Speaker #0Hello, welcome back to the From Corporate Into Calling podcast. Today we are going to be talking about what happens when work stops making sense. Some of you will have been through this experience and you're going to know exactly. what I'm talking about but if you don't know when work stopped making sense is when whatever meaning or satisfaction you previously experienced through your work or you hoped that you would find from your work just isn't there anymore and something kind of switches off inside you there is a disconnect you are out of alignment and suddenly where before perhaps you had a lot of of energy and a lot of motivation even when things were really busy and stressful it's really hard to keep accessing that energy because the meaning that you make around your work just isn't there anymore and for a lot of us meaning is what drives us meaning is what we're motivated by it's what we kind of get up in the morning and go out to do we want to know that the work that we do makes a real tangible contribution and difference. We want to derive joy and satisfaction from the work we do and when that's not there you're into a very tricky period and what we're really talking about here is often the early signs of burnout and that's why I wanted to flag them up for you today because you don't need to wait for burnout. I remember at some of the most stressful points of running my own business, I would somehow have this fantasy of, of like just losing it, of kind of having a full breakdown of just like tipping over the edge. And I'm happy to say things never got to that stage. They never even really got close. It really was a fantasy, but I've always wondered why I felt like it would need to get to that stage before I make changes. And I think this isn't just me I think there is a kind of common narrative or perceived idea that real change happens after we kind of hit rock bottom we hear so many stories of this kind of really sort of influential people lots of people who've written books who talk about that moment when they just absolutely hit rock bottom and started to rebuild from there okay yes you can do that and it is wonderful that people find a way forward and learn to rebuild. absolutely don't need to wait for that point. And I think it's actually quite dangerous if we allow ourselves to get to the place of burnout before we start to make changes in our work life, because we're then doing it with so much less resource. You know, we're doing it from a very drained, very tired, very overwhelmed place where we're not empowered. We're not necessarily making the best decisions we're not bringing the best of ourselves to shaping our work life. The earlier you can act, the more empowered you are to make changes, to choose a new direction and to build a work life that is truly meaningful to you and to those who benefit from your work. And that is what we're all about here at the From Corporate Into Calling podcast. So let's dive into this topic. I'm going to share a few different stories that illustrate this point and what I really want you to hold on to is, you know, if anything that I'm talking about here is kind of resonating for you. You're sort of feeling like, yes, I can connect with what you're saying. I hadn't necessarily understood it in that way. I kind of was hoping it might just go away. I thought it was temporary. This is my kind of lifeline to you to say, take that seriously. Whether it's a feeling that you've kind of switched off, a kind of a numbness, a lack of energy that just isn't going away. Maybe there are kind of more and more questions showing up about the kind of work you're doing, who you're doing the work for, you know, whether you can really see the purpose and benefit in that. Whatever it is, believe yourself, take yourself seriously and really make time to acknowledge what is going on for you so that you can use that information to make really good choices. Now, I'm going to share a little story about what is going on for me right now because I'm aware that I'm not in that position and as I said I've never got to the point of kind of full burnout or you know full breakdown or collapse I'm very lucky in that regard you know while I have made some significant changes in what I do for work and I'll talk about that experience in a moment I've always done work that I loved and that I cared very deeply about and you know, when that did start to shift a little bit for me and questions did arise, I was very fortunate to be in a position where I could make changes. So I want to share this little anecdote because it's really important to me to emphasize that I know this is not easy. The easy thing to do is to push it to one side and to pretend like it isn't happening and to, you know, just hope it's going to pass over and it's going to go away. You know, You want to listen to them. rational logical side of your brain that says no i have you know i have a good job i should be grateful there are so many people who are losing their jobs i need this salary i can't you know i can't take risks right now i can't think about doing something else i don't even know what that would be i know that that would be that is the easy thing to do in the short term but it does not serve you in the long term it does not create a work life that is going to be truly sustainable for you year after year after year. This is what this looks like in my own life. For the past week I have been struggling with a migraine. I have had migraines since my mid-20s and there's a bit of history of it in my family, my sibling also suffers quite badly with them and I have never in the time, you know, in what we talk about 16 years of suffering from migraines. I've never really managed to get on top of it and that is because with migraines it is all about watching out for the early signs and the sooner that you act the more likely you are to prevent an attack from escalating and inflaming. Now I probably didn't even have that information when I was younger but I have known that for quite a number of years now and yet I still find it so difficult. to heed those early warning signs and do the things that I know I need to do. You know, I need to take my painkillers as soon as I possibly can, I need to get off a screen, I need to apply heat, I need to lie down and if I could do those things consistently