Having experienced job burnout early in her career, Patricia DeBough began to confront her work life and what she wanted it to be. Although successful, she believed in projecting a positive attitude, suffered from anxiety, and didn’t understand her value. As a result, she put up with or stayed too long in situations that were unhealthy or didn’t meet her aims. She was profoundly frustrated and felt powerless in certain circumstances and relationships, and she hustled for value instead of having an intrinsic sense of her worth or her specialized knowledge. Exhausted and dissatisfied, she didn’t fully understand the toll of her psychology.

Her story amplifies our motto “slow down to speed up” and that what she hasn’t done is the most significant result. She realized that there was accurate thinking required before jumping into a series of untested actions. If not, she may move from a bad or difficult situation to a worse one. Today, she is in a new position, provides leadership, and is valued across the entire organization.