“Who am I, and how do I fulfill the rest of my life?”

That quote specifically comes from Isabella Rossellini in a recent New York Times profile entitled "How to Grow Old Like Isabella Rossellini."

"Ever been someplace you can’t leave and can't stay - all at the same time?"

That is a quote from the third season of the popular series, True Detective.
(I'm catching up on the show.)

What do you do when you feel too traumatized to go back into the corporate world? But you need work?

Start with deciding who you are going to listen to.

At the risk of offending everyone struggling on LinkedIn right now: what could be easy?

Stick with me here while I tell you the story...

This is the face of an energetic, creative and resourceful 7 year old (happens to be me) who had NO IDEA she had to come up with a "career" at some point.

Waaaaayyyy in the future.

You're almost there. Just reach down a bit further. I've got you.

This was the dialogue between me and my gymnastics teacher when I was 10 - every time I attempted a back walkover.

Are we there yet? What's next?
Are we there yet? What's next?

These are probably the thoughts you, as a professional woman in your 40s, have uttered (muttered?) to yourself along the path of your career.

Yesterday I had an attack of the "Shoulds." It definitely felt like this blue, scary monster breathing over my shoulder with horrid breath pushing me harder and harder to GET ALL THE THINGS DONE.

It took several hours of trying to meet its demands while also feeling exhausted and down before I remembered something:

We all need an Ophelia in our lives. Not the Shakespeare character - my actual friend, Ophelia (Ophie) who made this statement piece for me.

Pretty direct, eh? 😜

For everyone who has been stressed, afraid or outright traumatized by a #distressingwork experience, this is for you.

What is it like after you make a decision to leave #distressingwork?

See what my client exuberantly told me this week!

Why professional women (and many men) think they come to me for coaching-> to decide to stay or leave their #distressingwork

Why THEY really show up:

What is your validation quotient?I

just made this up after my coaching session today.

It means “to what extent are you getting your sense of worth from others’ validation.”

Yesterday I spent 2 hours in a sweat lodge in Mexico. It was small and dark and hot, of course. There was singing and the setting of intentions. Also, much gratitude and acknowledgement of family, and even some tears.

It's the morning of the first work day of 2024.

What are you facing when you go back to work?

A peaceful environment with satisfying work and kind colleagues?
Or - a shocking new development, with the most #distressingwork you have ever experienced??

What do you do when you need to work - but are too traumatized by your last job to go back to doing more of the same?

This can be a very painful conundrum for so many people in the workplace!

What are you feeling confident about today?

I know - not a fair question on a Monday.

I will go first:

I feel confident about helping my #careerchange clients recover THEIR confidence!

Where is the ground? Where is the sky? Where am I?

I took this photo at Seaside on the Oregon Coast recently and was awestruck at the disappearing line between sand and sky. Beautiful, yes?

How do you tell the truth to yourself when in the middle of a job or career dumpster fire?

(“Dumpster fire” is how many of my clients are describing this year’s job market.)

Once upon a time, on the eve of my 3rd decade, I threw myself off a career cliff. It took me 5 years to recover.

In one month, I turned 30, left a 5 year job at a large software company near Seattle, broke up with a boyfriend and moved to a new apartment.

The work and places I left behind were all distressing.

This is Little Me, age 6. Already expressing autonomy in mixing those crazy prints!

I keep Little Me around to remind myself to have empathy.

For me, and you and people I have never met.
And to remember who I was before the adult world had its way.