Work Wobble

It’s unsettling how many senior leader women say:
“I’m just so tired all of the time.”
…only to be told:
“Well, you do have a lot on.”

Yes.
But persistent exhaustion is not always explained by being “busy.”
Sometimes there are genuine physiological, neurological and psychological factors underneath it.

Things like:
• burnout and chronic stress exposure
• perimenopause, menopause, PMDD, PMS or postnatal hormonal changes
• ADHD, autism or the long-term impact of masking neurodivergence
• iron deficiency, low B12, vitamin D deficiency or thyroid issues
• poor sleep and nervous system dysregulation
• emotional overload and cognitive load

Research consistently shows that women are more likely to normalise exhaustion, minimise symptoms, and continue functioning whilst depleted.

High-functioning does not always mean healthy.
Being permanently exhausted should not become your personality.

If this sounds familiar:

Speak to your GP or a specialist.
Ask for blood tests.
Track your cycle, mood, sleep and energy.
Explore burnout, hormones and neurodivergence properly.
Talk to someone you trust.
Rest without guilt.

You deserve proper curiosity about your exhaustion — not dismissal.
www.workwobble.com

As an emotions coach, many of the senior leaders I work with come to me experiencing grief and anxiety.
Because they’ve lost someone.
Or something.
A person.
A relationship.
A version of themselves.
A sense of purpose.
Confidence.
Belonging.

But grief and anxiety are often the receipts of having cared deeply.
Of having loved deeply.
Of having attached meaning to something that mattered.
And carrying that emotional weight quietly every day can slowly drain confidence more than people realise.

If work no longer feels like somewhere you belong, let’s talk.
www.workwobble.com

https://wix.to/vu97AqU

Before you read books on influence, emotional intelligence, or leadership…
remember who you were before the world got hold of you.

Before you learned how to land a message.
Before you started managing perception.
Before every thought needed to be “well positioned.”
Because somewhere along the way, development becomes… distortion.

You learn how to influence —
but forget what you actually think.
You learn emotional intelligence —
but start overriding what you actually feel.
You learn leadership —
but lose the way you naturally show up.
And it’s subtle.
It looks like growth.
It gets rewarded.
It sounds right.
But it can create distance —
between who you are
and who you’ve learned to be.

This isn’t anti-development.

It’s just a reminder:
The goal isn’t to become someone new.
It’s to not lose yourself in the process.

www.workwobble.com


https://wix.to/1Pfz6tY

We talk a lot about success at work.
We say almost nothing about rejection.
Which is strange…because rejection is shaping far more careers than success ever will.

Not the obvious kind.
The subtle kind.
The decisions made before the meeting.
The conversations you weren’t in.
The opportunities that quietly pass you by.

At leadership level, rejection rarely announces itself.
It shows up as silence.
As being overlooked.
As a slow shift in where you stand.
And because no one names it —you internalise it.

You assume it’s you.
But often?
It’s politics.
Timing.
Familiarity.
Comfort.
Not capability.

If more leaders understood that…they’d stop carrying rejection as a personal failure and start seeing it for what it actually is.



https://wix.to/lguyBrL

Becoming someone new sounds exciting…
until your brain treats it like a threat.

We talk about change like it’s a decision.
A plan. A mindset.
But your brain doesn’t care about your plans.
It cares about safety.

And “safe” isn’t always better.
It’s familiar.
So even when you want to change —
leave the job, speak up, show up differently —
your brain pulls you back towards the version of you it recognises.

Not because that version is right.
But because it’s known.
That’s why change feels uncomfortable.
Not because you’re doing it wrong —
but because you’re doing something new.

The real work isn’t just changing what you do.
It’s staying long enough for your brain to catch up
with who you’re becoming.
—
Hi, I’m Carrie. I coach senior leaders through big work wobbles — the moments when confidence fades, purpose feels distant, and work no longer feels like somewhere they belong — so they can find clarity and their path again.
www.workwobble.com


https://wix.to/hLUcgUd

The last 3–4 years of my life have involved a lot of change.
On paper, it might look like progress.

But in reality, it’s been uncomfortable.
Letting go of who I was.
Questioning what I actually want, what "performance" means.
Sitting in the space where nothing quite fits anymore.

There’s been a lot of “Is this me?”
And not always having a clear answer.
And what I’ve realised — especially after some proper time away —
is that clarity doesn’t come from pushing harder.

It comes from stepping back.
From giving yourself enough space to notice:
what still feels true, what doesn’t,
and what you’ve been holding onto out of habit.

Because when everything is changing,
it’s easy to think something is wrong.
But sometimes…
you’re just in the middle of becoming someone new.
—
If you’re in that in-between — where things feel unclear, uncomfortable, or a bit unsettled — you’re not alone.

