43. When Opportunity Knocks But Peace Is Missing: Why Intuition Matters

In this candid episode of The Nurses’ Breakroom with Jenny Lytle, RN, Jenny opens up about a recent decision-making dilemma that led her to turn down a “perfect on paper” job opportunity. What stopped her? A lack of peace.

Jenny shares how honoring her intuition (or what she calls divine guidance) helped her avoid burnout and stay aligned with what truly matters—flexibility, purpose, and protecting her peace. Whether you're a nurse, caregiver, or just someone navigating change, this episode reminds you that your gut feeling is valid—and essential.

Why It Matters:
Burnout can start with ignoring those quiet internal nudges. Choosing peace over pressure is a powerful form of self-care.

Key Takeaways & Action Steps:
✔️ Pay attention to your intuition—especially when peace is missing
✔️ Just because something looks right doesn’t mean it is right
✔️ Self-care includes making choices that align with your current season
✔️ Flexibility and rest may matter more than prestige or structure
✔️ Ask for guidance and wait for clarity—it will come

Perfect for:
Nurses, caregivers, busy women, and anyone standing at a crossroads and craving clarity.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, burned out, or like there’s never enough time, I’ve got something just for you! Head to https://selfcareisntselfish.com to grab your FREE copy of my book, Self-Care Isn’t Selfish: The Compassionate Nurse’s Step-by-Step Guide to Personalized Stress Relief. It’s packed with simple, effective strategies to help you prioritize your needs—without guilt—so you can feel energized, focused, and ready to take on the day. Go to https://selfcareisntselfish.com 

Looking for connection with people who get the stress and self-care struggles of nurses and caregivers? Check out https://thenursesbreakroom.com

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennylytlern/

More ways to connect here: https://linktr.ee/jennylytle

Chapters

• 0:58 Welcome to Nurse's Break Room
• 1:23 Prioritizing What Brings Joy
• 1:50 Considering a New Position
• 3:46 Finding Peace in Decision Making
• 5:22 Choosing Flexibility and Alignment
• 6:51 Trusting Your Intuition
• 8:02 Self-Care is Essential

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:29

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Nurse's Break Room with Jenny Lytle RN. This week we're going to be talking about protecting your peace. Now, as I've talked about before, over the past couple of months I've gotten a bit out of whack in terms of the way I want to be living my life, the way I want to show up, and I know that I let the busyness crowd out the things that help me be my best, the things that make my life joyful and peaceful. And I know from past experience and from the work that I do that those little things that can have so much impact don't have to take a lot of time or effort, but they do have to take at least a little bit of space on our calendars because they rarely just happen. And so that's something that I've been working on and it's been going well. But I also realized that there are some things that I needed to look at. It made me reconsider some of my work that I've been doing, so I was potentially looking at taking a different sort of position with a different, looking at taking a different sort of position with a different hospice company, because it was something new and it aligned in a lot of ways with what I love to do and what I'm gifted at, but there were some things that just weren't checking the boxes and a big part of that was the lack of flexibility that I have now. This new position wasn't going to offer that. It was going to be a Monday through Friday day position, full time, no one call, which is great because I work on call and sometimes I get to sleep and sometimes I'm out a lot, and the older I get, the more important sleep is to me and it's always been high on my list of priorities. But as I went through the process of talking with some of the team members there and looking more into it, I realized that, yes, it was checking a lot of the boxes for me, but I still just felt this unease and I really don't think it's about the company, I don't think it's about the position itself. I believe that it's just because it's not a good fit for me right now.

Speaker 1: 2:45

And I had been praying about this. I had multiple friends praying and that's something that I believe. When something is right for me, god lets me know, and when it's wrong for me, I also believe he lets me know, and in this situation I was praying, you know, asking him to tell me one way or another, whether this was right or wrong, and I wasn't really feeling anything in particular, except for the lack of peace. And I found that sometimes he lets me know in very clear ways and other times it is just that feeling of peace with a decision or not feeling that sense of peace. And when I had asked my friend group again to pray for me and I was really leaning toward taking this position, I expressed the fact that I wasn't really feeling sure of it. And as soon as I typed that and I sent that message, I thought you know, I just feel like I should be feeling that peace in order to move forward. And as soon as I sent that message and I had that thought, then my friend was typing at the same time and her message popped up and said make sure that you know before you make a decision, because I've been in that same situation and I wish that I would have waited because it wasn't a good fit.

Speaker 1: 4:27

So that's where I'm at and I've decided to turn down that position and continue doing what I'm doing in terms of on call, but also add in a another PRN position which, for those of you who are non-medical, it's another kind of as needed position where I'm able to basically self-schedule, which would allow me the flexibility that I have with my current role. And it's actually a position with a company that I've worked for before and I enjoyed the work and it's a great company and only getting better, and I only left because it was a timing thing. I'm excited because it's something that could work well with my goals. I feel peace about it and I believe it's meaningful work. So my plan is to continue doing the hospice work that I'm doing, maybe with a bit of an adjustment to my schedule, and then go back to some mental health work. That will also allow me flexibility, not only to continue with my own coaching business, but I'm also going to be starting a contract role with a local university to provide coaching.

Speaker 1: 5:41

So all of this to say some things can look right on paper and can check a lot of boxes and can seem like a great new opportunity, but really there's that gut check that's easy to discount, it's easy to think. Well, you know, there's all these reasons why this is a great fit, why this is a great opportunity, why this person maybe seems like a dream guy on paper, but you just have some kind of feeling. For me personally, I believe this is God protecting us, and I believe that intuition comes from God. Now, you may just know that feeling as intuition, but I do believe that we all have that, that we all have that icky meter. We have those times when something just doesn't settle right in our spirit, and when we have that, we need to listen to it, and when we listen to it, it's easier to hear it more clearly the next time, and I believe this is one of the ways we can truly take care of ourselves and decrease our stress when we're doing things that are aligned with what we believe and what are meant for us in this particular season of our lives that we happen to be in.

Speaker 1: 6:53

And so I would love to hear from you If this is something that resonates with you, something that maybe you realized. Gosh, I wish I would have gone with my gut in this situation, or I'm so glad that I went with my gut in this other situation that maybe seemed like a big stretch. I'd just love for you to let me know that, because I think that's something that sometimes we're good at, and then we can start to second guess ourselves a bit. So feel free to shoot me an email at Jenny Lytle, at Jenny Lytle dot com. And until next time, remember self-care isn't selfish. It's essential if we want to continue to care for others and live our best lives. Have a great week.