Are You Successful But Still Unhappy?

On paper, it looks like you have the perfect life. As a physician, lawyer, C-suite executive, or other successful professional, you have a good career, wonderful family, beautiful home, and all the fixings. But something isn’t right.

You aren’t happy. Actually, that may be an understatement. You’re miserable.

You have too much work and not enough time to do it all. Perhaps you spend your days putting out fires and your evenings trying to make up for the lost time. Self-care might be at the bottom of your to-do list, making you feel more and more depleted. If you worry that you’re approaching professional burnout, your motivation level, efficiency, and work quality are likely deteriorating. Things might even be so bad that you’re having panic attacks or crying at work.

No one understands the pressure you’re under. At your level, you know that the consequences of slowing your pace or making a mistake could be serious. But friends and family don’t seem to understand or empathize. Their complaints that you spend too much time working may make you feel unappreciated for everything you provide. At the same time, there’s a part of you that might wonder, “Do I work too much?”

Considering everything you’ve accomplished, perhaps you can’t quite explain why you’re unhappy. Or maybe you think you know what’s wrong but don’t know how to fix it. I understand how frustrating and defeating that can feel, because you’re usually the one with all the answers. But I can help. As a professional career consultant, I can help relieve some of the pressure you’ve been under and show you how to achieve a better work-life balance.

Professionals Today Are Under Immense Pressure

As human beings, we have a natural desire to improve ourselves and our situations. As a culture, we recognize the value in fulfilling our potential, providing for our families, and being recognized for our accomplishments. Our family members, friends, and acquaintances encourage us to make a name for ourselves, whether overtly or through their own example.

Considering the pervasiveness of these pressures, it is no surprise that we internalize them. We believe that if we could reach a certain level of success—perhaps by becoming a named partner, producing our first hit show, obtaining an attending position at a prestigious hospital, or successfully launching an IPO—that we would finally be happy. So we endure chaotic schedules and long hours to accomplish our dreams, often without realizing what we’re sacrificing along the way.

It is also surprisingly lonely at the top. Most people don’t understand how stressful it is to run a company or to work in a high-stakes field. So friends and family members aren’t always as supportive as they could be. Their comments, requests, and complaints can make us feel like we’re not giving enough—even when we’re already giving so much.

The combination of professional and personal pressures may feel like more than you can handle on your own. Fortunately, support is available. By working with a professional career consultant, you can better understand what’s making you unhappy and take steps to alleviate it.

Executive Coaching Can Help You Succeed Both Personally And Professionally

I offer therapy for professionals who want to create a better balance between their personal and professional lives while continuing to advance their careers. I am an experienced career consultant and doctor of clinical psychology. So whether you need help problem-solving specific issues, need to break free of negative patterns in your life, or would like to grow more deeply on a personal level, I can accommodate your wishes.

Many of my clients are doctors, lawyers, executives, and other busy professionals who want to reduce anxiety and increase their motivation levels. If you, too, are wondering how to avoid burnout, we will explore whether a lack of self-care may be a factor. We’ll talk about which activities you enjoy and how often you’re able to do them. If you’re not sure which ones you enjoy most, I might instruct you to think back to past hobbies or try out new ones you hadn’t considered before.

We’ll engage in creative problem-solving to help you include more self-care in your schedule. While you might not have time for a big vacation right now, starting with something small like taking a walk or enjoying a longer lunch break can make more of a difference than you might think. At first, it might be hard to shift your focus away from work, but I can help you broaden your definition of happiness and find fulfillment in other areas of your life.

We can also work on cultivating your present-moment awareness. Although you wouldn’t be able to accomplish your goals if you never thought about the future, fixating too much on tomorrow can cause anxiety. The gratitude exercises I’ll teach you can help you focus on the good things in your life so that you get more satisfaction from everyday accomplishments.

Cultivating self-compassion will be another essential element of our work. If you tend to be overly hard on yourself when you fall short, I can help you recognize that negative thoughts about yourself may not always be accurate or helpful and that you don’t always have to take them to heart.

I can also teach you how to set better boundaries. We might start by making a list of your personal and professional goals. From there, we’ll identify areas of your life that are nonnegotiable and those that are more flexible. This exercise will enable you to deploy your limited time and energy more strategically. It will also empower you to communicate your boundaries more clearly, even if you’re someone who struggles to say “no.”

Having an objective, supportive professional can make all the difference between a tolerable life and a thriving life. With your health, sanity, and personal life intact, you’ll be more likely to accomplish your goals—and be more satisfied when you do.

As you consider whether executive coaching could help, you may think. . .

Shouldn’t I be able to handle this on my own?

If you’re accustomed to being the one who has all the answers, you might not like the idea of getting help from someone else. On the contrary, though, people who make good use of the resources available to them typically end up more successful and more independent than their peers. Even the highest-level performers and athletes have coaches and mentors to help them achieve greatness. Why not let me help you reach the next level of success?

Isn’t therapy for crazy people? Maybe I should just work with a career coach.

A career coach may be able to help you decide on a new career path or figure out how to acquire new professional skills. But if you’re feeling burned out, stressed, depressed, irritable, or lonely, you might benefit more from the insights and support that a licensed therapist can provide. Choosing to work with a career consultant who is a licensed psychologist doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. It just means you recognize the value of working on your mental health in supporting your personal and professional goals.

I’m not sure I have time for executive coaching.

Most of my clients lead hectic lives, so I designed my business around that reality. With my concierge therapy service, scheduling sessions is flexible—you’re not tied down to seeing me a certain day and time or for a certain length of time. Also, you can work with me from the comfort and privacy of your home or office. I offer private house calls as well as secure online teletherapy sessions, making quality therapy accessible even for busy professionals.

Cultivate A Happier Life With Executive Coaching

Don’t settle for “good enough.” Let us help you work toward a life that feels as great inside as it looks on paper. Visit our contact page to send us a message or set up a free, 20-minute phone consultation using the button below.