This is a sponsored post. I received compensation for covering this event.The opinions are mine. It is my Universe, after all.

Have I ever told you I get lost? A lot? I have no internal sense of direction. North, South, East, West only make sense on a flat map. But in life, North is not up and heading east is not necessarily a right turn. Clearly, I am not the person to follow.Unfortunately, this does not apply only to my driving skills. I am much the same with money and career. As an actress, I worked a dozen jobs for survival purposes. Since leaving the stage, I have worked a dozen more. Few have been in line with the dreams I have for myself and my family.But just like the heavy key map I carried in my trunk for years, there is help out there for the clueless. Capital One has offered me a new key, a workshop series directed at Mapping Your Own Career Path.In their continued effort to make us worry less about money and more about living the life of our values, Capital One has introduced a series of workshops hosted at its Capital One Cafes and branches to help you do just that. A couple of Saturdays ago, I experienced it first hand as the fabulous Gwen Lane, the L.A. Girl, and Money Coach extraordinaire Megan Lathrop led us through refining our personal brand, exploring our values, and creating action steps to achieve our goals.

Personal Brand

Gwen started with a very simple question. Do you have a personal brand?Now, as a blogger, I’d like to think I do but when put to the question, I gave it deeper thought. Knowing my strengths, weaknesses and passions is only part of it.  To look at the other angles of this question, we looked at our brands with fun questions including what animal we would be. For the record, I decided I’m a giraffe. Why? That’s for another post…Megan shared the why of this work. While 90% of surveyed Americans said that having a job aligned with your core values is important, 77% have taken a job that was not in line with those values. Believe me, I have been in that 77%. Five, six… fifteen times.And that was why I was there.

Values

I turn 46 next week. Let’s not dwell on that. Really. Move on. You can stop thinking about it now, but it is a reality and means that I am truly middle age. With that reality in mind, I have no interest in working jobs that do not help me serve my purpose in the world. So, to find my true North, I explored my values.Take yourself off autopilot - that one got me. It is so easy as a mom to run on autopilot. There is so much that needs to be done and yet, that is the last thing I want to do as mom or a businesswoman. My children deserve a fully engaged mother, my husband deserves an engaged wife, and I deserve to be living my life not floating through from destination to destination.

Achieving Goals

Speaking of destination - how do I get there? As with every map, you have to start with where you are.Then you decide where to go. That’s the easy part. The hard part is how to get from A to B. I know A and I see B but the 12,013 steps between that I don’t know. Do you feel that way?Looks a bit like a map from the Pirates of Caribbean. I need to look at that island hopping with positivity and optimism.That starts with the final part of the workshop - creating action steps.So that’s my map. Now that I have a direction, I can start moving that way, and I have to admit, it’s pretty exciting!Have you charted your path? If not, consider a workshop or more personalized three-session coaching at a local Capital One Cafe. It’s free to everyone and you don’t need to have an account with Capital One. There are lots of exciting goings on so stay tuned for a workshop near you!