World Class Hugs

By Rachel Puryear

Welcome to Part 4 of a Series of 5 on Empaths and Finances! This post will cover ways to a better life that empaths tend to overlook.

The introductory post to this series gave an overview, and can be reread here. Part 1 of the series, about how empaths can shift their mindset around money to attract abundance and wealth energy, can be read here. Part 2 of the series, about how empaths can build better boundaries with others around money, can be read here. Part 3 of the series, about satisfying and supportive careers for empaths, can be read here.

Many empaths get a false sense early on in life that it’s bad to care about money management and financial success; and that doing so makes us materialistic or greedy.

That’s not at all so.

You’re not materialistic or greedy for caring about your finances. People are not materialistic and greedy unless they only care about money; and do so at the expense of relationships, health, character, and enjoyment of life. However, doing well financially and then managing money wisely; in addition to and in support of improved relationships, health, personal development, and good quality of life; instead gives one better opportunities to realize their personal values.

Because of this common but erroneous belief, empaths can be led to certain mistakes around finances and money – which include overlooking good opportunities to make money, and underestimating their aptitude for certain careers.

Careers Empaths Might Overlook, That They Could Be Better at Than They Think:

Sales:

Most lists of careers that empaths should avoid include sales. That’s true only if you think that sales is all about being pushy and annoying people into buying things under pressure.

That’s not how the best salespeople operate, however.

There is another, lesser known but more enlightened school of thought about sales. Some of the most successful and well-liked salespeople have shown us that real success in sales is about listening to people, finding out what they can do for them, and attracting clients to them.

Empaths are wonderfully matched to this method of sales.

In the book Ninja Selling, Larry Kendall describes his counterintuitive approach to real estate sales, which made him a huge success – just by being his thoughtful and empathetic self. In his introduction to the book, he described feeling sickened after training he received in high-pressure sales tactics – sound relatable? This event was the catalyst for developing a client-centered system, which attracted clients to him without him needing to chase them.

Empaths who enjoy people and like being of service could excel in sales, by using a client-centered and empathic approach.

Paralegal:

Contrary to popular belief, there are many lawyers who do a lot of good – including those in nonprofits, and dedicated individual practitioners. The profession offers opportunities to help others. However, law practice also requires punishing hours, constant availability, and lots of conflict with abusive and unreasonable people.

This type of work can easily burn out an empath over time, and even create health issues. Furthermore, the cost of law school is not justified by what most attorney jobs pay, especially if you want to help people – and ballooning student debt will create tremendous financial stress for empaths (as a retired lawyer myself, I know this all very well).

However, there are ways to provide much-needed legal services, without going through the rigors, stress, and expense of becoming a lawyer. This includes being a paralegal.

Think of a paralegal compared to a lawyer as analogous to a nurse compared to a doctor. Paralegals can do a lot of services for clients that lawyers can – however, they cannot represent someone in court, or give legal advice. They can generally prepare documents, connect clients with resources, and sometimes help mediate disputes, however; and this can help a lot of people in need of services.

Check local licensing requirements as well as restrictions on what paralegals can and cannot do in your locality. Depending upon where you are, you may or may not be required to work under the supervision of a licensed attorney – but even if you are not, you will likely first need some experience in a law office to get started.

Empaths who want to help clients with legal problems, but find the demands of law practice to be too overwhelming, can find a great alternative in becoming a paralegal.

Physical Therapy:

As with lawyers, doctors and nurses must cope with long hours, stress, and death and disease. Although there are empaths who do well in these careers, it will be too much for many. However, an alternative career in medicine is physical therapy.

Physical therapists help people recover from injuries and physical problems through using exercises and other physical treatments. Although the work is by no means stress-free – physical therapists work with a lot of people who are in pain and frustrated – it may not have the constant intensity or level of irregular hours that being a doctor or a nurse has.

Demand for physical therapy services is strong, and is expected to remain strong in years to come, due to an aging population. Physical therapists need to meet educational and training requirements to become licensed, so check what is required in your area if you are interested in this type of career.

Empaths who are interested in careers in medicine, but prefer something less intense in pace and with a greater likelihood of regular hours than doctors and nurses have; could do well with a career in physical therapy.

Financial Advisor:

A financial advisor can help people grow their own security and financial well-being. Financial advisors work with clients in meeting goals like enjoying a comfortable retirement, or buying a nice home for their family. Good financial management is essential to living a free and autonomous life, with plenty of good choices and opportunities available.

Chances are, as an empath, you naturally have good sense about money; and tend to live rather frugally and save money. Empaths come from all kinds of economic backgrounds, just like everyone else; but we tend to do relatively well with what we have. (Our biggest financial weakness tends to be having trouble setting boundaries with and saying no to others – see Part 2 of this series again if that’s the case for you.)

Empaths who are interested in helping other individuals and families meet their financial goals, and live more of the life they want, could do well as financial advisors.

There are different classifications of financial advisors, and licensing requirements will vary. Be sure to find out what is required in your area, if you are interested in pursuing this type of work.

Political Consultant:

You likely have passionate views about various social and economic issues, and care about what’s going on in the world around you. You may have harbored dreams of serving in political office. Some empaths do serve and succeed in political positions, but others prefer to contribute in a position with less of a spotlight on them.

An alternative to becoming a politician is to become a political consultant. You can advise politicians, help manage campaigns, do outreach to voters to increase turnout, and influence public opinion about various issues. The world very much needs more empathic people doing this work, as it’s currently dominated by very non-empathic people. Stacey Abrams, however, is an excellent example of empathy and thoughtful strategy applied to political advocacy and consultancy.

Performer (Through Online Videos):

Maybe you want to be an actor or singer when you were younger. But then as you got older, you were not outgoing enough to make that happen, or perhaps you were put off by how brutal and arbitrary the entertainment industry can be.

These days, however, anyone can start a channel on YouTube. You can make one, and publish your own videos. Most people won’t make much of a living from this, if anything – but if you take the risk and it doesn’t pay off, at least you can have fun and it won’t cost you much at all. At the same time, people occasionally make big money doing this if they get enough followers, or at least can generate decent part-time income.

Empaths who like to perform but want to make some of their own independent content could do well as YouTube stars.

---

Thank you, dear readers, for reading, following, and sharing. Here’s to your discovering new opportunities and passions that you may have overlooked before. If you enjoyed this content and want to see more of it, please hit “like” and subscribe, if you do not do so already. xoxo