Making the decision to leave medicine was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. It took me years to build up the courage to finally decide to step away from the career that I had dreamt of since early childhood.

I felt lost, confused, and so very, very alone.

When we are faced with a choice as enormous as whether or not to leave our job, we need to honour ourselves by giving ourselves the time and space that we – and it – deserve. And yet, so often when we are in that situation, we are barely holding it together, feeling out of control, overwhelmed and stressed – the very things that prevent us from giving ourselves the headspace we need.

In this video, I talk about how difficult it is to make a proper, well-balanced decision when you are stuck in overwhelm. I also give you practical tips on how to create the space and energy that you so need in order to tune in and listen to your intuition, and find the courage to make the right choice for you – whatever that may be.

Have you been trying to make an important decision? Or have you made a big decision in the past? How did you deal with it? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. If you found the ideas in this post useful I would be honoured if you shared it with your network.

Transcript

– Hi, I’m Dr. Sally Graddon, the Life Balance Doctor.

Are you a professional working mother who is struggling to decide whether to stay in your career or leave? It’s such a hard decision. I know – it’s one I made many years ago now when I decided to leave medicine to stay at home with my daughter.

The conflict that you feel when you’re trying to make a decision such as that is immense. It is made all the harder when you are in crisis mode. Many of the women I meet are stressed, overworked, and overwhelmed. They hardly know whether they’re coming or going anymore because they’re trying to fit so many different things into their days. They’re trying to fulfil so many different roles. And it leaves next to no time or energy to think of themselves.

Making a decision like leaving the career that you’ve worked so hard for is HARD. And it takes an immense amount of energy. It’s not something that you can decide overnight. It’s something that you’re going to have to live with for the rest of your life, and it puts an immense amount of pressure on us.

When we’re in that place of overwhelm, we lack the space – the mental capacity – to make the decision.

So, if you are currently struggling with a decision of that sort of magnitude, I invite you to step back. I invite you to take the time to breathe, first of all. I encourage you to write a list of the major stress factors in your life, and then go through it and try to identify two of them that you can do something about right now. It doesn’t have to be something grand – even the smallest changes and the smallest reduction in stress can actually make a massive impact on our lives.

Find those two things and implement them. Even if it’s something as simple as changing the layout of the shoes next to the front door so there isn’t a fight every morning when people are trying to find their own shoes before they go out.

Even the little things can make a big difference.

Do that. And slowly, or quickly, as you have the energy for it, implement the other changes to reduce the stress in your life as much as possible, so that you can take a break to give yourself the space and the extra energy to really listen to your intuition.

Take the time to go within and listen, because that’s where the truth really lies.

If you’d like to find out how I can help you reclaim your life and reclaim the balance in your life, then click on the link below and arrange a call.

I look forward to talking to you.