Why Your Achievements Don't Speak for Themselves | Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide Ep. 009

Unlocking Your Career Potential: Trauma-Informed Achievement Documentation

In this episode of 'Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide,' host Cyndi Bennett discusses the challenges trauma survivors face in articulating their professional achievements. She introduces the RISE method, a trauma-informed framework for documenting accomplishments that honors personal growth and resilience. Learn why capturing both visible and invisible achievements is crucial for self-advocacy and career development. 

Cyndi also shares practical tips to make the process less overwhelming and more sustainable, helping trauma survivors transform a critical career skill into a healing practice. Tune in to discover how to build a foundation of self-advocacy and unlock opportunities by clearly articulating your professional contributions.

00:00 Introduction: The Struggle to Articulate Achievements
02:19 Understanding the Impact of Trauma on Career
03:51 Introducing the RISE Method
05:36 Implementing the RISE Method
07:38 The Importance of Documenting Achievements
09:15 Taking Action: The Resilient Career Academy
10:43 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

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#TraumaWiseCareer #AchievementDocumentation #SelfAdvocacy #CareerDevelopment #HealingJourney

When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your career journey:

1. Free trauma-informed career development resources from my website! Visit https://www.cyndibennettconsulting.com for always up-to-date tips.
2. Ready to build a fulfilling career with trauma-informed support? Join The Resilient Career Academy Learning Community, where trauma survivors support each other, share resources, and develop career resilience in a safe, understanding environment
3. Ready for personalized trauma-informed career coaching? Explore my range of virtual coaching packages designed for different stages of your career journey. Visit my website to find the right support for where you are now. [Visit my website: https://www.cyndibennettconsulting.com/1-on-1-coaching]

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Transcript

Why Your Achievements Don't Speak for Themselves (And How to Document Them Without Proving Your Worth)|Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide Ep.009

Cyndi Bennett: [00:00:00] Picture this. You're sitting across from a potential employer and they ask you about your biggest professional accomplishment, your mind goes blank. You fumble through a vague response about being a team player while internally screaming because you know you've done amazing work. You just can't articulate it in the moment.

If you are a trauma survivor, this scenario might feel even more complex. Maybe you've been conditioned to minimize your achievements, or perhaps the concept of proving your value feels loaded and triggering. Here's what I need you to know. Your accomplishments don't speak for themselves, and that's not your fault.

In today's episode, we are diving deep into why documenting your professional achievements. Matters not to prove your worth, but to honor your journey and create a foundation of [00:01:00] self-advocacy that no one can take away from you.

You'll learn the rise method for trauma-informed achievement documentation, discover why your invisible wins are just as important as the obvious ones, and walk away with a practical system that works with your healing journey, not against it.

I am sharing this because I've seen too many brilliant trauma survivors struggle to advocate for themselves simply because they haven't captured their evidence of their own growth and contributions.

As someone who's walked this path myself and now coaches others through it, I know that when you can clearly articulate your professional story, it changes everything: your confidence, your career trajectory, and your relationship with your own accomplishments.

If you don't stick around for this conversation, you'll miss the chance to transform one of the most practical career [00:02:00] skills into a healing centered practice. More importantly. You'll continue leaving opportunities on the table simply because you can't access the proof of your own brilliance when you need it most.​

Did you know that trauma impacts how we navigate our careers? But most career advice ignores this reality. Imagine feeling confident and safe at work while honoring your healing journey. Welcome to Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide, the podcast that reimagines, career development for trauma survivors. I'm your host, Cyndi Bennett, a trauma survivor, turned trauma informed career coach and founder of the Resilient Career Academy. If you're navigating your career. While honoring your healing journey, you are in the right place.

Here's the first problem we need to [00:03:00] address. We're asking our memory to do heavy lifting during the moments that matter most performance reviews, job interviews, networking conversations, or those quiet moments when imposter syndrome creeps in.

These are exactly when our brains decide to forget everything we've ever accomplished. For trauma survivors, this challenge gets amplified. We're already managing additional cognitive load that comes with healing, and our nervous systems might be wired to minimize our achievements as a protective mechanism.

The result, we show up unprepared to advocate for ourselves, not because we haven't done great work, but because we haven't captured the evidence of it. Today. I want to share with you a framework that's transformed how my clients approach achievement documentation. It's called the RISE [00:04:00] method.

R stands for record regularly. Set aside 15 minutes every Friday for your wins. This isn't just major accomplishments, include small victories too. Did you speak up in a meeting when your old self would've stayed quiet? That's growth worth documenting, not because it makes you more valuable as a person, but because it represents skill development and courage and action.

I stands for include impact. For each accomplishment, note not just what you did, but the difference it made. Numbers are powerful, but so are stories about how your work affected colleagues, clients, or your organization's culture. Remember, you're documenting contributions, not calculating worth. 

