I quit (for good this time)

I grew up watching my parents work incredibly hard every single day to create opportunities for me and my brother that they didn't have. Seeing them overriding their nervous systems. Slogging it out in toxic work environments, getting up at 4am, working ten-hour days, six days a week, sacrificing everything, decade after decade because the only way to make progress in this life is "work hard... and then work even harder".

Maybe you witnessed a version of this too?

With this kind of modeling, it’s no surprise that I have a deeply internalized belief that I need to hustle for my safety and self-worth. ​
​

In my early twenties, I began working in the corporate world. Innately I was driven to try and work harder than anyone else, especially my male counterparts. This approach quickly got noticed by the executive team. Six short years later I was reporting directly to the CEO, with the fancy title and six-figure salary... Proof! I made it!
​

But I was stressed, anxious and disconnected... ​
​

I remember thinking - wow, having it all is awful. So I quit and returned to my dream of being a therapist and felt aligned within myself again.
​

Then a decade later, in my marriage I repeatedly abandoned myself trying to make it work. This happened over and over again.

And when I finally surrendered to my inner truth and ‘lost’ the thing I had been working so hard for, I gained the most important thing back -- my sense of self!

It wasn’t long before the realities of being a single parent took hold. I wondered how I could handle the financial, physical, and emotional requirements of two parents all by myself and suddenly my default belief that working hard was the only way to make it got activated. Add in the pandemic, which meant my girls stopped going to school and my clients needed me more than ever and I was well and truly in my element...
​

I remember saying to a friend of mine, 'this is my special talent... I know how to hustle to the brink of exhaustion’.
​

So I spent the next year and a half doing all the things you can imagine a single parent-entrepreneur-therapist would do if they believed that the only way to make it through is to hustle...
​

.... I took on as many clients as I could

.... I created an online training program from scratch

.... I advocated fiercely for my kids to have their learning needs addressed

.... I worked every night of the week

.... I guided girls through online schooling during the day

.... took the girls on fun adventures and planned family time
​

And surprise, surprise here I am again, completely exhausted.

Except this time, I know that when I stop abandoning myself and surrender to my inner truth, I actually gain everything. Because I am already everything, regardless of my productivity.

So this is it…

I quit leaving myself. For good this time.
​

And if you’re exhausted, disconnected, and tired of suppressing your truth, I invite you to quit with me.
​

with love,
​

Kate xx