How to think about stressful work situations.

I was working with a client recently who was struggling in a volatile work environment. In our first conversation she told me that she felt her work was like ‘an emotionally abusive boyfriend.’  

I stopped her right there. Because the words we use to talk to ourselves matter.  

She meant it as a bit of hyperbole, a dramatization of a situation that she was annoyed she had to deal with.  But what was happening was she was telling her brain: this is hurting me, this is dangerous, something is wrong.  And so of course her brain and her body responded with heightened emotions and continuous thoughts telling her to leave her job and make changes immediately. 

My client knew this language was an exaggeration, that she had used it for somewhat of a shock value.  She thought it was harmless.  But really, it was raising the stakes on everything work related.  It was making it difficult for her to actually examine her situation from a logical and unbiased point of view because she was getting overwhelming feelings of panic every time she thought about work. 

So we translated it into more neutral terms.  We focused on the facts of what was happening and not the story she had built up around it. 

This client recently told me that it was this experience in our first conversation that made her realize how powerful working with a coach could be.  Sometimes it just takes one conversation to shift something you’ve been struggling with for months.  Book a free call with me today at https://www.kelseyseppacoaching.com/work-with-me.