S stands for capture skills. What abilities did you use or develop? This is especially important if you're [00:05:00] reframing experiences that initially felt challenging. Sometimes our greatest professional strengths emerge from our most difficult personal experiences, and that's about skill development, not about making you more worthy.

E stands for Embrace Your Story. Include context about what this achievement meant to you personally. If completing a challenging project required you to push through anxiety or advocate for accommodations you needed, that context matters because it shows growth and resilience in action.

But here's where it gets tricky, and this is the second problem we need to solve. For many trauma survivors, documenting achievements can trigger complex feelings about worth and value. Maybe it feels boastful or selfish or like you're trying to prove something you shouldn't have to prove.

This happens because trauma can wire us to seek external validation for [00:06:00] our worth and achievement documentation can accidentally become another way to chase that validation. But here's what changes everything: your worth as a human being is inherent and unchangeable. It exists regardless of your job title, salary, or achievements.

What we're documenting are your professional contributions, the tangible ways you've used your skills, talents, and efforts to contribute to your work environment. These are tools for career advancement, not measures of human value. The key is adapting the process to work with your healing journey, not against it.

So, first of all, start small. Even documenting one accomplishment per week is infinitely better than documenting none. Progress over perfection... [00:07:00] always.

Number two, use whatever format feels right. You could use voice memos, simple notes apps, beautiful journals. There's no wrong way to do this.

Include invisible achievements: relationship building, creative problem solving, resilience demonstrations, advocacy moments. These matter just as much as the obvious wins.

And be patient with the process. If you're not used to celebrating yourself, this might feel uncomfortable at first. That's normal and okay.

Here's the third problem that most people don't see coming, when you don't document your achievements, you rob yourself of the ability to see your own growth over time. This is painful for trauma survivors because healing isn't linear and professional growth while navigating trauma can feel invisible [00:08:00] day to day.

Without documentation, you miss the pattern of your own resilience. You can't see how you've developed emotional intelligence, creative problem-solving skills, or the ability to support others through difficult situations. These aren't lesser achievements, they're different achievements that deserve recognition.

Let's recap what we've covered today. We talked about why your accomplishments don't speak for themselves, and how this challenge gets amplified when you're a trauma survivor. You learned the rise method for documenting achievements in a way that honors your growth without tying it to your worth. We've explored how to include those invisible wins that represent some of your most significant professional development, and I shared trauma-informed approaches to make this practice sustainable.

But here's the gap, knowing about documentation and actually implementing a system that works for your unique [00:09:00] situation, are two different things. You might be thinking, this sounds great, Cyndi, but how do I actually start? What if I try this and it feels overwhelming? What if I can't maintain it consistently?

These are valid concerns and they're exactly why I created the Resilient Career Academy. This isn't just about learning techniques, it's about having the ongoing support as you implement trauma-informed career practices in real-time. If you're ready to stop leaving opportunities on the table because you can't articulate your achievements, I want to invite you to book a free consultation with me.

We'll talk about your specific situation, identify what's been holding you back from effective self-advocacy, and create a personalized roadmap for documenting and communicating your professional wins.

During our call, you'll walk away with clarity about your next steps and a better understanding [00:10:00] of how trauma-informed career coaching can support your unique journey.

Here's what happens if you don't take action. You'll continue showing up to important career moments without the evidence of your own growth and contributions. You'll keep undervaluing yourself in negotiations, interviews, and everyday workplace interactions. Most importantly, you'll miss the chance to see your professional journey through the lens of growth and contribution rather than worth validation. Your achievements are already there, you just need to uncover and document what exists.

Before you go, I want to share something that might shift how you think about your career forever. There's a difference between achievements that happen to you and achievements that happen through you. [00:11:00] Promotions, raises, recognition, these often depend on external factors beyond your control. But the achievements that happen through you, your resilience, your growth, your daily choice to show up despite challenges, these are the achievements that no one can take away from you.

Here's what I've learned working with hundreds of trauma survivors: your most important professional assets aren't the ones listed on your resume, they're the wisdom you've gained from navigating difficulty, the empathy you bring to challenging situations, and the creative solutions you develop because you see the world differently.

When you start documenting, not just what you've accomplished, but what you've become in the process, everything changes. You stop chasing external validation and [00:12:00] start building internal advocacy, you stop proving your worth and start honoring your journey. That's the real power of trauma-informed achievement documentation.

It's not about creating a highlight reel for others. It's about creating a mirror that reflects your own growth back to you, especially on days when you can't see it clearly.

Your story matters. Your growth matters, and the way you've shown up despite everything you faced, that's not just an achievement, it's a masterclass in human resilience.

You're not walking this path alone. Every step you take toward a trauma-wise career is an act of courage, and I'm here cheering you on. If today's episode resonated with you, share it with another survivor who needs to hear this message. Together, we're rewriting the rules of career [00:13:00] success. Keep rising, keep healing, keep building.