when those early signs of a migraine show up, I wouldn't be in a position that I am now where I have had migraine for over a week. in the tail stages now so I'm a little foggy but I'm fine and yet it's really really really difficult to do. I don't know why, I'm sure there are people who are really really on top of it but I think what happens is you know I will be going about my life in fact when this migraine first showed up my family and I were we were traveling down to Brighton a few hours journey away to see family and there was a lot going on you know we were packing up, getting the kids in the car, working out how far our very dodgy EV battery was going to take us in the cold, you know, working out where we were going to meet. And I knew I was starting to feel it. I feel it in my shoulders. I start feeling a little bit nauseous. I knew it was coming. And it still took me a good four hours to actually get some painkillers into my body. Now, this is not an episode about... Migraines, but hopefully this illustrates the point. I do understand. how difficult it is but I also know from sometimes miserable experience with migraines just how important it is to act early and when I sort of take the time to dissect why I don't act early there are a couple of things that come up you know one is that I don't trust myself I talked about this before and I think there's a direct parallel with what happens as people start falling out of love or feeling actually quite uncomfortable. in their careers. They don't trust themselves. They start having that nagging feeling in their stomach that something is wrong, but they tell themselves everything is fine. They tell themselves they are lucky, they should be grateful that there aren't other options, that it's not realistic, and they don't take that feeling seriously when work stops making sense for them. Another thing that I have noticed with migraines is simply like the momentum of life is going forward and I'm you know I'm in the middle of working with a client, I'm on my way to pick up my kids, I've got a board meeting, I don't I feel like I don't have time to stop those things and go and do those few simple measures that I know I need to do. I'm you know it feels impossible to think I can take that bit of time out. You know, even ridiculously simple things like just going and finding some ibuprofen. You know, when you're in the midst of kind of doing it all and your schedule is tight and there's like always something that needs your attention, it can be really difficult to do. And that was another thing I think shows up in people's careers when they know they need to make a change or they sense that they need to make a change. But life just keeps on lifing. You know, the next day comes, the next meeting is scheduled, the next quarter is set. The annual plan is coming out and you're just so caught up in that momentum. And it's perhaps strongest in a corporate work setting because everything is built around that kind of momentum and projections and KPIs and the next results and the next reporting. And it's really quite difficult to kind of get off of that hamster wheel sometimes. And perhaps the final aspect is that I don't want to face up to the reality. of being someone who has migraines and needs to deal with that. I guess if I'm honest, that is probably why I'm in a position where, you know, I haven't fully got on top of this, although I'm much better than I used to be for such a long period of time. It's like, I just don't want to be that person. I just, I don't want to have to be dealing with that. I don't want to have to admit it's a problem. I'd rather just kind of power through. It feels like a weakness to me. And as vulnerable as I try to be, I'm still uncomfortable with the idea of weakness. And, you know, so I just kind of want to just power through. I just keep going. And again, maybe that is something that you can recognize. Like, are you in a place in your career where you are just powering through? You're using your skill, your experience, you know, your strength of character, your intelligence to just keep pushing, just keep going. And somehow it starts to feel like there is a virtue in that, in being strong, in being resilient, you know, in not admitting. that things are actually falling apart on the inside. But we need to face the reality. I need to face the reality that migraines are something I'm going to be living with my whole life and I really need to get on top of managing them. You know, if you are in a position in your career where work has stopped making sense, where you are not feeling that energy, that connection and that meaning anymore, you need to accept that for yourself. So that you can then deal with the reality in front of you and make empowered changes. Now, I also want to share that this is something that can have quite negative impacts if you continue to ignore it. And I say that from the vantage point of when I kind of came into working in climate tech and sustainability in my mid-20s. You know, there were several people who I met who were like much further along in their careers, you know, very well established, deep, deep into the sector, very well established, very well respected, you know, very much ingrained inside of the system. And I've had the good fortune to stay in touch with some of those people. And what I've seen is that, you know, some of them are kind of still going, but a lot of them actually have chosen to step out, particularly of corporate sustainability. And that's probably a topic for another episode. But, you know, what I've learned from them on a personal perspective is that they have given and given and given and believed in that and done all the right things, you know, gone to all the right schools, all the right qualifications, worked all the right. consultancies, all the right engineering companies, all the right major corporations, you know, they've got into very senior positions, they've sat on the boards, they've been in positions of influence and they just haven't seen the change that they once upon a time believed was possible. And I have heard time and time again from these kind of long career, long-term career sustainability professionals, that they reached a point where they realised it just wasn't going to change, where they began to understand that sustainability was really