Directional Living: A Transformational Guide to Fulfillment in Work and Life

by Megan Hellerer

A guide for creating a life of maximum fulfillment and purpose, by the “Conscious Career Coach,” whose program has helped hundreds of women find their career paths including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

So many of us have done everything right for our careers. We got the grades, made the 5-year plan, climbed the ladder toward our goals; from the outside, we are the very definition of “success.” Why then do we find ourselves burned out, losing our ambition, consumed by impostor syndrome, and ultimately unfulfilled?

In DIRECTIONAL LIVING, Megan Hellerer presents a new way of thinking about our lives, one that turns away from the voices telling us what a good life “should” look like, and instead relies on cultivating our own inner navigation. Through Hellerer’s revolutionary new blueprint, we can get unstuck in our careers or even transform them, move from misery to meaning, and find the work we are meant to be doing in the world. DIRECTIONAL LIVING is both a philosophy and a practical guide to getting unstuck, encouraging experimentation and ultimately creating not just a great life, but your great life—one full of genuine purpose, meaning, ease and authenticity.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Business, Personal Development, Audiobook

295 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 24, 2024

Reviews

[Lauren]

In the words of Gabe, could have been an email

[Perri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good takeaways from this book but WAY too many acronyms/terms to explain sometimes confusing concepts...the EA and HAYWALTs were interesting and clear enough but I got lost with the four omens and these multi-question "tests" you're supposed to take to see what to do about something in your life. Makes your head spin even though this book has some good advice and is a nice reminder to follow your inner compass, strive less and you'll achieve more. The author seemed to take much joy in creating "new" terminology to describe various concepts of hers those which really just muddied the book, for me, at least. Still, worth reading, and some good guiding mantras to live by, even if the bulk of them came from the author drawing from folks like Anne Lamott and Buddhist sayings, etc.

[Lena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Last chapter was giving cult, and as with most self-help books, could’ve been an email

[Maya Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for my fellow burned out former gifted students. This book introduced me to a unique way of thinking about manifestation/alignment via an iterative process in which you decide what to do with your life by choosing the next right step for yourself directionally vs “destinationally.” My biggest takeaway from this book was that I think too much with my head and not enough with my body. I have no sense of intuition, no gut instinct. I put every decision through my mind and analyze outcomes with an opportunity-cost mindset when I should be making decisions with my body. What FEELS like the right decision? What feels warmer and light and interesting? Made me want to read more books about reconnecting with your intuition and trusting yourself to make the right decisions without overthinking and getting stuck in decision paralysis due to fear of making the wrong choice.

The author won me over immediately when she mentioned a case study of someone she helped out with directional living and then revealed that it was AOC??!? Obviously I will trust anyone that helped get AOC to the place she is today because shes amazing

[Kaitlin DeWolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this !!!

[Whitley Gaffney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I literally teared up reading the first 20 pages of this book when the author described quitting her job at Google despite having everything she set out to achieve and a "good-on-paper" life as she described it. As a millennial woman who quit her corporate job a year ago after feeling so burned out an unfulfilled (but always being a super high achiever through high school, college, and beyond) this book resonated so deeply with me. I wish I'd had it a year or two ago when I was struggling with the feeling of "is something wrong with me?" because on paper I had a great job, I was climbing the corporate ladder, my parents were proud of me, but something was missing. Some great practical advice in here, good examples, and always appreciate the author's candor in telling her own story. Highly recommend for "Underfulfilled Overachievers" who are ready to live differently and more authentically.

[Muralie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall good read.

What i got from it:
1. Focus on directional steps ie what feels right to you in the moment rather than a desired outcome/destination. Focus on what you are curious about rather than what you think others want from you.

2. Destinational goals often have words associated ie optics/ought to, and are often unfulfilling. An example would be i need to be a neurosurgeon at harvard because it would look good and would make lots of money.

[Miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this book had a similar feeling to sorting through the back story to find the instructions for an online recipe. There was a lot of beginning fluff talking about her life, her journey, and more before getting the nuggets I was looking for.

Once I did get past those parts, I found the actual instructive parts repetitive and unnecessarily long winded. It was a lot more back story and rewording the same ideas in different contexts, which ultimately is the author saying that you should not expect simply achieving your goals towards an objectively successful life to be the only source needed to bring you lasting happiness and satisfaction in life. The journey is just as important, if not more so.

