are meant to go.” (44:20)

E. Build Bridges, Not Chasms

• Transitions to new work are gradual and stepwise; don’t expect to lay the “whole bridge” overnight.
  • “We plank by plank and that’s actionable step by actionable step, build the bridge…” (48:00)
• Take tolerable risks but not unsafe leaps (e.g., quitting with no safety net).
  • “If you do that [quit without security], you’re likely gonna create a high stress response…and then go back to making choices from survival.” (52:00)

F. Anticipate and Embrace Change

• As you grow, your relationship to your work may evolve. Notice signs like resistance, depletion, or resentment as cues for needed shifts.

4. Q&A Segment

(54:30–End of Episode)

Question 1: Ashley’s Struggle With Career Stagnation and Fulfillment (57:00–1:06:30)

• Sarah validates the difficulty and nonlinearity of the creative industry, reassures Ashley that self-criticism is not warranted, and encourages her to:
  • Identify what aspects of her work still light her up versus what feels misaligned
  • Prioritize choosing from choice, not survival
  • Consider creative or adjacent roles within her skillset for financial stability and fulfillment
  • “It’s not black and white, it’s not all or nothing…The only way to know the right path is: one, choose from choice; two, anchor into your internal knowingness and truth.” (1:05:20)

Question 2: Navigating Unsafe Work Environments and Boundaries (1:07:00–1:14:40)

• Sarah explains how family-of-origin roles and trauma can be replayed in work settings.
  • Encourages identifying if adult self truly feels unsafe, or if a younger part is carrying old pain.
  • Setting and enforcing embodied boundaries is critical; staying anchored in adult self allows for effective self-advocacy.
  • “Is it not safe for adult me, or is it not safe for a part of me?…The more I change my role from my anchored adult self… the more I know the right path for me.” (1:13:00)

Question 3: Overcoming Fear and Self-Sabotage When Starting Fresh (1:14:50–1:27:30)

• Sarah explains that self-doubt and seductive “comfort” thoughts are protective parts trying to prevent potential pain.
  • Calls these “self-like parts”—they sound rational, but hold us back from true desires.
  • Recommends anchoring deeply in what the “soul self” desires; take tolerable steps (not huge leaps) in new directions—build capacity bit by bit.
  • “Wherein lies our greatest purpose, lies our greatest healing. Your greatest purpose will often require things of you that were once dangerous or inhibited.” (1:19:40)
• Notes the importance of supportive, safe connection (friends, partners, groups) for birthing new identities or careers.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Remember, you make sense all parts always.” (00:20)
• “When we are aligned with our right life, the finances that we need to, you know, live the life that feels good for us will arrive…they will.” (1:02:30)
• “Being in your gifts, by the way, means taking up space in the world. And if it wasn’t safe to do that or to be seen, then your system’s going to really try to inhibit it.” (36:05)
• “Jealousy…has to do with the unmet, unrealized life that is waiting to be lived inside of us.” (45:30)
• On embracing change: “All of those experiences (resistance, depletion, resentment) are brilliant clues that our truest self, our soul self, is trying to give us.” (55:00)
• “The desires of your soul are for you. Nobody can take them because they're for you.” (1:26:10)

Important Timestamps

• 01:30: Survival vs. alignment in career choices
• 12:15: Work mirroring family-of-origin dynamics
• 19:30: The centrality of purpose to fulfillment
• 26:45: How aligned work benefits those around us
• 35:00: Regulation and internal safety as precondition for change
• 41:30: Finding your gifts—ask others
• 44:20: Using jealousy as a compass
• 48:00: Building bridges to change, not taking leaps
• 57:00: Q&A Begins
• 1:05:20: Ashley’s question: choice vs. survival in career
• 1:13:00: Setting boundaries in unsafe work settings
• 1:19:40: “Wherein lies our greatest purpose, lies our greatest healing.”
• 1:26:10: “The desires of your soul are for you…”

Tone & Style

Sarah Baldwin’s tone throughout the episode is warm, validating, and deeply compassionate. She blends practical advice with personal storytelling and somatic wisdom, making complex ideas accessible and actionable. The language is gentle yet empowering, consistently reminding listeners of their intrinsic worth and capacity for transformational change.

Actionable Takeaways

• Focus first on regulating your nervous system and building internal safety before making big changes.
• Explore your unique gifts—ask loved ones what they see in you.
• Get curious: try new experiences, observe what lights you up, and don’t fear “wrong” turns.
• Reframe jealousy as information about your own desires.
• Take manageable, tolerable steps—don’t force massive, unsafe leaps.
• If you notice resistance, depletion, or resentment, see them as vital clues from your deeper self.
• Find supportive connection for any big change; you don’t have to go it alone.

“All that I know is what’s happening in my internal truth, and I let that be the compass that guides me to the next right step. And the more that you do that, the more you’re going to live the life you are here to live.” (1:28:30)