What Alexander the Great and Your Career Dissatisfaction Have In Common
(I'm not referring to the friendship bloodbath, of course, but about what happens when achievements leave you empty.)
A while ago, one of my coaching clients — let’s call him Nate (not his real name) — shared that he felt like he had been wasting his life.
Nate had graduated from a prestigious institution, worked for a well-known company, and made enough money to be comfortable.
And yet, he felt unfulfilled.
Upon hearing him talk about this, I cheered.
Why?
Not because I like seeing people be miserable. But because realizing that something isn’t working is often the first step to liberation.
Nate was doing something that’s rare in our culture — he was being honest with himself. Our culture is ignoring so many facets of the human experience that it essentially puts spells on us.
Let’s look at one of the most pernicious spells that has been put on people, and why it’s so dangerous.
The achievement spell, and how it ruined the lives of two luminaries
The achievement spell is the idea that money and achievements lead to happiness.
The only problem with this?
It’s just not true.
Exhibit A: Alexander the Great who claimed to be the son of Zeus. Alexander became increasingly paranoid, killing many of his allies. He felt extreme guilt for killing his close friend Cleitus in a drunken rage after Cleitus had belittled his achievements.
Exhibit B: Julius Caesar who claimed descent from the goddess Venus. Caesar reportedly wept at the thought that Alexander had accomplished more by a younger age. He got assassinated by a group of senators, including men he considered his allies.
Conclusion?
It’s probably wise to avoid going into politics unless that truly is your purpose.
More importantly, if even such an extreme level of achievement — and people thinking you’re literally descended from a god/dess — doesn’t bring contentment, then achievement can’t the be-all end-all for living a good life.
And here’s why.
The deeper reason why achievement isn’t enough on its own
Achievement satisfies the personality and the ego. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just not enough on its own.
People need something else, something more. What is it?
Soul needs!
The bigger part of us — our soul — has needs that go far beyond external success: needs for belonging, meaning, personal development or spiritual growth (and, you know, friendships that don’t end in bloodbaths).
The achievement spell makes people forget their soul’s needs and focus solely on ego needs… which makes them miserable.
What happens when people are in touch with their soul’s needs?
Let’s look at another of history’s luminaries, the Nobel Prize winning scientist and trailblazer Marie Curie. She famously stated,
“The best life is not the longest, but the richest in good deeds.”
After her husband’s death, Marie Curie raised her two daughters alone. And despite personal tragedies, she was content and deeply fulfilled in her scientific work.
Curie died a painful death due to her radiation poisoning.
Yet — unlike Alexander or Caesar who both claimed divine descent — she likely died with a sense of accomplished purpose. Perhaps for her, her work was genuinely an expression of love.
So, if the achievement spell makes people miserable… how the hell do you break it?
How to break the achievement spell
In many stories, love spells can be broken by “true love’s kiss”: if someone is spelled to fall in love with a specific person, the spell gets broken when they receive a kiss from the person they truly love.
This is an allusion to the power of truth in breaking through spells.
Nate broke through the achievement spell when he realized how he was truly feeling… unfulfilled (despite the money and achievements).
Fully seeing the (sobering, inconvenient) truth of a situation sucks.
You might have heard a saying that often gets attributed to Gloria Steinem:
“The truth will set you free. But first it will piss you off.”
When you invite in a truth you’ve been denying yourself, it might piss you off (or disappoint you or make you sad). And yet, there’s an odd liberation and stability that comes from finally allowing the truth and not numbing oneself anymore.
Here’s the thing: once someone hits the truth that’s rock bottom, they’re on stable ground. There’s earth underneath their feet. And there’s only one way to go: up.
This can be a tender and challenging process, which is why it’s often helpful to get support from others.
How to get support from me
If you would like support in navigating this process — exploring your truth, and ways to align your life with your truth — I invite you to schedule a Purpose Pathfinder Call.
This call is for people who want to move from unfulfilling work to doing more of what they love — without blowing up their life and even if they struggle with overwhelm, feel unclear about what they want, or wonder if it’s too late for them.
On this call, you’ll discover:
Why treating purpose as an activity keeps it forever out of reach, and what to pay attention to instead.
Why feeling pulled in two directions about a career or business move might be the clearest sign you’re on the right track — and how to tell.
What your resistance has been trying to tell you all along, and the simple technique that finally lets you hear its wisdom.
You will walk away from this call with:
A plan that actually fits you (not a cookie-cutter process someone created who never talked to you) and the unexpected lightness of knowing that there is, in fact, a path forward.
The relief of realizing you don’t have to be someone else or someplace else in your work life — and a first glimpse of what your tailor-made path can look like.
At least one immediate next step that’s specific enough that you can get moving and small enough that it feels doable this week.