Recently I’ve been reminded by three separate people close to me, that staying in a career that requires you to use your weaknesses, or simply not being able to use your strengths, can lead to depression
and a serious loss of confidence.
The first example (let’s call him David) was a super confident exercise specialist when I met him in 2012 . He told me week after week of his adventurous sports competitions over weekends. He had already earned 2 Honours Degrees, a Masters Degree, and the last time I saw him for an exercise session in 2015, he’d enrolled for a PhD. He was going to go far – he had the determination, spirit and strength of an absolute
winner.
I’ll never forget one story he told me. He had been preparing for a cycling event and did a practice run one weekend at a nature reserve. He heard another cyclist come up from behind, and the person overtook him. Something in David took over, and he told me the thoughts in his mind were “Hey!! Do you KNOW who I AM? You can’t just overtake me like that! I’ll show you!” and he proceeded to pull out all the stops, and of course, left the other guy behind in a
trail of dust.
At the time, I WISHED for an ounce of that kind of confidence. I went home and thought – “What would I be able to do in my own business if I had a smidgeon of THAT?”
I was sad to ‘lose’ him as the person who looked after my body’s strength and abilities, when he chose a new role in a corporate environment that promised wonderful opportunities and career advancement.
About 18 months later, I ran into David again in a
busy shopping centre. We had time for a 15 minute conversation and it was clear to me that his competitive, confident spirit had been crushed somewhere along the way. He was more subdued, looked down a lot more than I could remember and the exuberant “I can do it!” energy I knew, was nowhere on that day.
He mentioned that the new career he chose, required him to do reams of paperwork and he had to abide by rules and regulations, and follow interminable processes and
procedures…. All things he detested, yet had no way to avoid in his current position.
It slowly sapped his energy. His confidence waned. He started hating work. His confidence waned even more…
On that day, in that short conversation, I reminded him of the story above. Of his words “Do you KNOW who I AM??” He was flabbergasted. He said, in a somewhat defeated way, “That person is gone. I don’t know where he is.”
To
continue reading the other 2 examples (one very close to home), and some great questions to ask yourself about your own career, read the rest of the article. It contains a very special offer for the month of June for the first 3 people to
apply.
REMINDER:
If you need support for an emotional challenge or block preventing you from moving forwards (things like procrastination, perfectionism, worry about money, a painful relationship, or career stress), I'm hosting another EFT Tapping Circle (or Tap-Along) on Monday 12 June at 4 pm SA time (10 am EST). It's a VERY affordable way to let go of difficult emotions and challenges in your way. It's R250
only for SA peeps, and $25 for UK, Europe and US participants.
Reply to me if you want to participate and I'll send you the details immediately. These meetings are SO effective to help you feel calmer about the issue at hand, so that you can think clearly, and take the appropriate action.
