Does work feel like Sisyphus already?

I just hung up with an executive who changed jobs 15 times.

He hit a wall, so he called me, looking for help finding his next job.

He fears he pigeonholed his career and that there are fewer available jobs at "his level".

He also wants better work-life balance and to let go of constant stress.
When I asked him why so many changes, he quickly explained that he had once been heavily recruited and also left a few places because of awful cultures.

Let's call him Sisyphus.

When I dug deeper and inquired about his longest stint, he admitted he loved the place but left because he became bored.

I know this archetype well; I flirted with parts of it myself :)

It results from an intoxicating mix of restlessness and shiny object syndrome. Add to it a dash of perfectionism and it can be fatal to one's career.

When we spoke, he knew something was up for a while.

Like most people, he started working on himself: some self-help books he read in the subway, hiding the cover because the titles was too revealing.

But a year later, not much had changed.

It's the number 1 mistake most of us make.

We think we can fix the problem by ourselves.

"You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it." Albert Einstein

Like an evangelist, it's a hard-learned lesson I loudly share:

Get a second pair of ears to spare yourself the time and frustration.

We repeat patterns not because we enjoy doing it wrong or because we are stubborn AF (well, maybe I am) but because of long-held beliefs we accept as truths.

We are humans with negative hallucinations - aka blind spots.

(you wouldn't buy a pair of jeans without a mirror!)

And we are proud beings in a society that expects us to always be at the top of our game.

Please don't use this post to punish yourself.

Martyrs are démodé!

Instead, give yourself permission to shake it and exhale it all out.

Now the fun part..

How do you transform this restless reactive energy into focused awareness?

Well, in a nutshell, the way it worked for me and how I coach now is by allowing to:

Unpack your existing story with gentle honesty and support.
Reclaim your focus
Create a solid vision and the boundaries to honor it and
Share your fresh new story with the world.

Is it work? Yes.

Is it hard? Not as much as pushing that boulder up the hill day in and day out.

Is it worth it? 1000%.

I tell my clients to think of the process as if they were "diamonds in the rough," needing a cut and polish before finding the right setting to shine.

If a story keeps repeating itself, or if you use the word "never & always" when you talk about your work, chances are, you are flirting with the Sisyphus myth too.

Shine bright like a diamond

Shine bright like a diamond

Find light in the beautiful sea, I choose to be happy

You and I, you and I, we're like diamonds in the sky

Rihanna sings it better than me!

DM if you want to create a new mythology. I work 1:1 (waitlist for September) or in Group Coaching.

Also, if you want to hear more about Negative Hallucinations, click here to listen to my latest Podcast on Spotify.

Warmest,
Agathe