In this episode of Taking Control of Your Career, I take you inside a real coaching session from earlier this week to explore something I see time and time again with high-achieving women: why rest feels uncomfortable, and why we return to lives that quietly drain us.

The session came off the back of an enforced pause over Christmas - illness, cancelled plans, and a decision not to work. What emerged was a growing sense of restlessness and a realisation that even the simplest parts of life had started to feel like tasks.

Reading to her children.
Walking the dog.
Cooking dinner.

All of it had become something to get through.

She described being physically present but mentally elsewhere - often called out by her partner for “not being in the room”. That awareness was important, but it wasn’t the breakthrough.

The real insight came next.

She had set a genuine intention to be more present in 2026. To reconnect with things she actually enjoys - reading, walking, cooking. Nothing extreme. Nothing aspirational. Just accessible, friction-free choices.

And yet, two weeks later, she hadn’t stuck with it.

Instead, she’d slipped back into what felt familiar and validating: being busy, productive, and needed. Working hard in a job she says she loves — despite coming into my world because she’s deeply dissatisfied with her career.

We explored how this showed up:

• Going to the gym but checking emails between sets
• Going for a walk but listening to productivity podcasts
• Feeling successful only if she was exhausted

Rest, it turned out, had to be earned.

We talked about the invisible conditions she placed on herself before allowing downtime - the tick lists, the clearing of emails, the belief that rest comes last. These micro habits slowly become behaviours we mistake for personality traits.

She also shared something I hear more often than people admit: a quiet wish that something catastrophic - but not fatal - might happen, just to give her permission to change. External permission to stop and do things differently.

As the session unfolded, another truth emerged.

She is ambitious, driven, and capable — and somewhere along the way she had fused ambition with hustle, worth with productivity, and value with being needed.

That belief system runs deep. It’s not dismantled in one session. Over the coming months, we’ll break it down and rebuild something more sustainable, aligned, and intentional.

💭 Questions to Reflect On

• What are you in pursuit of right now?
• What conditions are you placing on yourself to achieve it?
• What stories are linking rest, worth, and achievement?

One question I’ll leave you with:

How are you complicit in the conditions you complain about?

🚀 Ready to Take Back Control?

I work with high-achieving career women who know they want more — more clarity, momentum, and alignment.

If you’re ready to break up with the stories keeping you stuck and finally move forward with intention, Reset to Rise is open.

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Let’s book a 1:1 and explore your next move

🎧 Taking Control of Your Career

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