How to Build Sustainable Wellbeing by Developing Internal Validation

The WorkLife Question: Daniel

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2564103/fan_mail/new] SHOW NOTES Today's Question: What makes sharing your stories feel vulnerable? What makes sharing your stories feel vulnerable? In this episode of The WorkLife Question, I stay with Daniel and the question — exploring the belief he carried for five years that made sharing feel risky. Not a fear of failure. A belief that polish was what professionalism required. And what one question from a client finally gave him permission to do. RESOURCES Today’s question is from Creating Three Fundamental Stories That Define Your Identity: Success, Failure and Passion Stories Question Bank [https://school-of-worklife.myshopify.com/products/creating-three-fundamental-stories-that-define-your-identity-success-failure-and-passion-stories-question-bank?utm_source=copyToPasteBoard&utm_medium=product-links&utm_content=web] — from the section Overcoming Storytelling Resistance. Daniel is the main protagonist in the Story Lesson: How to Build Genuine Trust Through Storytelling [https://school-of-worklife.myshopify.com/products/how-to-build-genuine-trust-through-storytelling?utm_source=copyToPasteBoard&utm_medium=product-links&utm_content=web].  His story is featured in the episode: The Stories Behind the Stories: Daniel [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2564103/episodes/19038148].  Daniel's story was told in WorkLife Stories: How to Build Genuine Trust Through Storytelling [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2564103/episodes/18918855]. (Free to listen). Deepen the practice with the WorkLife Compass Guided Programme:The Art of WorkLife Storytelling: Creating Three Fundamental Stories That Define Your Identity Programme [https://school-of-worklife.myshopify.com/products/the-art-of-worklife-storytelling-creating-three-fundamental-stories-that-define-your-identity?utm_source=copyToPasteBoard&utm_medium=product-links&utm_content=web] Crafting Success, Failure, and Passion Narratives with Powerful Beginnings, Engaging Middles, and Memorable Endings Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2564103/support]

The Stories Behind the Stories: Elena

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2564103/fan_mail/new] SHOW NOTES The Stories Behind the Stories: Elena Elena had two professional lives.  She thought they were separate.  They weren't.  They had always been expressions of the same thing. In this episode of The Stories Behind the Stories, I go deeper into the character traits at the heart of Elena's story — reading people, creating atmosphere, facilitating connection. And why the work we've treated as temporary or secondary is sometimes where our character traits are most freely expressed. RESOURCES The Storytelling Newsletter [https://shorturl.at/UCQLj] (Free) Short, focused, and grounded in real WorkLife situations — how we communicate, lead, make decisions, and navigate challenges at work.   WorkLife Stories from School of WorkLife (Free) How Hidden Character Traits Shape Your True Professional Calling [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2564103/episodes/18921382]. Character-Driven WorkLife Stories That Shift How You Think. Story Lesson How Hidden Character Traits Shape Your True Professional Calling [https://school-of-worklife.myshopify.com/products/how-hidden-character-traits-shape-your-true-professional-calling?utm_source=copyToPasteBoard&utm_medium=product-links&utm_content=web]. A Story About Discovering Purpose Through Unexpected Character Development. Guided Programme The Longest Way Round: A Journey of Character [https://shorturl.at/OMuN2] — How Embracing Your Natural Traits and the Wisdom of Great Storytellers Can Transform Your Path to Purpose  Your Character Trait Takeaway What character traits are expressing themselves in the parts of your work — or your life — that you've been treating as secondary? What character traits are expressing themselves in unexpected places across your team — and what would become possible if they were recognised and developed? And what could your organisation achieve if it looked beyond job descriptions and formal roles to discover where people's character traits are already creating something remarkable? A Note to Listeners Every Thursday a new episode of The Stories Behind the Stories continues. From May 2026 — each new episode will be free for one week. After that it goes behind the subscriber paywall. One week to listen. One week to experience the learning. One week to build it into your working life. If an episode resonates — pass it to someone who would find it useful. A colleague. A client. A friend. That’s how this work finds the people it’s meant for. After one week each episode joins the back catalogue — available to subscribers only. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2564103/support]

