Career Clarity Newsletter - October Edition
What If This Could Be Easier?
Happy October!
Last month, I led a 75-minute interactive workshop for aspiring women leaders.
I was excited. But I was also nervous.
Would they engage? Would the conversation flow? Had I prepared enough?
Then I asked myself: What if this was fun?
Something shifted. The workshop still required preparation, of course. But I wasn’t carrying quite as much pressure into the room.
And you know what? It was fun!
The group was engaged, the conversation flowed naturally, and several participants reached out afterward to connect.
It got me thinking about how often we make things harder before we’ve even begun.
Sometimes the situation really is hard. But sometimes, we’re carrying pressure the situation never asked us to carry.
So this month, I’m asking a different question: What could make this easier?
Not effortless. Not necessarily comfortable. Just a little easier.
easier.
1 | WHAT’S NEW A LITTLE UPDATE ON MY NEXT CHAPTER 🌴
Remember the idea I shared last month about hosting a career mastermind in the Caribbean?
Well, it’s taking shape!
It now has a name — The Next Chapter: A Leadership & Life Retreat for Women of Colour — and its own website.
I’m still working through the details, but I’m excited about what’s coming together for next spring in Tobago, Trinidad’s sister island.
Take a peek at the website: leadtochange.ca/retreat
Curious to learn more? You can join the interest list to get updates as things take shape. No commitment — just a way to stay in the loop!
2 | A 5-Minute Mindset Check-In 🌟
When you're ambitious and used to performing at a high level, the qualities that helped you succeed can quietly become sources of pressure.
Preparation can become overthinking. High standards can become perfectionism. Being capable can make it harder to ask for help.
I created a short reflection to help you notice your patterns when you're facing something new, challenging or uncertain.
Start with this question: Where might I be making something harder than it needs to be?
Take the 5-minute mindset check-in here.
3 | SPOTLIGHT 💬
There May Be a Good Reason You Learned to Do It This Way
If you tend to over-prepare, anticipate what could go wrong or put pressure on yourself to get things right, there may be a good reason.
Perhaps you've worked in environments where you had your competence questioned or weren't given the same room to make mistakes.
Preparing thoroughly, reading the room and thinking three steps ahead may have helped you navigate those experiences.
Sometimes, the habits that helped us succeed in one environment follow us into the next, even when they no longer serve us in quite the same way.
You don't have to judge the pattern. Just get curious:
Is this extra preparation helping me, or exhausting me?
Am I responding to what's happening now, or protecting myself from something I've experienced before?
4 | COACHING REFLECTION 🤔
Your Coaching Reflection: Make It 10% Easier
Choose one thing you're currently overthinking, avoiding or putting pressure on yourself about.
Then ask yourself:
1. What am I assuming has to be true?
2. What else could be true?
3. What would make this 10% easier?
Try it this week and notice what changes. Not because everything should be easy, but because harder isn't always better.
A Helpful Reminder
Your Brain Is Addicted to Worst-Case Scenarios — On Purpose with Jay Shetty
If you recognise yourself in the tendency to anticipate what could go wrong, this episode is a useful reminder of why our minds can gravitate towards worst-case scenarios.
Jay explores how our brains scan for threats and how repeatedly imagining the worst can make those outcomes feel more likely than they are.
One suggestion worth taking with you:
Look at the evidence, not just the fear. And if you're going to imagine what could go wrong, make room for what could go right, too.
Listen to the episode here.
5 | LET'S STAY CONNECTED! ☕
Sometimes we're so close to a challenge that it's hard to see what we're carrying that we don't need to.
Coaching can help you step back, see things differently and find a way forward that works for you.
If you're navigating a career decision, feeling stuck or considering what's next, I'd be happy to be a sounding board.
Book a free discovery session and let's talk it through.
And as you move through October, keep this question nearby: What could make this 10% easier?
You may be surprised by the answer.
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