Do you separate your “personal” life from your “business” life?

Would you say you’re a different person at work than you are outside of work?

If so… ask yourself - why?

It’s easy to pass judgement onto someone for ‘not being themselves’ but some workplaces are simply not safe enough for people to be genuine.

And this is where it gets deeper…

Sometimes life outside of work is what feels unsafe - so the workplace becomes a safe haven.. (this is when ‘work fam’ can become toxic real quick).

Resonating with either one?

Okay, well this one might pack a punch…

The workplace might actually be a safe place. Personal environments might also be safe places. What’s unsafe is actually a person’s internal environment.

What this means is that someone’s nervous system is constantly perceiving a threat due to the pattern of their thoughts.

No matter what you do, you can’t make them feel safe… WHY? Because they are primed to perceive threats as they’ve trained themselves to be looking for danger.

(A quick N.B. to the leader’s out there, you can coach and guide, but remember, the individual is the one who needs to do the work. Don’t make their problem your problem. )

People often change their persona to protect themselves from a potential threat - whether it be judgement, guilt, shame, embarressment, fear or any other uncomfortable feeling one might have. Whether that be at home or in the workplace, if you need to change who you are - my question is - “what are you protecting yourself from?”

So here is what I’m inviting you to ponder…

If you change who you are at work - what is the action, behaviour, event or task you encounter when you start to experience discomfort? Now is that feeling due to the workplace or is it something internal for you?

Now ask yourself the same things if you feel you can’t be yourself at home.

Success in business and life is an inside job most of the time.

And this is exactly what I focus on when I’m coaching you.