Hi, I’m Carrie. I coach senior leaders through big work wobbles — so they can find clarity and their path again.
www.workwobble.com


https://wix.to/WdXfwNK

Lately, I’ve been deep in learning about neurodivergence — including working towards becoming accredited in coaching it.
And honestly?
It’s a big deal.

Because so much of how we judge ourselves (and others)
comes down to one thing:
We assume everyone experiences the world the same way.👁️🧠

They don’t.

What looks like inconsistency, overreaction, distraction or disengagement…
is often just a different nervous system at play.

Here’s where that shows up:
Energy
You see someone “lazy” or inconsistent
→ They experience energy in spikes and crashes — not steady flow

Attention
You see someone distracted
→ They experience attention as interest-led, not task-led

Motivation
You see someone uncommitted
→ They need meaning, urgency or connection to activate

Emotion
You see someone “too sensitive”
→ They feel things more intensely and quickly

Sensory
You see someone as difficult or fussy
→ They experience noise, light, people and pressure more strongly

Social
You see someone quiet, awkward or “not engaging”
→ They’re processing, observing, or managing overwhelm in real time

Same world.
Different experience.

And when we don’t understand that difference, we mislabel people.
Including ourselves.

This isn’t about putting people in boxes.
It’s about recognising that how someone shows up
is often a reflection of how their brain and body work.

And that changes everything —
from performance… to relationships… to self-worth.

Hi, I’m Carrie. I coach senior leaders through big work wobbles using neuroscience — the moments when confidence fades, purpose feels distant, and work no longer feels like somewhere they belong — so they can find clarity and their path again.


https://wix.to/UpyRjDO

As a leader, you can look like you’ve got it all together…
and still feel completely off underneath.
This came through from a client recently...

If this resonates or feels like you, you can find more here:
www.workwobble.com

or message me direct.


https://wix.to/tjGgTsF

Your body work independently of you, it doesn’t need your permission
to start shutting you down.

And here’s the uncomfortable bit—
you don’t actually get the final say on when enough is enough.

You might think you do.
“I’ll just get through this week.”
“I can handle it.”
“I’ll rest when things calm down.”
But your body is already deciding.

It’s tracking the load in real time—
stress hormones rising,
sleep quality dropping,
nervous system stuck on high alert.
And when the pressure runs too long,
it doesn’t ask you what you’d prefer.
It starts making adjustments for you.

Focus goes.
Patience disappears.
Memory slips.
Emotions get sharper… or completely flat.
This isn’t a mindset issue.
It’s biology.

Your brain is trying to keep you safe by conserving energy and reducing demand.
It will dial down anything it sees as “non-essential” —
clear thinking, creativity, emotional control —
just to keep the system running.

Push past that for long enough…
and it escalates.
Fatigue you can’t shake.
Getting ill more often.
Burnout that forces you to stop.
Not because you chose to.
Because your body did.

So the real question isn’t
“Can I keep going?”
It’s - “Am I noticing before my body has to step in for me?”
Because you don’t get to choose if enough is enough.
Only whether you listen before it’s decided for you.
—
Hi, I’m Carrie. I coach senior leaders through big work wobbles — the moments when confidence fades, purpose feels distant, and work no longer feels like somewhere they belong — so they can find clarity and their path again.
www.workwobble.com

Hi, I’m Carrie. I coach senior leaders through big work wobbles — the moments when confidence fades, purpose feels distant, and work no longer feels like somewhere they belong — so they can find clarity and their path again.
www.workwobble.com


https://wix.to/5jAZZMg

The “crazy-making” behaviours of a bullying boss

People often say working for a bullying manager makes them feel like they’re losing their mind.
That’s not accidental.

Bullying environments often involve behaviours that create confusion, instability and constant self-doubt.

Some of the most common patterns include:
• Moving the goalposts — expectations change after the work is done.
• Public criticism, private silence — mistakes are highlighted openly, praise is rare or absent.
• Gaslighting — denying conversations, rewriting events or telling you you’ve “misunderstood.”
• Inconsistent reactions — praise one day, hostility the next.
• Subtle undermining — questioning competence in meetings or copying others into critical emails.
• Isolation tactics — excluding you from discussions or information you need to do your job.
• Creating urgency and pressure unnecessarily — keeping people in a constant state of stress.

Over time these behaviours create an environment where people feel:
anxious
hyper-vigilant
unsure of themselves

It’s not weakness.

It’s what happens when people work in unpredictable and psychologically unsafe environments.

Naming the pattern is often the first step in regaining perspective, but sadly one of the most damaging effects of bullying at work is that it convinces capable people that they are the problem.

Hi, I’m Carrie. I coach senior leaders through big work wobbles — the moments when confidence fades, purpose feels distant, and work no longer feels like somewhere they belong — so they can find clarity and their path again - www.workwobble.com.


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