• Home
  • About Sherry
  • Work with Sherry
    • Career Power Hour
    • Job Interview Power Hour
    • Job Search Confidence – land your dream job
    • VIP 1:1 Coaching
    • Women in Cyber Leadership programme
    • BOOK A CONVERSATION
  • Success stories
  • Resources
    • PODCAST
    • ONLINE COURSES
    • DOWNLOADS
    • • FREE Manage Your Career with Confidence and Purpose
    • • FREE 99 Action Verbs To Make Your CV Stand Out
    • • FREE The Ultimate Job Interview Checklist
    • • FREE 15 Tough Job Interview Questions & How To Answer Them
    • • FREE Women’s networking directory
  • The Book
    • About the book
    • Sample chapter and reading
    • About the author
    • Media
    • Interview with the author
  • Blog
  • Speaking
  • Contact Sherry

The Confident Mother

Helping ambitious women in technology fully unlock their leadership potential

4th July 2016

Workaholic or balanced mum?

“Sherry, have you always had such a balanced life?” I was asked the other day.

Workaholic with low level depression

“Hell no. I used to be a workaholic with low level depression, wanting to self-harm and on the edge of burnout. That’s why I recognise those telltale signs of burnout so easily – because 19 years ago, I was that woman on the brink. I was the woman working 8am to 8pm, skipping lunch, working evenings, constantly exhausted and not able to sleep. On the outside, I was extremely successful – being promoted rapidly through the ranks but inside I was struggling, feeling constantly overwhelmed, stressed and suffering with IBS. I wanted to be successful. And in my head, to be successful, I needed to work hard.”

“What happened? How did you get out of that?”

“Intellectually I knew that I couldn’t continue working the way I was. I knew that if I didn’t do something, if I didn’t take action, BOOM! I’m gone. Heart attack, complete nervous breakdown … I don’t know. But something major was going to happen unless I stopped living life that way. A few months earlier I had a nasty racing accident and hit my head. I was out cold for a while. My head injury affected me for several months afterwards – speech impairment, lack of concentration, vertigo. A few months later, I was back on the race track.”

“Weren’t you scared?”

It didn’t occur to me to be scared

“It didn’t occur to me to be scared. It was racing. I got back on the bike as soon as I could. That’s when I realised that I have an inner strength and resilience, a steeliness within.

However that inner strength and resilience had served me poorly at work. It had kept me going but that had done me harm. So I quit my job. I realised enough’s enough. I cried when I handed in my notice. I really cried. My HR manager was worried about me – she offered me a sabbatical instead. But I knew that if I came back to the same job, it would just start all over again. I needed to take radical action.

Inner strength and confidence

Now I use my inner strength and confidence to help other women get the balance they want; to take charge of their life; to know what it is to feel powerful. I absolutely love the work that I do. I love the life-changing transformations that I see in the women I work with. I know what it’s like to be a workaholic but I also know how to balance work with family and life.”

“Do you miss your corporate days?”

“I’ve been running my own business since 2012. I love the flexibility, the creativity, the independence, the autonomy and the balance. I loved my corporate career. I learned so much and I had great fun. Sure, sometimes I feel myself being tempted back to the dark side and feel my stress and overwhelm levels rising. That’s when I know it’s time to stop and take care of my wellness before I take care of my business.”

What about you? Where are you on the spectrum of workaholic to balanced mum? If you identify with how I felt, check out 7 ways to cope with overwhelm. You owe it to yourself and to your family to take action today.

 

Article by Sherry Bevan / The Confident Mother, Working mums 8 Comments

Comments

  1. Anthea O'Neill says

    4th July 2016 at 9:02 pm

    I remember those corporate days! I also left that job when my first child was a toddler and being expected to finish deadlines at the office on a Saturday was just not working. After 8 years of freelancing I’ve found a corporate job again that gives me loads of flexibility so I can be committed at my job and spend some time with my kids. Finding your balance between work and family life is key!

    Reply
    • Sherry Bevan says

      4th July 2016 at 9:44 pm

      Fabulous that you’ve found the balance you want for your family.

      Reply
  2. Mike Gardner is The Time Doctor says

    4th July 2016 at 9:02 pm

    Thatbold inner strength can be a good thing if we keep it in check, but if we’re not careful it can develop a mind of its own and start to cause us problems

    Reply
    • Sherry Bevan says

      4th July 2016 at 9:43 pm

      Absolutely Mike!

      Reply
  3. Shona Easton says

    4th July 2016 at 11:33 pm

    Fabulous post Sherry. Sometimes we don’t see the treadmill we’re on until somehow we manage to get off.
    Ps I didn’t know you were a fellow cyclist! (Or did you mean motorbikes?)

    Reply
    • Sherry Bevan says

      5th July 2016 at 7:58 pm

      Both! I am a cyclist (do more running now than cycling) and also ride a motorbike.

      Reply
  4. Bibi Van Heerden says

    5th July 2016 at 2:01 am

    Your story resonates with me. I drove myself like a slave in the corporate world for so long, I didn’t even stop to consider my quality of life. Now life is light, bright, and full of possibilities!

    Reply
    • Sherry Bevan says

      5th July 2016 at 7:58 pm

      Glad to hear your life is now light and bright!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Subscribe to Blog

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email.

Looking for something?

Categories

Archives

Recent posts

  • What I’ve learned about how to be successful
  • How to job search successfully on LinkedIn
  • How to be sure that your employer values you
  • How to articulate your ambitions to protect your gender pay gap
  • How to protect your career falling foul of the gender pay gap

Copyright © 2022 · The Confident Mother · Website design by Helen Taranowski Design