This one comes up constantly in my coaching conversations — usually from clients who are exhausted from trying everything and getting nowhere. The Busy Work of Career Change... New job applications. New industries. New qualifications, even. All in the hope that something will finally click. But without real clarity on where you're actually headed, you can end up busy without ever being closer. Movement can feel productive - but movement isn't the same as direction.

Are you one of the 80% of disengaged workers globally? (Gallup, 2026) Right now, you might not even be able to answer that with any confidence. But the stats say there's a high chance you are — and if you're nodding along already, that's worth paying attention to. I've experienced disengagement myself. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. What I remember most is how quietly it crept up on me — I didn't even have a name for what I was feeling until I was well and truly in it.

I am an example of this trade-up. It wasn't graceful. It wasn't planned. It hit me twice, at two very different points in my life. The First Hit The first time was before I fell pregnant with my first child. I experienced severe burnout — the genuine, stop-you-in-your-tracks kind. It forced me to stop and really question what mattered. (I talk more about this in Episode 1 of The Inkling Effect Podcast, if you're curious.) With enforced time off to think, I started asking myse

I fell into this trap. For years, my identity was so intertwined with my work that I genuinely believed I was living. In reality, I was giving myself completely away — to my work, my team, my projects, my organisation. I gave up my happiness, my health, and time with my family... and I did it willingly. Nobody forced my hand. I handed it over, piece by piece, because it felt like what a good professional was supposed to do. That's when my "workquake" happened.

Normal. What even is that? Honestly, the word sounds a little boring to me. A little vanilla. Somewhat pedestrian. Like beige carpet or plain rice cakes — perfectly fine, completely forgettable. And yet so many of us spend enormous energy trying to fit in, tone ourselves down, and smooth off the edges that make us genuinely interesting. We worry about saying the wrong thing, having an unpopular opinion, or standing out in a way that might make someone uncomfortable.

How many times are you going to let January slip by before you actually do something about that career change you've been thinking about? I've navigated two major career changes myself. Both terrifying. Both absolutely worth it. The second took nearly a decade—a slow, uncomfortable pivot from 25 years in Product Strategy and Innovation into career coaching. The first happened faster, leaving behind my chosen under graduate focus for a career in Technology.