Why Your Slow Progress is Actually Perfect Progress | Your Trauma Wise Career Guide Ep 15

Your Perfect Progress: Redefining Career Success for Trauma Survivors

Do you feel like you're lagging behind at work while others are excelling? In this eye-opening episode, trauma-informed career coach Cyndi Bennett redefines what progress means for trauma survivors. Learn why your cautious approach is your secret weapon and how to embrace your authentic journey toward sustainable success. Cyndi explores the impact of trauma on career navigation, debunks harmful mindset blocks, and introduces a free Workplace Survival Toolkit designed to help you thrive. Discover how to stop apologizing for your pace and start celebrating your unique path to professional growth.

00:00 Introduction: Embracing Your Unique Career Journey
01:27 Understanding Trauma's Impact on Career Progress
03:08 The Power of Authentic Progress
04:37 Overcoming Limiting Mindsets
06:18 Practical Strategies for Workplace Success
07:18 Final Thoughts: Redefining Career Success

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]

DISCLOSURE: Some links I share might contain resources that you might find helpful. Whenever possible I use referral links, which means if you click any of the links in this video or description and make a purchase we may receive a small commission or other compensation at no cost to you.

Transcript

Why Your Slow Progress is Actually Perfect Progress | Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide Ep 15

Cyndi Bennett: [00:00:00] Do you ever feel like you're moving through molasses while your colleagues are running marathons? Like everyone around you is crushing it at work while you're just trying to make it through Tuesday without having a panic attack in the supply closet? If you're nodding your head right now, this episode is going to completely change how you view your journey, because what I'm about to share with you might be the most important thing you hear about your career this year.

I am going to show you why your progress is actually your secret weapon, how trauma survivors who feel most behind are often making the most sustainable progress, and the three mindset shifts that will help you stop apologizing for your pace and start celebrating your authentic success.

I am Cyndi Bennett, and as a trauma survivor turned trauma informed career coach. I've worked with hundreds of people just like you. I've seen this pattern over and over again, and [00:01:00] I know exactly why your cautious approach to workplace advancement isn't a character flaw. It's actually intelligence.

Without understanding this shift, you'll keep measuring your progress against people who haven't had to rebuild their nervous system while maintaining employment. You'll keep thinking you're behind when you're actually building something much more sustainable and authentic than the frantic pace around you.

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 [00:02:00] in the right place.

Here's the problem. I keep seeing trauma survivors constantly compare their behind the scenes healing journey to everyone else's highlight reel. You're telling yourself things like everyone seems to have it together while I'm just trying to make it through my team meetings without my heart racing, or I feel like I'm moving through molasses while my colleagues are running marathons, or maybe I'm just not cut out for professional success. This comparison is stealing your confidence and making you believe that your piece is a problem to be fixed.

But here's what I've learned from watching this pattern over and over. The people who think they're moving too slowly are actually building something much more sustainable and authentic than the frantic pace around them. Your nervous system isn't broken. Your cautious [00:03:00] approach isn't a character flaw. Your need for extra time to process and recover isn't weakness, it's intelligence.

Let me show you what your perfect progress actually looks like.

You are building real resilience, not just performing it. While others might be pushing through stress and burnout, you are learning how to succeed without sacrificing your well-being. Every small step you take while managing trauma responses is building genuine resilience that will serve you for decades.

You're developing emotional intelligence that money can't buy. That hyper vigilance, that feels exhausting. It's also making you incredibly skilled at reading people and situations. Your sensitivity to emotional dynamics isn't a liability. It's a professional superpower.

You're creating authentic [00:04:00] success instead of borrowed achievement. Fast track career advice often teaches people to fake it till you make it, but you are building success that actually fits who you are. Your achievements feel genuinely yours not performed.

You are practicing sustainability. In an unsustainable world. In a culture obsessed with grinding and hustling, you are pioneering something revolutionary, sustainable success. Every time you honor your energy levels and set boundaries, you're modeling what healthy work actually looks like.

Now that you understand why your piece is perfect, you might be thinking, "okay, this makes sense, but I still feel stuck." That's because you've been conditioned to think in ways that undermine this truth. You are stuck in three limiting mindsets.

The "catching up" mindset, believing you're behind.

[00:05:00] The "hiding your struggles" mindset, thinking your trauma recovery is something to conceal.

The "surviving until your ready" mindset, waiting until you're completely healed to start succeeding.

These mindset blocks run deep and they don't just shift overnight. If you're recognizing yourself in these patterns and want support in transforming them into something more empowering, that's exactly what we focus on in my programs, helping you rewire those beliefs so you can truly embrace your authentic path to success.

Let's recap what we just covered. Your slow progress is actually perfect progress because you're building real resilience, developing emotional intelligence that money can't buy, creating authentic success, and practicing sustainability in an unsustainable world.

We also explored those deeper mindset blocks, the catching up, hiding your [00:06:00] struggles, and surviving until your ready patterns that keep you feeling stuck when you intellectually understand why your pace is perfect.

Now understanding this mindset shift is powerful, and I know many of you are already thinking about how to apply this in your daily work life. You want concrete strategies. That's why I created the Workplace Survival Toolkit for Trauma Survivors, a free resource guide that includes trauma-informed strategies for managing overwhelming workdays scripts, for setting boundaries without seeming difficult, an energy management worksheet designed specifically for trauma survivors, quick grounding techniques you can use in any office setting, and warning sign checklists to prevent workplace burnout.

This isn't about pushing yourself to go faster, it's about succeeding exactly where you are while building the foundation for authentic professional growth. [00:07:00] You can grab your free Workplace Survival Toolkit. The link is right there in the show notes.

Don't wait on this because you deserve support that meets you exactly where you are. And these tools will help you stop apologizing for your pace and start celebrating your authentic success.

Before we go, I want to leave you with something that might completely shift how you see yourself at work tomorrow morning.

You know that colleague who seems to have it all together, the one who never appears stressed, always volunteers for extra projects, and makes everything look effortless. Here's what I've learned after years of working with high achievers. Many of them are performing success, not living it. They're running on adrenaline and borrowed energy, building careers that look impressive from the outside, but feel hollow from the inside.

Meanwhile, you the person who thinks they're moving too [00:08:00] slow, you are building something they'll spend years trying to learn. You are developing the emotional intelligence, the authentic boundaries, and the sustainable practices that create lasting fulfillment. Your pace isn't the problem. The world's obsession with speed is the problem.

You're not falling behind, you're building something better, and tomorrow morning when you walk into that workplace, I want you to remember you are not too slow. You're exactly where you need to be.

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 success. Keep rising, keep healing, keep [00:09:00] building.