Let’s start with you. You’re one seriously smart cookie, right? You’ve got qualifications up to your armpits, and have some kind of Big Job, either for a firm or for yourself.
I suspect you might not think you’re much – a belief we’ll be fixing when we get together – but compared to the average Joe or Jane, you really are.
Thing is, for all of that, you’re feeling a bit, well, lost is probably the word. The career that promised so much is giving you serious doubts.
Or, that turn in the road you took – the job change; the move to freelancing – hasn’t really lived up to your expectations.
Add to the mix that you’re someone for whom work is just not everything.
You care a lot about what you do in the rest of your life too.
First, there’s the question of The Relationship. Maybe you’re single and are looking for The One. You ask yourself questions like, should you IM Penelope in Sales for a beer. Or, is that married guy you’ve been seeing for four years ever going to quit his wife?
Or you’re married and beginning to wonder whether you’re with the wrong person. You’re both so wrapped up in work that the closest thing you get to a date is a text conversation. And the whole sex thing is starting to feel a little, well, iffy.
And, although you’ve not had to think about it before now, it does strike you from time to time to ask whether you’ll ever have kids and that whole family scene. Whether all you have to look forward to for the next how many ever years is sitting at this desk and looking at these colleagues or this pc.
Or, if you have scheduled them in, you’re worrying now about how you’re going to get the corner office and pick Junior up from school each night.
While every morning you wonder whether you’re once more wasting your time taking your gym kit to the office.
And you consider whether, with another round of redundancies in the offing, now really would be a good time to move house.
There’s a question that pops out, often with your friends as you quaff a glass of wine on a Friday night.
“What the @*&% should I do with my life?” How do I get to grips with the work monster and feel that I have both a meaningful career and a fulfilled personal life?
It feels like it’s too much to ask, and yet there’s this place inside you that knows solving this problem is what’s required in order to be wholly and happily yourself.
If you concentrate too much on work, you’re miserable. If you throw yourself too much into personal and family pursuits you feel invisible. Compromise just feels like it’s a half way ground that meets no-one’s needs, least of all yours.
There has to be a better way.
This is the dilemma that brings people to me.
I can teach you how to get to grips with it and tame the monster. I can teach you how to be “the best you” and to put that into practice in your work and in your relationships. I can tell you how to be an imperfect real person, and still have the kind of life you can only dream of right now.
And because my philosophy is honest and pragmatic, I’m going to practice what I preach and tell you right here and now that there are no guarantees. I don’t have a magic formula. I don’t promise the moon. You may work with me and still not crack things for yourself. But you may also end up doing what I did: finding the courage in myself to cast aside the conventional career wisdom in my fields of work and study, work from the core of my being, and to have the kind of work, relationships and lifestyle that make me feel phenomenally alive.
If you’re still reading we’ll probably have fun working together. And although there are no guarantees in life, most of my clients do end up kicking ass. Here’s what a couple of them have said:
“When I met Christine, I was at a very low period in my life. Despite working incredibly hard, I felt isolated and unfulfilled professionally and my family life was suffering. I felt trapped in a role I did not enjoy with no hope of change.
Christine allowed me to see that sometimes the firm/role/department/culture might not be the right fit for you and that’s OK. She encouraged me to think in different ways, to break destructive habits and to turn them into positive behavior. She provided practical advice to help me through a huge life transition and helped me to recognize different phases of change I would go through, which helped me cope more easily. I have no hesitation in recommending Christine, as her influence is such a positive one.”
Lisa, former IT Manager
Christine’s gentle yet powerful approach has made a life changing impact on me. You must work with her if you are serious about living your best life.”
Caroline Harvey, Director, Inspire Beyond
If you think work, business and corporations are often insane, we should talk.
If you have a good sense of humor and a strong work ethic, we should talk.
And if all the other ra-ra self-development stuff out there isn’t doing it for you, we should talk. Because you don’t need a hundred different psychological models and corporate voodoo magic. What you need is you, your talent, a willingness to work hard, a thick skin, a shedload of persistence, and balls.
I can teach you to unlearn what traditional career and executive coaches, and corporate trainers may have taught you about “the way things are done,” and to prosper and have fun in the doing.
“Being yourself at work” isn’t a trite phrase. It is actually the most solid, most reliable, most profitable way of doing business. The more you can be you, the faster you’ll be able to get what you want. And I’m not just saying that.
Being yourself draws people and business to you.
Being yourself wins you tons of admiration.
Being yourself fosters the best relationships and allows you to feel beyond happy.
Being yourself opens doors to ways of making a living you might not even be thinking of right now.
If you’re ready to stop struggling with what you’re doing and to start working and living with a much greater sense of personal freedom, then we should talk.
Ready to get started? Let’s make a plan!
Call me now on +44 (0) 7767 244977; email me on christine@adifferentkindofwork.com; or catch me on Twitter @coblyn.
