I met Matt in this coffee shop.
We sat across from each other, cups in hand, but he barely touched his.
➔ “I’ve just been diagnosed.”
➔ “I don’t know what this means for my career… or life.”
His mind was racing ahead, searching for a solution, something to control.
Because when fear takes hold, we want to fix things. Fast.
But what Matt needed wasn’t a plan. Not yet.
Matt was recently promoted, achieving everything he’d set out to:
➔ Senior leadership
➔ Earning more than he ever thought possible
➔ A career built on years of hard work and strategic moves
Now, it all felt fragile. Of course it did.
He was desperate not to lose everything while he had to look away.
But in fear mode, we make our worst decisions.
Matt wanted to control something. Anything. But realigning doesn’t come from quick fixes. It comes from giving yourself time to process before you act.
I asked him to trust me. To take the space he needed. And he did.
That same day, before I met Matt, I sat in this coffee shop.
I’ve been here so many times. Sipped my tea. Watched people come and go.
But this time, I read the writing on the wall:
“If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same.”
And maybe that was how, when it counted, I knew: This was exactly what was keeping Matt stuck.
➔ He saw success and failure as opposites
➔ He felt being forced into change was more lethal than his diagnosis
➔ He feared what he might lose, and couldn’t look at what he could gain
So we dug into the difficult stuff—over cups of things.
And when he was ready, we made a plan.
He didn’t quit overnight.
He job-crafted. Then advocated for himself.
He walked into work and delivered the hardest conversation of his career:
He needed a shorter week to hold steady across the next year.
He crafted a transitional succession plan to make it viable for his team.
He negotiated with clarity – holding the feeling that his life depended on it.
And it worked.
I hope this isn’t relatable for everyone, for obvious reasons.
But I also hope you know: You don’t have to be facing a diagnosis for this to resonate.
➔ Maybe your work drains you, but you’re scared to make a change?
➔ Maybe you tell yourself you’ll figure it out soon – but months (or years) keep passing?
You don’t have to figure it all out today.
But you do have to accept the issues are important – and time-sensitive – to take a step.
Because nothing changes if nothing changes.
This is the work. And you don’t have to do it alone.
If you’re navigating a difficult season and want to hold strong and grow through it—not just endure what you must—let’s talk.
