Nine Tips to Support Your Career

Let’s talk today about Feng Shui and how it can help support you in your career goals. Considering the bagua, layout, desk shape and type, colors and room layout, Tori McBrien of McBrien Interiors covers it all.

First, for tip 1, let’s talk about the Feng Shui Bagua. This is what we consider to be the energy roadmap of a space. This map is overlaid on a space such as your office or desk. The one constant is that the bottom of the bagua is always against the wall that contains the main entry to the room, home, or it’s where you sit at your desk. From there, the square will stretch to cover the entire area so that the smaller nine squares are all equal in size. Each block or square corresponds to a different area of life that can be adjusted. Each gua also relates to one of the five elements, various colors and shapes.

For our purposes, today, we will focus on the bottom center gua called career. It is represented by dark blues, blacks and dark grays, wavy free flowing lines and the water element. Using any of these representations in your space, or on your desk, or in the center, front of your home will help to support you in your career goals. And don’t worry, I’ll be referring back to these things throughout my tips. So don’t stress about memorizing them now. Let’s get started.  This is one of the most important things you can do for your career. I have many clients who tell me that this works wonders. So for tip number one, it’s first and foremost that you want your desk in the command position. Don’t know what that is? Let me explain. You know when you’re sitting in a restaurant waiting for someone, it’s natural to sit facing the door so you can see the person come in. It would feel uncomfortable for them to come up behind you and surprise you. Think about all the mob movies where they never have their backs to the door. It’s ingrained in human nature, and has been proven with psychological studies that to protect your back is human instinct. It’s the same as the environmental psychology theory of prospect and refuge if you’re familiar with that.

The same principle holds true in Feng Shui. In the case of your career, you need to set up yourself for success by being in command. This means that when you are working at your desk, you are facing the door without being directly in front of it. In this image here, desk A is the ideal where the person behind the desk is facing the door but again, not in front of it. Technically, desk B is also in command. However, because it’s on an angle facing the door, this can be a dynamic position, which can sometimes feel overwhelming for some people. Desk C is also technically in command. However this desk is up against a wall and this can lead to trouble breaking through in your career you come up against energetic walls when attempting your career goals. So what do you do if your desk is in front of a wall or you can’t be physically in command? How can you correct this?

That leads me to tip number two. Adding a mirror on the wall in front of you will put your desk in command. In this image below here we put it on the wall in front of the person’s desk. However, you can also use a small three inch round mirror (easily ordered online) and put it on your computer so you can see behind you.

Tip 3, Moving on to colors, we know that color is an important part of how a space feels, but they also correspond to different aspects of our lives. The colors most associated with career are black, dark blue, and dark gray. Add these to your desk or office area. This could be in the form of a pencil cup, the pens you use to write with or notepad, really anything.

Tip 4, the element associated with career is water. So adding water in a literal way such as with a goldfish bowl or a fountain helps to raise the chi in your office. You can also add water by bringing in artwork depicting images of water or water shapes, those free flowing wavy lines. But remember, use your intuition. A photo depicting a calm serene beach has a different feel than one showing you navigating a choppy river on your most recent kayaking trip. Each has a different energy to it and can affect the career and energy in your space.

Number 5, bring in life plants they add not only fresh air and oxygen but growth energy. They can be just green plants or fresh flowers, but should be live if at all possible. If you’re in a space where you just can’t keep a plant alive, you can use faux flowers but change them regularly so that they don’t get dusty and stale.

Number 6, when we think about the five elements, water, fire, earth, wood and metal, they can be added as they are with corresponding shapes and colors or they can be used to support or control each other. These terms, support and control, aren’t meant to be positive or negative, but they mean that they’re activated to help maintain the chi balance. In the case of career, again represented by water, we would use the metal element because metal holds or supports water..think about a metal cup. So tip number 6 is to add a metal frame. In this case, I have both metal and water by having the navy enamel around the frame as well. Or you can write with a metal pen.

Tip number 7, decluttering is one of the best, easiest and inexpensive ways of changing chi. Think about chi as fresh air. If you have a bunch of stuff hidden under your bed, or stuffed in closets, fresh air can’t circulate and things get stagnant, dusty or moldy. We need fresh air or chi to flow to keep life moving. As a creative, my desk and office become a huge mess while I’m working. But before I leave for the day, I try to take five minutes to straighten up so that when I come in the next day, I have a clean place to start. This is true of your mind too. If you can take five minutes before you start your workday to declutter your mind, you can do this by deep breathing or a quick meditation, it can change your whole workday dynamic and kickstart you in a positive direction.

Now for Tip number 8, I want to talk specifically about desks, because where you sit and do your work every day is important energetically. Ideally, you want a heavy rectangular desk. It’s the best shape to help you feel grounded and stable. Try to avoid glass top desks as they are seen as fragile and can lead to instability. Energetically, things can fall through them. On a sidenote, round conference tables and offices are great for a free flow of ideas and a feeling of equality amongst those sitting there. Seems incredibly intuitive right? It’s also proven in design theories. 

Now back to desks. You also want a desk that doesn’t look temporary. If you share a workspace make sure you have a permanent desk somewhere even if it’s at home. Color is also important as it symbolizes the different functional areas you may want to accentuate. For grounding and stability for your career, use brown neutrals or earthy yellows and oranges to bring in the earth element. If you want more efficiency or clarity while you work, bring in the metal element by using a white or gray or metallic desk. Add a black metal wood or composite desk to bring in the water element for enhancing networking and/or workflow. Add the wood element for growth and increased activity by choosing a green or blue desk. And for inspiration and fame, the fire element applies so a red desk would be appropriate. But most importantly, make sure you love it since you’ll be sitting there every day.

Last but not least, tip number 9. Do everything you can with intention. If you implement any of these tips in your office or at your desk before you do it or even right after, take a moment to visualize why you were doing it and envision how it is going to bring in positive energy and clarity in your career path or your side hustle or whatever the next step is in your career where you put more focus, more energy flows there.

Thank you for checking out my nine simple tips and I hope they will bring positive chi into your careers.

Tori McBrien combines over ten years of experience in the interior design industry with her passion for feng shui and green design. Tori’s designs recognize that a home can be a place to heal, and that her clients want beautiful, functional spaces that are supportive and nurturing. Tori practices and uses Black Sect feng shui as a way to merge both ancient wisdom with modern design principles. By combining her design skills and intuition with ancient feng shui methods, she curates functional, beautiful, authentic spaces that support her clients in a deeper and more meaningful way.  She is also an IFSG Board member.

Find out more about Tori:
DETAILS: https://www.ifsguild.org/directory-consultant/listing/tori-mcbrien/
WEBSITE: www.mcbrieninteriors.com
EMAIL: info@mcbrieninteriors.com