When “just be grateful” stops working

For a long time, I thought I should just put up with the quiet dissatisfaction I felt at work.

I felt drained and stuck and it clashed constantly with that familiar inner voice telling me to just be grateful.

The pay was fine. 

I had flexibility around the kids. 

On paper, everything worked.

So any discomfort was just part of being an adult…right?

For a while, that logic held.

Until it didn’t.

What changed things for me

It wasn’t a dramatic exit or a sudden reinvention that changed things. There was no bold leap or overnight transformation.

What changed things was having coaching.

Having the space to question the outdated version of success I’d been living by and to get clear on what actually mattered to me in my 40s, not what had mattered 10 or 20 years ago.

That shift didn’t happen overnight. It happened gradually, step by step.

And over time, it led me into a very different and much happier career.

A new realisation emerged

As I began coaching others, something else became obvious.

Women have spaces to explore this kind of change. They have language for what they’re feeling. Permission to question and re-evaluate.

Men don’t.

The men I spoke to were carrying the same quiet dissatisfaction I had felt. Different industries. Different roles. Different lives.

But the same underlying question: "Is this really it?"

And far fewer places to talk it through properly.

That’s why I do this work.

To help men in their 40s reconnect with work that fits who they are now - meaningful work that still pays the bills.

And it’s worth saying that it’s not always about a big career change. Often it’s small tweaks, clearer boundaries, mindset shifts or reframing what success looks like now.

Changes that make work feel lighter, more satisfying, more them.

If this resonates and you're ready to look at things differently, let's have a quick chat. No obligation to sign up to anything - just a conversation to see if we'd be a good fit to work together.

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