How to Build Sustainable Wellbeing by Developing Internal Validation

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2564103/fan_mail/new] SHOW NOTES: WorkLife Stories from School of WorkLife Episode: How to Build Sustainable Wellbeing by Developing Internal Validation Learning how to build sustainable wellbeing by developing internal validation begins with recognising that the search for reassurance protecting your confidence may be quietly exhausting the clarity that makes your best work possible. Josh had exceeded his targets for two years, led a high-performing team, and received consistently positive feedback — and still couldn't shake the feeling that none of it was quite enough. This is the story of the moment a conversation with his newest team member showed him that the approval he'd been seeking from everyone else was the one thing standing between him and genuine professional confidence. RESOURCES MENTIONED The Storytelling Newsletter [https://shorturl.at/UCQLj] (Free) Short, focused, and grounded in real WorkLife situations — how we communicate, lead, make decisions, and navigate challenges at work.   Story Lesson: How to Build Sustainable Wellbeing by Developing Internal Validation [https://school-of-worklife.myshopify.com/products/how-to-build-sustainable-wellbeing-by-developing-internal-validation?utm_source=copyToPasteBoard&utm_medium=product-links&utm_content=web] Learn how developing internal assessment skills can restore clarity, protect wellbeing, and build the kind of confidence that makes external feedback genuinely useful rather than a source of chronic anxiety. Guided Programme Take Care of Your Wellbeing Both In and Out of the Workplace [https://shorturl.at/ZpQBA] — Finding Balance When Personal Crisis Meets Professional Responsibility  Commissioned learning resources, speaking engagements, and organisational partnerships: carmel@schoolofworklife.com [carmel@schoolofworklife.com] schoolofworklife.com The stories I write are based on real WorkLife challenges, obstacles, failures and successes. Persons and companies portrayed in the stories are not based on real people or entities. Carmel O’ Reilly Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2564103/support]

New: The Essun Practice: How to Stay Effective Through Change and Ongoing Uncertainty Online Live Class

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2564103/fan_mail/new] SHOW NOTES The Essun Practice: How to Stay Effective Through Change and Ongoing Uncertainty is the newest School of WorkLife Book Club online live class. It draws on N. K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season — and a framework exploring what endurance and adaptive leadership actually ask of us, not when change is temporary, but in the periods when instability becomes ongoing and where learning to function within it makes all the difference. It's a class for anyone who has stopped waiting for stability to return — and is trying to work out what to do instead. Here at the details for how to reserve your place: https://schoolofworklife.com/school-of-worklife-live-classes/ [https://schoolofworklife.com/school-of-worklife-live-classes/]  Scroll Down on School of WorkLife Live Classes to Reserve Your Place [https://schoolofworklife.com/school-of-worklife-live-classes/] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2564103/support]

The WorkLife Question: Sarah

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2564103/fan_mail/new] SHOW NOTES Today's Question: What signals indicate engagement or disconnection? What signals indicate engagement or disconnection? In this episode of The WorkLife Question, I explore what Sarah discovered about reading signals — not in her own breakthrough moment, but in the three leadership situations that followed. The acquisition. The Tom conversation. The leadership development programme. Each one taught her something more precise about what engagement and disconnection actually look like. RESOURCES Today’s question is from Creating Three Fundamental Stories That Define Your Identity: Success, Failure and Passion Stories Question Bank [https://school-of-worklife.myshopify.com/products/creating-three-fundamental-stories-that-define-your-identity-success-failure-and-passion-stories-question-bank?utm_source=copyToPasteBoard&utm_medium=product-links&utm_content=web] — from the section Adapting Stories to Context. Sarah is the main protagonist in the Story Lesson: How to Lead Authentically Through Storytelling [https://school-of-worklife.myshopify.com/products/how-to-lead-authentically-through-storytelling?utm_source=copyToPasteBoard&utm_medium=product-links&utm_content=web]. Her story is featured in the episode: The Stories Behind the Stories: Sarah [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2564103/episodes/19038115].  Sarah's story was told in WorkLife Stories: How to Lead Authentically Through Storytelling [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2564103/episodes/18918691]. (Free to listen). Deepen the practice with the WorkLife Compass Guided Programme:The Art of WorkLife Storytelling: Creating Three Fundamental Stories That Define Your Identity Programme [https://school-of-worklife.myshopify.com/products/the-art-of-worklife-storytelling-creating-three-fundamental-stories-that-define-your-identity?utm_source=copyToPasteBoard&utm_medium=product-links&utm_content=web] Crafting Success, Failure, and Passion Narratives with Powerful Beginnings, Engaging Middles, and Memorable Endings Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2564103/support]