just an excuse for business as usual and start to question what it is that they were actually trying to sustain. And I think a lot of those people have then come on to understand regeneration and to learn about regenerative economic models. and different worldviews. And that is hugely positive and exciting and uplifting to me. And when I speak to someone who I might've known way back, way, way, way back from the beginning of my career when I was actually working in carbon capture and storage, would you believe it? And was heavily involved with kind of oil and gas and coal industries. I've spoken to people who are in those industries who are now talking about degrowth and post-growth and regenerative. businesses and that is really exciting but I've also seen the toll that that has taken on them personally to for so so many years do work that they increasingly didn't believe in you know essentially in professional terms banging their head against a brick wall and ignoring that part of them that were saying this isn't right and you know I This isn't about sort of saying, I don't know, I don't want it to sound like I'm saying, you know, it's too late for those people, I think, because they are doing incredible things now. Many of them are investing in regenerative businesses, supporting regenerative founders. That is really exciting to me. But as I say, there is also a personal toll that comes with ignoring that voice for so long and waiting. so long to really find meaning in your work. And so I suppose what I'm saying is, please, don't let that be you. Make changes as early as you possibly can. It doesn't mean that you need to burn everything down. It doesn't mean that you need to like storm out of the door and burn all your bridges. You know, for some people, that is the right choice. For most people, they want to make a really empowered exit. They want to do this, you know, sensibly forward looking. They want to you know, keep options open as long as they need them and plan a kind of sensible transition. I think that is a really smart way to go about it. But the point is that you do need to change if there is no longer meaning in your work. And I did promise as well that I would talk a little bit about what this looked like for me. So as many of you know, I mentioned I was... way, way, way back, I was in carbon capture and storage. Then I moved into climate tech, where I founded my own company, a communications agency serving the climate tech sector. And I scaled that company over the course of about 13 years. We were in the UK, Germany, European presence, strong reputation. And a couple of years ago, I sold the company to my team. And people often ask about that decision to sell the company. And it's not straightforward. There were a lot of different aspects about it and I've talked about it previously on the podcast and I'll talk about it again but the aspect I want to share today is that part of that was yes I just wanted to change yes I had an incredible team in place and I knew we were ready for me to step back but there was also an aspect that the deeper I got into understanding the kind of power structures and the systemic issues at play in climate tech, the more questions I had, and I wasn't finding answers to those questions that felt satisfactory to me. So this is not the same as, you know, getting to a point of experiencing burnout, but there was, I definitely knew that. Something had shifted in my relationship with that work. And part of that was just that I had given it so much for such a long period of time, and I was ready for a new change. And part of it was that there were, as I say, systemic problems that I really needed to devote my attention to. But one thing I'm very grateful for is that I was in a position where I could make those changes, and that I was proactive about that. And I moved relatively quickly. When I started to sense that, when the meaning started to change for me, I moved relatively quickly. And, you know, I feel so good about the work that I do today. There is so much meaning in it for me. And to come full circle, I think for myself, for all the clients that I work with, for most people, and certainly you listening, finding meaning in work is just... essential. It is what makes work sustainable over the long term. It is how you keep showing up for something, how you keep delivering your best, how you keep evolving, developing, learning. It is how you serve people. It is how you create value. It is absolutely essential. So once again, if you find yourself in a position where work is starting not to make sense anymore, where that meaning certainly has a question mark hanging over it where something just feels off. Please do take the time to listen to that and to explore it for yourself and to think about whether you do need to start making empowered changes. And that is my homework, if you like, for you this week, to take that time to ask, does work still make sense to me? Do I still believe in the outcomes of the work? and where might I be overriding my instincts? If you want to, you are welcome to share those reflections with me. You can always reach me by email, Alyssa A-L-S, I can't spell my own name today. That's the migraine talking. And my email is Alyssa, A-L-I-S-A at regenerativeworklife.com. I would love to hear your reflections on those questions. And if this episode is landing for you and you are in a position where you know that you are close to needing out, particularly if you are in a corporate setting or in a job that just no longer feels right to you, then I offer to you a courage to quit session. This is a highly practical focused session for people who know that staying is no longer the right choice for them. The purpose is to create a clear and grounded exit plan that you are gonna feel really good about covering all of the practical aspects and really doing this in an empowered way that sets you up for the next stage of your career that will be firmly grounded in meaning so if that's something that is of interest to you check out the show notes where you can there's a link there to book the courage to quit session you're welcome to ask me any questions about it and thank you for listening to the podcast as always. I've been your host, Alyssa Murphy, and I will see you back here next week on the From Corporate Into Calling podcast.
