I’ll NEVER forget the way time stopped while I scrolled Instagram one day when I read a post from Erica Chidi Cohen that said:

“Productivity is a trauma response.”

At that moment, I realized that my straight-A-student, Ivy League grad, got-my- first-Daytimer-soon-after-I-got-my-first-period, started-my-first-real-business-at-the-age-of-14 self wasn’t just motivated, smart, and capable.

She was traumatized.

And she’d been using achievement to protect the part of her that didn’t feel safe since before she could remember.

If you’re experiencing any pings of recognition as you read this, you’re not alone; it’s not your fault, and there’s good news.

The good news?

You can re-pattern yourself so that the work you do is rooted in wisdom and wholeness instead of wounding.

You don’t have to be productive to prove a damn thing.

You can feel deeply loveable, valuable, and enough.

And those feelings can be completely separate from how much you get done in a day, how much money you make, or how much external achievement you’re currently experiencing.

And the really cool thing?

The experience of work actually becomes yummier when we heal our trauma-response-productivity.

…Like beyond anything we could have previously imagined.

Work can fill you up instead of draining you.

If this is a topic that’s landing with you, I recorded a zinger of a Plenty episode for you about it.

This episode, Is Your Productivity A Trauma Response? Are You Self-Medicating With Work?, is a must-listen for anyone who identifies as a high-achiever or ambitious.

I’m here to help you heal the way you work. If you’re game, stick around.

Xo,
Kate