I believe in the power of metaphor to move us towards growth.

My story is a little like this tree. To me, it looks like an old soul, gnarled and weather worn. At some point it was either cut down or the top broke off. It could have been the end of its life but instead vigorous growth has emerged.

In more concrete terms, I did well in school and white knuckled my way to an Ivy League engineering degree. Following early career success, I decided that grad school was a good idea. My wandering path has included research in academia, working at a non-profit, and homeschooling my children for a while, after which I ended up back in an engineering consulting role. Along the way I was constantly searching for meaningful work, trying to understand how to use my talents in the world, and often struggling with low self-worth (Hello gnarly old tree!). Sometimes it takes a long time to learn what isn’t working before change is possible.

Meanwhile… parenting! We weren’t told at the time of diagnosis that parenting an ADHD child requires a whole different approach. As I did a deep dive into how to support my child’s unique brain, it was like a huge spotlight was turned around and flooding my own path. For the first time my own procrastination, anxiety, RSD, emotional disregulation and disordered eating all made sense and had an explanation. It was both a relief AND the grief was very real.

But knowledge is power, it allowed me to put my career struggles into a context, not of failure, but of poor fit. And to learn that failure is OK! It is our teacher and guide. My career and the roles I had chosen didn’t utilize my strengths of creativity, connection and idea generation. In fact, most of my roles required the exact things that my particular neurotype struggles with; details, data, organization and working memory. Everyday I came home mentally and emotionally exhausted. And no wonder! It takes a ton of energy to operate from your weaknesses instead of from your strengths.

I had already been contemplating a career shift but this was the knowledge I needed to take the leap. It was hard to let go of all the education, energy and effort I had put into succeeding in my chosen field but once that belief level shift happened there was no looking back.

I received training at Awaken Coach Institute and am an International Coaching Federation Member. I adhere to the ICF Code of Ethics.

What’s holding you back? Are you experiencing burnout, exhaustion, or unexplained health issues? Where are you operating from your weaknesses instead of your strengths?

What might need to shift deep down for you to thrive?