MY CAREER IS IN THE DOLDRUMS…Do I need a Coach or a Therapist? By Nina Ham

Is Monday worst day of your week? Can you hardly remember when you enjoyed going to work? Do friends ask why you seem so down? Maybe this has been going on awhile, and you’re realizing it’s time to do something. But where do you turn? At one moment you tell yourself “It’s just my career…Change that, and everything will be OK”. Another moment, you acknowledge you’re living under a cloud and a lot of old emotional ghosts are returning. Your friend who’s recommending you consult her therapist may be right.

Your uncertainty is understandable. Work itself is never “just work” but can reach deep into our attitudes toward us and into our sense of belonging in world. Furthermore, therapy and coaching have much in common and differ primarily in emphasis each places on action and understanding. Whether you decide to deal with your work issues through a practical approach or a psychological approach is a matter of choice. The questions posed below should help you make that choice.

•Are you an action person or an insight person? Most people are both, in some mix, but instinctively approach change either by setting it in motion with action or by first assessing and preparing for its impact. A shy mid-level manager, for example, who has taken on new responsibilities that involve public speaking, may gravitate toward a Toastmasters group for help. She would be a candidate for coaching if she wanted to develop her mastery further. Or she might prefer to look toward therapy as a setting in which she could explore her anxieties about being in spotlight.

Do You Have What It Takes to Take It?

Without strength to deal with stresses in life: pain, sickness, disappointment, missed opportunities, bad business decisions, and more, you can easily be discouraged.

Whenever something hits you and you don't have what it takes to overcome it, your means of coping will be undermined.

To overcome minor or major setbacks, recharge yourself spiritually. Give yourself a God-like power to react and reverse any mental picture you may be holding of weakness. With God's help you know you can take anything that comes your way.

Are you a Positive Person?

Always in life there are times when going is rough, tough, and downright too much. Coming out of it on top takes a positive attitude.

To maintain a positive attitude when everything around you is crumbling takes an inner power beyond anything you can imagine. To do so depends on how and what you are thinking at time it is happening to you.