I stepped back in my career to support my young family. As they became older, and with increasing financial pressure, I was ready to return to work and restart my career. However, the passion in my field had faded and I was looking at another 20 years of working life doing something I no longer found meaningful, was demanding of my time and held a lot of stress.
Perhaps wanting to be happy with my work and feeling it had true meaning was too much to ask?
So I did what I always do, ignored my inner voice and tackled things by working harder. Not surprisingly this resulted in increasingly shorter burn out cycles, with my health starting to take the impact (hello autoimmune conditions!)
Career counsellors and life coaches had been suggested by well meaning friends before. But I’d done skills tests, personality assessments and productivity courses and, although insights were made, I was still stuck in the hamster wheel of life. I knew that motivating and “organising” my way out of this situation wasn’t the solution.
This is where Marianne joined my story.
Marianne helped me listen to myself and truth be told that inner voice was a weakling when I started. It was confused and doubtful, constantly being drowned out by the “shoulds” of life and a desperate need to take action – NOW.
Through Marianne’s coaching I became clearer on my values, acknowledged my wants without judgement and gave myself space to “be” The path became clearer, the opportunities became apparent and things changed DRAMATICALLY and QUICKLY.
From Marianne’s coaching I achieved the outcome I had initially wanted – a new career direction. But what she also helped me develop was a life skill that I could take into all aspects of my life. Marianne taught me a better way to make decisions and a healthy way of working them through to action. And this is a skill I can pass to my children and that, for me, has been the most welcome takeaway.
Ingrid Pettit, Career Woman & Mother
September 2021