Just the presence of her boss would set her off like a firecracker. With every interaction, she suffered a litany of “feeling criticized,” “getting hooked into her bad feeling,” or “watching my self-esteem erode under my feet.” Working in such an overwhelmingly toxic environment painted the picture to her that this is just the way it is when you work for someone else. She could only see two options: suck it up or quit. And she had tried sucking it up for long enough; there was no space left to stuff the stress. She was mentally and physically exhausted from dealing with the dissatisfaction in her work life – that had annoyingly wormed its way into her home life as well.
Jean came to me because she was at the end of her rope. Wearing an unyielding scowl on her face and with her hands frequently thrown into the air in frustration, she didn’t know how to maneuver her only apparent choices. She was not at her magical retirement age, nor was she financially prepared to stop working altogether. But Jean just couldn’t imagine sludging along, ticking the days off her calendar until it was finally time to cue up Johnny Paycheck’s glorious song, “Take this Job and Shove it” as she went a-walkin’ out the door.
When Jean and I began working together, I invited her to temporarily shelve the idea of quitting. We knocked around the idea of using her present situation as a laboratory for her learning. This was a challenging and problematic task because Jean wanted to feel “100% happier,” which she was certain could only happen if she exited her current circumstance. She reluctantly agreed to give it six months.
Our next conversation began with Jean declaring, “I quit. I couldn’t take it anymore.” With a glimmer of hope, she wondered what was next. Was there another way to eliminate the stresses and struggles she was up against?
Through our work together, Jean achieved results that are out of this world! She negotiated a re-hire with a 30k annual pay increase. She added 300k – minimum – to her retirement bucket by staying in the workforce longer. She had previously wasted 80% of her day distracted by the office culture, which only allowed a small portion of her time to be spent performing her duties. Today, efficient work blissfully dominates her workday – only 20% is distraction!
Jean is now leading a satisfying, centered, successful life and career. This is exactly why my clients come to me. Bringing a deep understanding of the way people universally operate and a keen capability to transform complex mountains into simple molehills, I offer creative solutions and fresh perspectives to eliminate struggle and inspire true living!