Bea Carels: “For me, the process worked as therapy. I have had many eye-openers; I have found out what I do want and what can become my hobby.”
“After years of working as a team manager with an excessive caseload and various internal changes within the organisation where I worked, I was close to a burn-out, or probably already in the middle of it. I had not been sleeping for months, was very tired, forgetful and was seeing a physiotherapist for back and neck problems.
I had previously heard of Dynamisch Bureau through our P&O advisor and finally made contact. In particular, I knew what I didn’t want, but I didn’t really know what I wanted, what my ambitions were. I wanted to find out with the help of career coaching.
After the first conversation with my coach, I finally admitted that I was actually unable to work and I called in sick. During the process, I was encouraged to think about and describe my ideal working day. The autobiographical assignment was also enlightening for me. It took me a week to find a hobby…
I discovered that I did a lot of hobbies for others but never for myself. But also learning to let go of my work. The networking, the application. And the talent analysis made clear where my talents lie and my interests.
After a few sessions, my employer wanted to work towards a settlement agreement and the career coaching continued as outplacement.
Even though I was very ill, the assignments kept me going and forced me to think about my situation and about ‘What do I want to be when I grow up? ’. The networking offered a lot of support. Both privately and at work I got tips, vacancies, a listening ear, a nice walk in the woods, etc.
For me, the process worked as therapy. I’ve had many eye-openers. I found out what I want and what can become my hobby. That is goldsmithing. I want to work less, have more time for myself, my family and especially for my mother and 5 grandchildren.
I would certainly advise Dynamisch Bureau to others in a similar situation. I can say that I recommend that you raise the alarm earlier, but for me this was the route I had to take. I could not have done it earlier.
How do I envisage my future? I am about to start a very nice new job, but first I took 4 weeks off to give everything a place and to be able to let go. I have all sorts of exciting plans, such as training to become a goldsmith, renovating my holiday home, spending a season gardening with my mother and enjoying my ‘bonus’ grandchildren in my holiday home, among other things.
In short, a new beginning with another job full of fun new challenges and where I want to learn to relax more. So that weekends can once again be experienced as relaxing and holidays as enjoyable!