I honestly do appreciate the amount of work the author put in to get to the understanding she did, and it's sound advice, no doubt. I found myself skimming through many of the chapters because she seems to emphasize how these tidbits of advice and her coaching plan has impacted her friends or people she has coached in the past. It was also mingled with a lot of, "You can do it" type of deliveries. Maybe some out there like to see how it affects people, or maybe who need to hear that they are capable of the change they seek in themselves, I don't know, but from my experience reading it, I found that it stretched out each individual idea too much.

Directional Living provides a new outlook on life meant to guide those who are compulsive success seekers who may miss out on personal discovery and honesty towards themselves. Good ideas, lengthy deliveries.

[Karen Mainenti · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the moment I started this book, I felt like Megan was really speaking to me. I've always been an ambitious, goal-setting type of person who followed through on my plans. As I got older, I realized that my goalposts kept moving, and even though I accomplished things, I never felt truly fulfilled. Megan demystifies this problem simply and clearly and lays out a blueprint on how to make the mindset shift from destinational living towards directional living. She includes a bunch of foolproof tools that guide you towards aligned decisions so you're not left wondering how to begin to make this change in your life. I've read a lot of self-help books, but not one as practical, smart, and relatable as this!

[Natalie Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first, I thought this info was geared towards a millennial type audience but once she got into how to live a directional rather than a destinational life, I loved the framework. It really is about finding your purpose and success by following your interests and passions and assessing how it feels in the body, without the interference of what society/family/friends think you should be doing, to make choices.

[Amina AlTai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Megan Hellerer offers a new and liberating model for success—one that encourages us to stop chasing “good on paper” lives and start tuning into what truly fulfills us. Her approach is smart, compassionate, and deeply intuitive. This book is a powerful reminder that we don’t have to push harder—we can choose to live in alignment instead. A must-read for anyone craving purpose, clarity, and a more authentic path forward.

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this !! The thing I appreciated the most was about trying to better understand your gut fear/guilt feeling vs what will be hard but good to do. I’m still trying to understand that better. I took notes w this and read it for a loooong time and idk if I’ll be fully applying it to work lolol but it has been good for other things

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another in my quest to figure out what to do with my life and probably the most informative. I listened but also have borrowed the book to work through the exercises more thoroughly. This seems more in line with where I am right now that the parachute book, I like the concept and am finding myself thinking of things that apply randomly through my day.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I enjoyed this! There are a lot of actionable steps in here for those of us who identify as unsatisfied overachievers. I read a lot of these types of books and found a lot of novel thought to consider here.

[Kenzie Nicholson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book definitely provided some great frameworks for rethinking goals and self expectations. However, I can’t say this book “totally changed my life” which is the tone the book is written in. Many elements of this book are cliche, many are wise, some are both.

[Helen Smart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was decent though a little heavy on the talking and less info on the techniques. Also, not sure that because Agile works in tech that it works everywhere. I certainly wouldn't implement it on certain types of projects. All up though a decent and pleasant read with some solid advice.

[Nikola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Annoying, unrelateable. Speaks to workaholic zombies from wealthy, pedigreed families and no one else.

[Alexis Koukos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great exercises to support in your journey to becoming directionally aligned.

[Beth Seabreeze · Rating 3 out of 5]

Repetitive.

[Grace Pesch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! I loved Megan’s approach and would recommend anyone to read it. It helped me clarify a lot of things about what I really want and I look forward to revisiting the exercises when I need to.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book overall talks about living your life with intention. Navigating it with making decisions that align you with what fulfills your journey, not necessarily your goal. How to make decisions that eventually will lead you to the right path to essentially meet a goal that was meant for you anyways. Living a life directionally not “Destinationally”. The reason I gave this book a 3/5 was because although it was an easy and interesting read, the examples and the topics could have been a bit more detailed, entertaining, or structured of “how-to.” I could see that the author was trying to make it into a “how-to” but I think it had more potential. But overall a great and easy read!

[Michelle Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that came into my life right when I needed it. To get the most out of it, it is interactive so be prepared to journal. I loved the authors simple analogies and she really does her best to make transition and transformation in the realm of career as guided as possible. I’ll be keeping this book to return to it a couple more times

[Nick Salenga · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that is both philosophy & practical guide to creating not just great life but your great life in one full of genuine purpose, meaning, ease, & authenticity.